Volkswagen Beetle Review

The first Type 1 sedans rolled off the line in the early 1940's, and the world was captivated by it's practically, price and unique appearance. My family had a beetle when I was a kid, my first real car was a beetle and I drive a newer convertible beetle now (but I wish I still had a vintage one). This new version by LEGO is as much fun as you'd think, 

LEGO Creator Expert Volkswagen Beetle 10252 Building Kit

LEGO

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Roadhog & Mercy

That title sounds a bit like an 80's cop show, or maybe two private investigators working in an exotic locale, but it's actually two new Overwatch inspired MOCs from Tim Schwalfenberg. This and a handful of other recent games have been a huge design inspiration for a great many builders, and it's easy to see why. This game has so many unique and colorful characters you can't help but want to surround yourself with them. And what better way than some masterfully done character MOCs?

The Magical Wizarding Bank

"Well there's yer money, Harry!  Gringotts the wizard bank.  Ain't no safer place, not one.  Except perhaps Hogwarts."

My sister introduced me to the magical world created by JK Rowling.  I don't have many memories of reading any other book series, but I absolutely remember reading the Harry Potter books for the first time!  The series has been given a lot of love in the LEGO community this year, especially thanks to the Harry's Magical Journey project.  Fellow builder and friend Jared has created a beautiful replica of Gringotts, the famous bank in Diagon Alley.  Obviously, a main attraction of this build is the well-designed dragon.  Before I talk about that, let's take a minute to admire the building itself.  Jared created a very unique roof design for this building, and the way he built the walls is, quite literally, simply fantastic.  Moreover the columns in the front, a main point of interest for the building, are recreated so well.  Now let's talk about that dragon...man.  What a work of art as well!  I included Jared's second photo of the back of the dragon below, just so more details of this wonderful LEGO creature are revealed.  All in all, this is an amazing creation that I was fortunate enough to see for the "unveiling" at BrickFair Virginia.  Looking forward to seeing more Harry Potter creations from you in the future, Jared!

"Bounty Hunters, We Don't Need Their Scum"

It's an iconic scene in Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader addressing a motley collection of bounty hunters. It was also our first peek at that character we were all so excited to see since we all had his action figure before the movie came out, Boba Fett. This recreation of the bridge of Vader's Super Star Destroyer Executor by builder Forgotten Days turned out amazing. Makes me wonder why this hasn't been an official set yet.

Oh, What a Day for Racing!

Cecilie has been rocking some fantastic StarWars creations lately for the Moc-Olympics. We've featured her previous entry here on BrickNerd just a few weeks ago and we're constantly in amazement (and sometimes between bidding wars on who gets to blog) what she builds next! Cecilie's entry for potential 3rd place, is number one winner in my books, Teemto Pagalies' Podracer. Not only is the color choices spectacular, the whole creation defies gravity. Watch out racers, this is not a pod you want to mess with! 

UCS Sith Fury-Class Interceptor

Markus19840420 recently discovered The Old Republic theme, and created this Ultimate Collector's Series ship for the German Star Wars Moc-Olympics contest.  You may recall there was an official minifig scale ship a few years back.  What I like about this is that it looks like a mash-up between a TIE Fighter and a Star Destroyer.  So my question to Markus would be, what noise do you make when you swoosh it? 

HA HA HA HA HA!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! The most famous villain in the world, the Joker. This dude has been causing Batman nothing but headaches since 1940. This version by builder MaverickDengo wasn't inspired by any particular source, but certainly has a more comic/cartoon feel to him. It also happens to be his first character build, very impressive, that mouth is a clever work of art.

Gearhead Nirvana

This updated garage MOC by ericteo_98 looks like a gearhead's dream. You can practically hear the clink of tools, smell the gasoline and feel the oil on your hands. There's loads of details to take in and I highly recommend viewing the large version of this picture to truly appreciate all the work that went into it. 

Salvaging With Some Firepower

Space is always an unforgiving environment, and salvaging is difficult under the best of circumstances, so space salvage is beyond demanding. But throw in an external threat, and you need to be prepared for any situation. Luckily Salvage Team Alpha Zero Nine has had some upgrades thanks to Legoloverman, and are packing some serious firepower.

Gale Serpent

The use of the fabric wing parts gives this Serpent MOC by Pate Keetongu an almost illustrated appearance and sense of motion. Combine that with the clever part use and design and you have a beast of mythical proportions. The brief history or lore in the description on Flickr also lends an air of legend to it, which makes me love it even more.

Churchill AVLB

Ground troops need to get where they're going quickly, and pausing to construct a bridge is a good way to not go anywhere quickly. This is the genius of armored vehicle-launched bridges. Just drive up to that creek or ditch, back this baby up and drop a bridge right on it. This LEGO version by Tommy Styrvoky not only looks the part in stunning detail and construction, it's fully functional with remote control. Check out the video to see it in action.

Space Castle Mash-up

When I first saw the Nexo Knights theme, I was excited, because I figured people would jump on the whole medieval sci-fi genre. There haven't been many Nexo Knights MOCs yet, but this one by Dubbadgrim is exactly what I was hoping for. It combines castle elements, like the main wall and the landscaping on the base, with some cool science fiction parts, like the anti-aircraft gun and the robots. I wish we'd see mash-ups like this more often.

Petra

Here it is, the final resting place of the Holy Grail...I mean the ancient temple of the elements, where Sinbad...I mean where the mummy used a giant water hear to attack Rick O'Connell...I mean the Tomb of the Primes...Well, you get my drift. Petra is an amazing place, and film crews have been drawn to it for nearly 100 years. And now builder Vitreolum has been drawn to it, and has crafted a microscale version that is absolutely stunning.

Sir Isaac Newton

Builder VAkkron is celebrating one of the greatest scientific minds the world has ever known, Sir Isaac Newton. But this isn't just a wonderful likeness, it opens to reveal small scenes from his life, studies and tells his story. There's even a working miniature orrery to study planetary motion. An exceedingly clever MOC to celebrate an exceedingly clever man.

Backhoes Mech

There's no before and after pics, nor any animation of it transforming, and to tell you the truth, I don't if it does or doesn't transform. To me it doesn't have to because the design of this mech by LEGO 7 is so good you can tell it's supposed to, and that's an excellent amount of back story and functionality to get simply by looking at it. 

THE BIG-O

If you've never seen it, I highly recommend checking out The Big-O. It's one of my all-time favorite anime series. If Bruce Wayne had a giant mech instead of a batsuit, that's basically the show. Master builder Moko has recreated the mech from the series with stunning accuracy and detail (complete with Roger and Dorothy minifigs). I think it's time for a Big-O binge-watch.

Tiny Island

This is a fun little diorama from builder Mark of Falworth that demonstrates you don't have to have a huge footprint to make an impact. The variation in the sand, the overall shape of the small island, the diversity of the trees and the staging make this all very appealing and compelling. You just want to know more about what's going on, and see the story play out.

Ronin Titan

I still haven't played Titanfall, nor am I likely too, unless it somehow ends up on Wii U (yeah, I finally got one of those), and even then, my gaming time is really limited. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate all the cool stuff from the game. Take this Ronin Titan mech by Nick Brick for instance, no idea what it does or who's side it's on, but I dig it.

D20

Builder cmaddison has recently become somewhat obsessed by Critical Role on Geek & Sundry, and to celebrate he built this amazing 20 sided die. No your eyes aren't deceiving you, and that's not a tiny minifigure, that's a giant, brick-built d20. Now roll to see if you're armor was good enough to deflect that blow.