Avalonian Countryside

There's a lot to appreciate in this micro landscape by Full Plate.  It's pretty much a reference photo for the genre, covering just about every type of temperate-zone environment.   You've got your cattail marshland, complete with dock and rowboat, rich fall foliage, pine forest, and an open meadow.  I particularly like the rock wall detail and gate along the path to the houses.  It all blends together nicely for a serene backdrop to a story you can read here.

Avalonian Countryside (9 of 9)

BrickNerd LiveBuild - Disney Castle - Part 1

We're huge Disney fans at our house. We go to Disneyland several times a year, we're Disney Vacation Club owners and we can't get enough of Begal BBQ and Dole Whips. Obviously we're also huge fans of LEGO (duh) so when those worlds collide you can bet we get excited. Join me and Mrs BrickNerd live for the next two days starting 9am PST as we build the new Disney Castle. It's going to be a magical time!

Eat Right

When I was a kid we had the four food groups, and while we knew what quadrant of a circle to put a Twinkie in, easting just as many as those as fruits and veggies probably wasn't too smart. The food pyramid, as illustrated in this brilliant MOC by builder Angela's brick, is a much better way to illustrate the amounts of certain foods you should eat. So, a Twinkie goes on the bottom right? It's sorta bread-like isn't it?

Food pyramid

Leopard 2SG

I have to admit to being fooled by the thumbnail for this. Having grown up building plastic models, I was instantly duped into believing this was a classic Tamiya model kit. But this is Eric Ong's excellent presentation of his Leopard 2SG tank MOC. This is first class presentation, a great deal of care went into this and the results are stunning.

Leopard 2 SG MBT Singapore Army "Rapid Dominance"

Review: The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book

Review: The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book

I love the holidays. Christmas carols, yummy treats, time with family and friends, practically daily viewings of A Christmas Story and of course LEGO under (and on) the tree. I don't know about you, but there's always several LEGO Christmas ornaments on our tree, and this year there's going to be a few more thanks to this new book from No Starch Press and author Chris McVeigh

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We're Going To Build The Disney Castle LIVE!

Me and Mrs BrickNerd were considering visiting Disneyland this weekend, but then this showed up in the mail. Yes, thanks to a little Disney magic, pixie dust and LEGO generosity we're bringing Disneyland to us. Yes, technically this is from Magic Kingdom in Florida, and we're west coasters, but we love Disney World too, just can't get there as often. This is going to be an epic build, so we're going to split it into two days. Starting this Friday, Sept 16th at 9am PST and continuing on Saturday at 9am PST we're going to tackle this mighty but magical set, join us!

Samus

It was a while before I bought and played Metroid Prime for Gamecube, and it was my first Metroid game (OK, I bought it for my son, but then played it myself). At first I was put off by the premise of morphing into a ball to roll around, seemed like a silly concept, but I warmed up to it quick enough. But what I remember the most is being floored that Samus was a girl, I'd seen the character for years, and had never known. This version by Pate-keetongu hits all the right marks. She looks ready for action.

Samus Aran

New LEGO Storage and Display Products

A company called Brick Innovations in cooperation with Phillip Miller Furniture has just launched a Kickstarter Campaign featuring several LEGO storage and display products. Every LEGO builder struggles with how to organize their collection, and the more options we all have the better as far as I'm concerned. Among the items they're promoting is a rather clever selection of tables, cabinets and building furniture, as well as some cool drawer pulls and a shelf to display Minifigures. They were kind enough to send a prototype Minifigure Shelf for me to check out. 

The shelf they sent holds more or less 8 figures, but it's smaller than the 18" version they have as a reward level on their campaign (which by the way its already funded just two days in, congrats guys!) and is made of a somewhat lightweight wood, I'm assuming pine. Embedded in the top is a strip of 1x genuine LEGO plate to attach your figs to.

Now I would be remiss if I didn't point out the obvious similarities to the Chroble shelves that have hung in my studio for quite some time now. The Chroble shelves are solid walnut, larger, heavier and have a strip of full sized 1x bricks on top. They are top quality in every respect, but that quality comes at a price, making them quite a bit more expensive than the Brick Innovations shelves. I don't know that I can fully comment on the quality of the Brick Innovations shelves either, since this is a prototype I have to assume the production ones will be better. But the one I have could have used more sanding, clean up and another coat of paint. 

So if you're interested in more storage and display options for your collection check out their campaign and throw some support their way.

Kylo

I wasn't too sure about Kylo Ren, even after my first viewing of The Force Awakens. But I have warmed up to him since (well, as much as you warm up to a murdering, foul tempered wannabe sith). But how can you resist him as a Brick Sketch by Powerpig? I wouldn't say I'm ready to declare my allegiance, but I have to admit I'm thinking of putting on TFA while I work.

Kylo Ren

Groucho

Yeah, this is gonna be another "back in my day" post. When I was a kid we only had four channels, and on Saturday morning it was our time. We watched classic WB cartoons, Tom & Jerry, Land of the Lost and the usual stuff. But in the afternoon things shifted to film festival time. And while the movie was hit and miss, you could always depend on some Three Stooges or Marx Brothers to be mixed in (as well as Popeye, ugh). So I grew up watching this man and his brothers, maybe not getting the humor as much as a good whack to the head with a hammer, but still enjoying it more than Popeye. This portrait in the style of Powerpig's Brick Sketches is by builder Paddy Bricksplitter, and he totally nailed it.

Groucho

The MOC Is Bursting With Awesomeness

The Arvo Brothers are back, with another jaw dropping, chest bursting, awe inspiring MOC. Everyone remembers the first time they saw Alien, hopefully before someone spoiled it for them (and with that being said, SPOILERS AHEAD) and when this adorable little dude bursted out of Kane's chest after everything seemed back to normal. This is the second version of this iconic creature from the Arvo Brothers, the last one being from 2007. Building instructions are available by contacting them at arvo@arvobrothers.com and soon on their website.

LEGO Alien Chestburster

La Saignante

This post is one week early for international talk like a pirate day (no really, look it up, it's a thing), so I'll avoid any cheesy "arrggs" and "avasts" and just present this absolutely wonderful pirate ship by builder Kloou. This lovely craft has three masts, a functional crane, fully decked out interior and fourteen guns. She's a formidable vessel you don't want to see approaching on the high sea.

Pirate ship : La Saignante
Pirate ship : La Saignante
Pirate ship : La Saignante
Pirate ship : La Saignante

Give Me A Hand

I really dig this mechanical hand MOC by builder ToyForce 120. It reminds me of my time as a mechanical designer, as well as the Terminator (plus robot hands are pretty much always cool). The pose-ability of this hand is absolutely fantastic, if you click through there's tons more pictures with all kids of poses. As for the title of this post, it's totally selfish, I want this hand.

LEGO Mech Hand-01
LEGO Mech Hand-02

151 PokéMOCs

In light of the immense resurgence of Pokémon this past summer, Carson Hart set himself a goal to build all 151 of the original Pokémon, and he's done quite a good job of it. You might have to squint on some of the smaller models, but a lot of them came out looking really spot-on, like his great Charizard, Lapras, and so on.

Bugging Out

There are few more scary things than Giant Space Bugs. Starship Troopers is one of my favourite Sci-Fi action films. And its the Bugs that make it the more terrifying! This superb MOC by Sanellukovic shows two large bugs stomping around the ruins of some civilisation. It seems to have been built for a competition on a German LUG but I would love to see it expanded into a full Post Apocalyptic landscape crawling with Giant Space Bugs. A shiver actually went down my spine!

[9 - Reiche] - Südende

Quad Jumper Picnic

Here is something a little different that I missed back in July (does this count as MOCstalgia?) I am not and never will be a fan of the Friends Mini Dolls. They just doing sit well with me. However in this MOC from Tyler Sky they seem perfectly at home. I love bold colours on space ships and cool design features. And just look at the backdrop. I wish I could hop into that Jumper and blast off somewhere for food on a blanket!

Quad Jumper Picnic

Ana's Biotic Rifle

Overwatch has spawned a great many MOCs, and they continue to impress and amaze me. This latest full size prop "weapon" (can you call it a weapon when it's designed to heal?) from Nick Brick is beyond awesome. The build quality and style alone is impressive enough, but this also has custom printed elements, realistic bolt action, lighting effects and folding stock. Check out the video to see this baby in action.

Ana's Biotic Rifle - Overwatch
Ana's Biotic Rifle - Overwatch
Ana's Biotic Rifle - Overwatch

Laboratory

A great MOC doesn't need to be huge, or elaborate. It doesn't need to be an epic battle, or a nod to pop culture, or the latest fad, or any pre-conceived notion. Sometimes a great MOC is just a very clean and simple interior. No flash, no gimmicks, just clever construction, attention to detail and fantastic building skill. This laboratory by builder Heksu is just such a MOC. There are other shots of it with a character in the scene, but I like this one, simple and elegant.

Laboratory