The Center for the Performing Arts

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Ahh, the theater. I was in a few productions during high school, and I still remember that feeling of extreme anxiety moments before you walk out on stage before you make a fool of yourself (I was a natural at that). This micro-scale theater by Aaron Newman is much less intimidating, and much more charming. The use of the fan pieces for the curtains are inspired.

The Center for the Performing Arts

Merchant Matteo

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Bionicle builder Mana Ramp Matron is back with another awesome creation, not only for it's construction, but for the lore behind it. Giving a back story on a build isn't uncommon, many builders weave a little storytelling into their MOCs (which is so cool) but this one is unusual for the subject matter. This is actually based on a previously built character, and tells the story from his past. The original figure of Matteo has seen numerous upgrades and rebuilds over the years, now a new chapter opens, with some of his mysterious past coming to light.

Bionicle MOC: Matteo, Merchant of Lemuria

Light! There Must Be Land Nearby!

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I feel like lighthouses a quite a rare site today in the real world, which isn't something I've thought too much about until I saw this lovely model by Tim Schwalfenberg. With such a dark atmosphere, the white tower really pops and draws your focus to this creation. I think the white stone design was a good choice, besides creating the contrast that begs for your attention. I think white stonework isn't done too often, and works so well for a lighthouse such as this creation. Ships don't need to worry, for this lighthouse will show you the way!

Lighthouse
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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. 

He's Alive...Alive!

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...And pretty stinkin' adorable. It's Frankenstein's monster, by builder DOGOD Brick Design. Yes, I said Frankenstein's monster, it's not Frankenstein, that's the doctor that built him. Fun fact: he actually doesn't have a name. He refers to himself (yeah, he actually spoke) as "thy Adam", in a nod to the bible (first man, get it?) but this has never really been explored in the films. Then again he's also never referred to as "Monster" in the book, so we're all wrong.

nEO_IMG_DOGOD_Frankenstein_04
nEO_IMG_DOGOD_Frankenstein_02

"I Can Show You the Ways of the Force!" "What?"

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Carter Witz recreated the stunning new lightsaber duel we saw in the Force Awakens. Excellent rockwork, with Rey positioned just over the edge as Starkiller Base splits apart. The trees made by Carter are also well done, though a tad skinny. I continue to see just how useful minifigure arms and hands can be to a wide range of creations. I also appreciate the base of this model, just the way the rockwork meets the blade border. Very sleek! 

The Duel (main)
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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. 

Review: Ultimate LEGO Star Wars

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Review: Ultimate LEGO Star Wars

In 1999 the LEGO company and Lucasfilm came together to make what so many of us had dreamed of for years, LEGO Star Wars. All the kids of my generation had attempted at least a few times to make something from Star Wars in bricks, but now we could get official sets. The results were, and continue to be, phenomenal and prolific. So prolific in fact that it's become somewhat difficult to keep it all straight, but not anymore. Thanks to DK and The Brothers Brick's Chris Malloy and Andrew Becraft we now have the definitive guide to all things LEGO Star Wars, and it's glorious.

Read More

Bustin' Ghosts, Mecha Style

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I can't help but think the movie Ghostbusters would have been entirely different if the boys in gray were equipped with these babies. Builder chubbybots imagines Ghostbusting via mech, and the results are captivating. This is Ecto 4, 5 and 6, each equipped we assume with an unlicensed nuclear accelerator. Staypuft wouldn't have stood a chance against these.

ectogrp

Weelond Oktoberfest

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Way back in October 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig got married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, and the whole of Munich turned out for the party, and they've been partying ever since. But humans started gathering for celebration with beer, food and friends long before that, and builder Ayrlego shows us what it looked like in medieval times (pretty much the same).

Weelond Oktoberfest

Do You Need Waste Removed? I Know a Truck. . .

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I think some creations that deserve more recognition then they receive are well-built city vehicles for minifigs, such as this garbage truck by De-marco. With some simple experimentation, and even by using basic elements, you can create excellently scaled (and detailed, too) vehicles for your city layouts! If you're a city builder, you need to check out this creative truck (it even has a working feature!). 

Waste container transporter
Waste container transporter
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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. 

Alien Covenant Lifter

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I haven't seen Alien Covenant yet (yeah, I'm a bad nerd sometimes), but I have seen lots of the designs from the film. The first time I saw this lifter (and a few other vehicles) by legendary designer Steve Berg I knew it was only a matter of time before we saw them in bricks. This one practically looks like LEGO in the film, it's just it's natural state. Builder AL13N163NA totally nailed the look of this very industrial ship, it looks pretty much camera ready. Fun fact: I got my first big break in film when I got a hot tip from a friend while attending Steve Berg's bachelor party, funny how Hollywood works.

Gladensong (A Fairy Tree House)

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While surfing the pages of Eurobricks I happened across this magical gem. The post is from Sean Mayo, of the duo Siercon and Coral, this is from his new profile Random Vector.

Normally I would try and point out techniques and such that make this a special MOC but this time I will be content to let the picture do most of the talking. Just some little bullet points.. 

  • The treehouse itself.
  • That adorable little boat.
  • Well everything really....
Fairy Tree House

As a side note if you want to explain what it means to be an AFOL and want to show someone what we aspire to, you could do worse than send people a link to Sean and Stephs flickr. It's a real tour de force of techniques, themes and style.

Technique Tuesday - Tile Floor with Grout

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technique_tuesday (1).jpg

One of the best things about the LEGO community is that we can learn from one another.  Here at BrickNerd, we like to share techniques that we see from builders all around the world. . .

Joe Miller shows us a technique that can turn a boring, plain floor into a floor with a pro design! This can go with any modern kitchen, or old dungeon. It's a simple combination of 2x2 tiles and putting those 1x2x1 wall elements together to create a small gap between the tiles of your flooring. Simple, but next level detail!

Tile with Grout
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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. 

To Bespin!

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One awesome MOC, many awesome LEGO scenes. When you build one room from Cloud City, you gotta build 'em all! Forgotten Days made this massive diorama that packs in many details, and almost allows you to recreate a large portion of the Empire Strikes Back. I don't know about you, but I'd like to join Mr. Calrissian for a tour...

Star Wars: Episode V - Cloud City
Star Wars: Episode V - Cloud City
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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. 

Thriller!

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Have you ever wondered what Michael Jackson would look as a zombie? Yeah, me neither. On the other hand, this makes LEGO 7's latest model even more unique. Those eyes are a tad scary, but what's even more scary is how Jackson's hair still looks good, even in resurrected form. The zombie hands crawling their way from the depths of the earth is the excellent finishing touch that this build needed. 

PVZ Michael Jackson
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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. 

Jupiter V

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SHIPtember may be over, but the memories live on, and with a few late arrivals we can keep celebrating. I had the pleasure of hanging out with Tim Schwalfenberg at BrickCon this year, he's a fascinating guy with mad building skills. For instance, he constructed this beast while actually away from home and his LEGO collection. The lineage to the Saturn V is obvious, but what a beautiful craft.

Jupiter V

Falcon Painting In Bricks

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At first glance you might think this MOC by city son is just a graphic or painting, then you start seeing studs and think it's bricks arranged around a graphic. Then you see that the Falcon itself is also bricks and find yourself going "whoaaaa". It's unconventional yes, not so much built as arranged, but it's still LEGO, and it's friggin' awesome.

Millennium Falcon Painting