Nerdvember is halfway over!

2016 has been a rough year, but it's almost over. and so far Nerdvember has whooshed by. It's hard to believe it's already half over, but the countdown timer at the top of the page doesn't lie, you're running out of time! There's been a lot of very cool Nerdlys so far, but there's time for more, and if you haven't built one yet now's the time! We have some amazing prizes donated by the most awesome sponsors on the planet. Three winners will be chosen, you could be one of them, get building!

Occlumency

No, Harry doesn't have remedial potions (despite what you've heard). He is being taught the art of occlumency, the blocking of one's own mind from external forces. Professor Snape has reluctantly accepted this task, and so far Harry's not doing so well. I don't think I've ever seen so many diverse bottles and vessels together in such a small space as in this MOC by Vaionaut. Snape certainly keeps his shelves well stocked.

Venice 1486

Inspired by the game Assassins Creed II, Jonas Kramm and Brick Vader have created this charming diorama of everyone's favorite City of Water.  Beyond the major landmarks depicted in the LEGO Architecture set, there's a lot to appreciate about Venice.  That's exactly what they captured in this scene of ordinary life during the fifteenth century.  Before it was a tourist trap, Venice was a hub of commerce and economic power.  But it also had its moments of tranquility, as you can see from the boy fishing on the pier to the gondolier rowing along the canal.  That guy on the roof, though, I think he's up to something... 

Buzzzzzz. . .Houston, We Have a Problem

"I see them. . .Buzz Droids!"

Takamichi Irie may be having some problems with his spaceships soon!  This is a wonderful and incredibly accurate recreation of a Buzz Droid first seen in Revenge of the Sith.  My favorite part of this model is the eyes, which are so realistic!  I'm not sure how much time was spent on this creation, but a lot of Star Wars love and detailing went into this MOC!

Plastic Men Tell No Tales

This idyllic pirate MOC (by Vitreolum) shows something I really love to see in MOCs online: an entire scene built fully out of LEGO. A White background is nice and all but it's really cool when a builder goes the extra mile to flesh out a scene with more details. I especially love the forced perspective with the tiny island, and the puffy white clouds.

Favela

While the subject matter, slums of Brazil, is nothing to celebrate, this micro scale MOC by simply bricking it is wonderful. The subtle variations in scale, type and color make this a very compelling miniature diorama. An entire hillside village, on a 16 x 16 base, that's some clever building.

Serrated Night 3V

Looks like our pal Nick Trotta's been busy with this impressive fighter for the Nnovvember contest.  He was inspired of course by the Vic Viper design, a ship from the Yukikaze anime, and an F-117.  I encourage you to click on the picture to see the high resolution image.  The details, color blocking and a crafty angle changes are a real treat.  How the heck did he do that?  Well, it's Nick, so naturally there's a video.  Wicked!

Red Lady of the Stream

Eero Okkenen has come up with another stunning figure making use of those nifty "orient-esque" pieces from the Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty Nijago set.  Now, as all of us anglers know, the red lady of the stream refers to the Grayling species of freshwater fish.  So creating a literal yet mythological interpretation is certainly an intriguing concept, and I'd argue worthy of an entire anime series. 

Motion Tracker

I've always been a fan of the tech of Aliens. James Cameron is a legitimate creative genius and some of my favorite all time movie gadgets are in that film. This is one of them, the motion tracker. It's humble real-life story is as fascinating as it's time on screen, being the product of the 80's scrappy and get-it-done prop builders. This version by W. Navarre does it justice...game over man, game over.

Rolling in Style. . .In SPAAACE!

There seems to be a sudden wave of many amazing micro and nano scale creations in the past few months.  This miniature (yet mighty) space rover is a wonderful addition!  Builder Sad Brick has created a rover that is so unique, but incredibly realistic at the same time.  I would definitely cruise around in a full size version of this adorable little build!

Hot Wheels

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you (and no, we haven't started covering other toys), these are LEGO. Builder Brick Flag has recreated some classic Hot Wheels, and the results are perfect. Of course they're significantly larger than their tiny rolling counterparts, but I think that's part of the fun. What's more is I had these very cars when I was a kid, the paramedic truck was one of my favorites, and the fastest in my collection.

Winter Fox Hunt

I watched a lot of nature shows when I was a kid, so when I saw this shot of Miro Dudas' new moc, I could almost hear David Attenborough's voice.  Built for a contest on Eurobricks, Miro has captured the action perfectly.  The fox, listening to it's prey scurrying beneath the snow, almost has a smile on its face, ready to strike.  Lunchtime!

Firestorm

Every once in a while a ship comes along that just screams to be swooshed. You know what I mean, you just wish you could reach into the screen, grab ahold of it, pull it out and run around the room making ridiculous but totally satisfying spaceship sounds and flying it with one hand (and in my case closing one eye and pretend the other is a camera). Today, this marvelous Vic Viper by builder Tim Schwalfenberg is that ship.

Khvostov 7G-0X

Nick Brick is back with another top-notch video game inspired weapon. This time around it's a rifle from Destiny: Rise of Iron, and it's pretty stunning. It's a bit of a departure from the more fanciful weapons of recent history and seems more rooted in reality (looks an awful lot like an AK-47 in my opinion). The attention to detail is what we'd expect from Nick, making this a jaw-dropping reproduction.

The Grand Bazaar

Builder Mark E shows us what it's like to shop in style with this magnificent MOC. The combination of excellent architectural details, rare colors and a compact but open design make for a wonderful scene. You really need to zoom in to truly appreciate this, so I recommend clicking through and checking out the many full size pics.

No Starch Humble Bundle

Those fine folks at Humble Bundle and No Starch Press are having "pay what you want" sale and you can score some amazing deals on ebook versions of a load of LEGO inspired titles. Check out this lineup!

Pay any amount to receive ebooks of:
Beautiful LEGO
The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 1
Medieval LEGO
The LEGO Build-It Book, Vol. 1

Pay more than $8 to receive all of the above, plus:
The Cult of LEGO
Incredible LEGO Technic
The LEGO Build-It Book, Vol. 2
Forbidden LEGO
LEGO Space
The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Fantastic Contraptions

Pay more than $15 to receive all of the above, plus:
The LEGO Architect
The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book
The LEGO Neighborhood Book
The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Discovery Book
The LEGO Power Functions Idea Book, Vol. 1
Steampunk LEGO

It's $323 in books that you can have for as little as $15, and it supports charity! What are you waiting for? The sale ends Nov 23rd so get going! 

Eve

Character design and animation at Pixar is pretty amazing. If you saw a sketch of Eve from Wall-E before you saw the movie, you would scarcely suspect she was capable of the range of emotions required for the film, but she was. You might also have suspected she would be pretty much impossible to build with LEGO, but thanks to builder LuisPG2015 you can see it's not

A Circle Within A Circle Within A Circle Within...

Every once in a while a MOC comes along that makes you go "wait...what?" This motorized gimbal by builder Sheo stopped me cold this morning, and I love that. It seems impossible at first (even for someone with a background in mechanical contraptions) but then you look more carefully and it makes sense. And in motion it's as beautiful as it is confounding.

Nerdvember continues

As you may have noticed there's a counter at the top of the page, that's how long you have left to build and enter your Disney inspired Nerdly MOC for Nerdvember 2016. The official Flickr group is already filling up with marvelous MOCs, like this adorable Mickey by Ronnie. So what are you waiting for? Build on and nerd out!