Nerdvember 2016 Is Here!

/

Yes it's here again, Nerdvember! What's Nerdvember you ask? It's that time of year we want you to reimagine our mascot Nerdly. This year the theme is Disney, and we're totally excited for it. You can find instructions for Nerdly under the Build tab, or just follow this link. If you need a little inspiration check out the MOCs from 2014 and 2015, then get building, you have until the end of the month. Three winners will be chosen, you could be one!

We have some excellent prizes from our awesome sponsors including books from No Starch Press, a subscription to BrickJournal, custom printed bricks from EclipseGRAFX and customBRICKS, stickers from Cooper Works, lighting products from Brickstuff and surprises from our pals at FBTB and Brick Loot. Oh, and some BrickNerd swag will be included as well. 

We're also super excited to share that all three winners will receive a complete set of all 18 Disney Pixar Collectible Minifigures courtesy of LEGO!

You have until 11:59 pm PST on November 30th to enter. Just build, shoot, upload to Flickr, add your photo to the official group and you're in! So what are you waiting for? Build on and nerd out!

Rules:
Must submit to Flickr group no later than Nov 30th 11:59pm PST
Enter as many times as you like
Please submit no more than two pictures per MOC
Tag your pictures with "Nerdvember"
Must be physically built, no digital models please
No age limit, but if you’re under 18 please ask your parents
No scale limit, build as big or small as you like
No knockoff brands (Kre-o, Mega, etc.) but third party accessories are OK (Brickforge, Brickarms, Brickstuff, etc.)
Stickers are allowed
    
The theme is Disney, but you don't have to follow it if you don't want to, build whatever you want, just make it nerdy.
    
Download instructions for Nerdly at bricknerd.com/diy-fanart or this link
    
Prizes:
Winners will be featured on BrickNerd and there will be three prize packages of various levels of awesome, first second and third. No special categories or funny business, just 1 2 3. Some prizes will be shipped directly from the sponsors. Judging will be done by a small secret committee, their word is final.

Content Warning: Too Much Awesome

/

Paul is one of those builders that make you question whether you should continue to build anything cool with LEGO. He's already built the most amazing things ever, so why bother anymore right? 

Last week he posted this beautiful Steamy-punky goodness, and I needed to recover for a few days. Too much awesome in one day can really mess with your brain. 

LEGO Steampunk, Unchain My Heart

The amount of detail in this creation is just amazing, check out his profile for some close up shots and a bit of story. 

Then after I recovered, he goes and posts ANOTHER mind blowing creation based on Day of the Dead:

LEGO Day of the Dead

Color choices, and the patterns are my favorite with these creations. The symmetry is something too to admire. 

PAUL WINS GUYS, LET'S JUST ALL GO HOME 

Captain Underpants

/

There were a number of book series my boys got into. We were captivated by a Series of Unfortunate Events, creeped out by Goosebumps and entertained by Harry Potter. But a stand out series has to be Captain Underpants, just for it's unabashed embracing of the absolutely silly. The MOC by builder Deus "Big D." Otiosus embraces that spirit as well.

Captain underpants

Art

/

To me, LEGO is an art medium. Like clay, metal, plastic, paper, stone and all other materials, it is potential, it is waiting. All it takes is the skill and passion of an artist to transform them from essentially nothing into something. Art can amuse, compel, intrigue, disgust and evoke, raw materials can't do that. These pieces from Brixe63 would be right at home in MOMA, that's the power of this incredibly flexible yet constrained medium known as LEGO bricks.

Unendlich
Knoten.01
Möbiusband

Bricks in Costumes!

/

BOO!

  Chris Maddison has been doing some, as he calls it, "Brick or Treating" this October.  It appears that some of his LEGO bricks have gotten all dressed up for the occasion!  Maybe they stopped at Party City?  My favorite costume represented here is the vampire on the right, though I do admit that I wish it had a bigger collar.  A very unique build, Chris!  Happy Halloween to you!

Brick or Treat
/ / Comment
, , , ,

Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

This Spaceship is Swooping in!

/

Every year during SHIPtember the SHIP's seem to get even more complex.  The same can be said for the smallest of spaceships, including this one by castle builder Andrew JN.  The wings on this creation give it a very organic feel to the design, almost similar to a bat.  Andrew used several different techniques to give his starfighter many great curves, which is really what drew me to the build.  I really enjoy seeing the creativity when it comes to building spaceships grow to new heights! 

SF-1 Myotis
/ / Comment
, , , , ,

Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

This Build is Not a Nightmare!

/

Builder Cesbrick has created a very fun Halloween build this season - a scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas!  The builder has used many intriguing techniques to give this creation great texture and detailing.  Every aspect of this creation is executed so well, with the slight curvature in the road, to that outstanding cobblestone!  I recognized the piece he used to do that stonework right away - Thor's hammer!  How crazy cool is that?  I do believe this technique is worthy.  All together, the colors in this build fit perfectly with the atmosphere throughout the movie.  A happy Halloween to you, Cesbrick!

Nightmare Before Christmas
Nightmare Before Christmas
/ / Comment
, , , , ,

Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

Old Fashioned Microphone

/

The most significant feeling I got when I saw this splendid old fashioned microphone MOC by builder DOGOD Brick Design wasn't nostalgia from a bygone era. It also wasn't reverence for a simpler time, admiration for the design aesthetics of the past or appreciation for a well built MOC. No, the feeling was actually shock, because this looks exactly like the mic they had a my school when I was a kid...meaning i'm old fashioned too.

nEO_IMG_DOGOD_Old-fashioned microphone_02

Chopper

/

Builder Powerpig has built a lot of Brick Sketches, fifty to be exact, and to mark the occasion he decided to build something special, his first full body Brick Sketch. Star Wars Rebels fans will recognize Chopper here, the cantankerous astromech from the series. In addition to being the first full body he ended up being the most technically challenging, and even has an action feature.

Chopper (C1-10P)

The Teeniest, Tiniest, Cutest ED-209 You Ever Did See

/

Yes, ED-209 was a bit of a failure, he had a 'glitch' or two (tell that to Kenny). But if he hadn't had his initial issues the Robocop program wouldn't have moved forward, and Clarence Boddicker would probably have a stronghold on Old Detroit right now...I digress.

Sure he's a mindless killing machine, sure he didn't work (who cares, spare parts for 20 years1) but you cannot dispute the absolute squee value of this adorable ED-209 from Grantmasters. I just want to hug it.

Smaller Still

Zoetrope

/

Being a fan of animation, as well as an animator myself, I've always had a soft spot for the zoetrope. It's amazing that a simple spinning drum with slits is all you need for the illusion of life. I saw a zoetrope similar to this one by Fogtod a couple years ago at BrickCon, but it used minifigures for the animation. I have to admit I sorta prefer the low fidelity, chunky charm of this version.

Zoetrope01c
Zoetrope

Drawing Perfect Circles...

/

...and stabbing you in the hand every time you reach into your art box. It's the classic compass, the old school way of drawing arcs and circles, and measuring distances on a map. It's always fascinated me that two such completely different activities can be accomplished with the same device. It's like your toaster also having the ability to print photos. Builder bricks.life.idea shows us how it's done in LEGO, so not only does it do those tasks, it can be reconfigured into a effectively endless array of other things too, mind blowing.

compass divider
compass divider_02

The Black Pearl

/

I have a soft spot for this cursed ship. Not only because I'm a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, both the ride and the movies, but also because I worked on the fourth movie. Of course in that film the Pearl was only briefly seen, and in a bottle no less, but it's still there. This version by builder W. Navarre captures the essence of the infamous Pearl. You can practically hear the music huh?

The Black Pearl
The Black Pearl

All Hail The Pumpkin King

/

I'm proud to say I saw The Nightmare Before Christmas in the theater. We had little idea what we were in for, Disney didn't have much confidence in the project (so much so they released it under the Touchstone banner) and wasn't throwing it's usual advertising blitz at the world. We were blown away to say the least. It was some time before Disney really picked up on what a truly unique and absolute classic it was, and it's popularity has only grown since, as evidenced by this inspired build by builder HCK_1974. Not bad for a little movie that was "too scary for kids, too silly for adults".

Jack Skellington