Into The Unknown

When I was little, growing up to be an astronaut was all the rage. With our head in the stars, we dreamed about distant galaxies and meting aliens along the way. But this moc by Ralf Langer is nothing like that. This is not the colorful domaine of cute and friendly aliens from cartoons, and judging by the state of this facility the last thing these aliens are thinking about is having a good time. As this astronaut ventures deep into the alien compound, he might just send out one last message into the stars: “This is Brickley last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off”.

A REAL President

It’s the policy of BrickNerd not to get political, but if a MOC this good is inherently political in its nature, I’m happy to break that rule (besides, it’s my blog, try and stop me). I got a warm fuzzy seeing our former president in his natural habitat, skillfully crafted by builder jarekwally. The oval office hasn’t looked this good in over two years.

Happy Easter!

There will be no Easter baskets at our house this year, for the first time in over at least 25 years. This is because we’ll be celebrating aboard the Disney Wonder, which is a pretty good reason. But if the Easter Bunny visits your house today I hope he brings plenty of yummy treats, colorful eggs and of course LEGO. Speaking of the Easter Bunny, check out this wonderful creation by Swan Dutchman. And while you’re at it, see if you can identify the two LEGO themes represented by the two smaller eggs (Easter egg Easter eggs, get it?)

Our Next Droid Obsession

When The Force Awakens came out pretty much everyone went BB-8 crazy. I mean that little bugger was EVERYWHERE. Well I’d like to introduce you to the next big thing, D-O. We don’t know much about this little guy, with the exception of how damn cute he is, but you can bet he’ll be on Slurpee cups and bags of carrots soon enough. This version by Takamichiii showed up in record time after his reveal during Star Wars Celebration.

Mercedes G4

WWII was a terrible time in our history, but a lot of pretty cool designs came out of it. Like the stunning B-17, the venerable Willys Jeep and the Spitfire, there’s nothing like a bunch of humans wanting to kill each other to spur some design eh? While the nazis were pretty much the worst thing ever, they managed to bring some pretty amazing vehicles to the battlefield, like the Mercedes G4, wonderfully depicted here by builder red 2. And if it troubles you to see nazis in brick form, try to imagine Indiana Jones just out of frame, ready to punch them in the face.

Onnar Rambrow

The great Pate-keetongu is back with another brilliant character build. This time it’s a dwarf from nothing in particular, just the imagination of Eero, but what an imagination it is. While it’s not from a direct source, the Tolkien and Weta influence is very evident, and he goes into detail about the inspiration in a post on his website, click through for the full story.

Red Five Standing By

There have been no shortages of X-Wings built from LEGO, both official sets and fan made. It’s one of the most popular ships in the Star Wars universe so it’s no wonder. So you would think with so many built I would be totally over them, but I still get giddy when I see one. And when it’s as good as this awesome rendition of Luke’s starfighter by Swan Dutchman, I want to lock S-foils in attack position, if you know what I mean.

Sinewy Searcher

How would you like to look up and see this coming down your street? I think I’d be so conflicted between silently screaming and relieving myself in whatever I was wearing and total awestruck captivation I would be utterly paralyzed (and not so fresh). Builder Rogue Bantha shows us the intersection of nightmares and futurism (and also nightmares).

Soon... Beginning of the End

It’s expected that over one billion people around the world will tune in for tonight’s premier of Game of Thrones’ final season. Those are numbers not seen since OJ took a ride in his Bronco, or somebody shot a guy named JR. It’s certainly not a show for the faint-of-heart, and the chances of it ever being an official LEGO theme is about the same as safely navigating an asteroid field. I know, don’t tell you the odds…

But Markus 19840420 has paid a fine tribute to the legendary show with this nicely composed still shot.

Great Balls Of Fire

I don’t know what else to say about this MOC by vitreolum except that one thing you should not underestimate when it comes to pianos is fire safety. Clearly this gentleman did to disastrous results. I don’t know if he just had his nerves shook and brain rattled, nor do I know if it was purely the friction of the hammers on the strings or if an accelerant was involved, but this piano will never be the same, and that’s just a shame.

Splatoon

Once again I’m showcasing a MOC from a video game I’ve never played. Does this mean there are way too many games out there, or does it mean I don’t play many games? Probably both, but I’m cool with that, I’d rather be making something than playing with someone else’s creation. Or better yet, like builder LEGO 7 here, building something inspired by someone else’s creation, like the colorful and charismatic crew from Splatoon.

You Have Five Points Left On Your License

I love when I watch a movie and very soon after a MOC appears in my Flickr feed, it’s like fate or something. I literally watched this movie (well, mostly listened to) two days ago while at the studio. I was also fortunate enough to work at Digital Domain, and a lot of the models made for this feature were still on display during my time there (yes, technically I was paid to spend a few minutes every week of so ogling at a gorgeous model). I adore this version of Korben Dallas’ taxi by builder Davdup, it makes me want to watch the movie all over again.

Look What the Time Cruisers Have Returned With!

As much as I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I didn’t read many of the classics until I was an adult. Honestly there are still areas I haven’t delved as deep into as I would like. Short fiction is really where both genres shine (Horror too, but I’ve read far less of that). There’s so much that can be explored in a short story! Some of the most memorable SF/F works for me are short works as opposed to the multi-volume epics. Alan Mann was inspired by Frank R. Paul’s classic ‘Zine covers, for this lovely creation. The editing to get the look of a vintage cover is fantastic! The whimsy and creepiness of the alien are fantastic. Then there is the strangeness of the StarBeard in the background. (Check out Alan’s flickr for pics of the builds) The brick-punning of the names of the classic authors is fantastically done and not as forced as some combinations could be. (Likely why my favorite Ray Bradbury isn’t on there. That one would be a bit harder to pull off as well as Alan did.) I wonder what stories are in this issue. Maybe one of my favorites: “Brick Fall” by Asamoc, “The Nine Billion Bricks of God” by Arthur C. Clutch, “All You MiniFigs” by Robrick Heinlein “Do Minifigs Dream of Brick Sheep?” by Philip K. Brick, or “The Bricking of the Strange Orchid” by H. G. Playwells.

Surfer Babe

In high school I was a surfer. Well, I had a surfboard and a wetsuit, and we went to the beach a lot. Mostly I would paddle out, wait for the perfect moment to get smashed by a wave, drink a bunch of salt water and get my face dragged on the ocean floor for a bit, you know… surfing! I’m pretty sure if this baby surfer by ted @ndes had been there they would have surfed circles around me.

Saria

The moment I saw this lovely sculpture by builder Julius von Brunk I immediately heard Saria’s Theme in my head (and had an overwhelming desire to play an ocarina, weird huh?). Yes, it’s Saria, from one of the greatest games of all time The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. Julius also created this great video breaking down her somewhat unusual construction.

The One Wheel

There is something about mono-wheels that I find irresistible. This is despite two engineering degrees and years of professional experience that screams, “Not Practical!”, “It would have a giant turning radius!”, “There are reasons why unicycles are only seen at circuses!”, among other things.  I think my appreciation is because the mono-wheel is the distillation of a vehicle down to the fewest components: a wheel, a seat, and an engine. Daniel Church has provided an excellent mono-wheel.  The wheel is constructed from the new roller-coaster track and detailed with light grey and black Nexo shield tiles. The boiler behind the driver is well constructed as is the piston assembly.  The best part by far is that Daniel motorized the whole thing, the mono-wheel in motion with the chain drive running and the piston pumping really sells the steampunk design.

Barn Find

This is every vintage car fanatics dream, the barn find. You’re passing through a rural area, decide to stop for lunch at a little greasy spoon. As you dig into your chicken fried steak an old timer at the counter spots your hat, a distinctive but maybe obscure car logo (mine would be an old VW Wolfsburg crest) and walks over. As he drops in the seat across from you he points at your hat “you like old cars huh?” As you nod yes with a mouth full of food he tells you about the old car he has in his barn. He bought it 40 years ago and was going to fix it up, but it’s just been sitting there covered with a tarp ever since. You agree that this needs to be seen, and the rest is a hell of a story for the people in your car club. Builder Norton74 shows us what this might look like with a classic Ford Mustang, and it’s a dream come true.

IKEA

You need only walk through the door of BrickNerd Studios to see we’re fans of IKEA. Just about 100% of the furnishings here are IKEA, from the tables we build on, the desk I blog from (and write, edit, composite, illustrate, design….) to the “stages” we shoot animation on (ok, they’re tables, but they’re IKEA tables) it’s all IKEA. Initially when the studio was set up it was going to be temporary to shoot the animation for The LEGO Brickumentary, but I loved having a studio so much I decided to keep it. So it is with great fondness I present this tiny tribute to the giant store by builder cubo31, it’s ÄDÖRBS.

Jörmungandr

Sea World came under attack a few years ago after the documentary Blackfish came out. The treatment of the sea life there while possibly well intended has never been great, and the pool size for the whales there is just appalling. But look at the tiny size of the the pool for this sea serpent! It is absolutely criminal, and builder adde51 may have to answer to the authorities if this goes viral (please go viral, I could use the traffic).

The Four Devine Beasts

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is one of my all time favorite games. It’s been over two years since it came out and I’m still playing it on occasion and I still have things to do. While it was a pretty drastic departure from other Zelda games, the spirit was the same, and I really can’t get enough of it. One of the biggest differences is the lack of dungeons and introduction of the Devine Beasts (which, let’s face it, were pretty much dungeons). Each one was unique and they’re represented here in fine form by builder speedyhead. This makes me want to break out the controller right now!