Link's House

/

The Legend of Zelda is totally my jam, and Breath of the Wild is an absolute masterpiece. I’ve been playing it since it came out over two and a half years ago and I’m still loving it. In fact I finished it on Wii U, then I got a Switch for father’s day and started all over again, I love it. So seeing this perfectly rendered rendition of Link’s house from builder Boba-1980 makes my nerd heart sing. It’s even got an interior where Link can rest and admire his weapon collection, brilliant.

I Scream For NEOPOLITIM

/

I’ve been into LEGO all my life, and running this blog for over 6 years now. I’m kinda old and kinda jaded, and not much makes me squee like a little girl. But today, I’m happy to announce I squee’d, I squee’d hard. Today this little guy arrived in the mail from writer, artist and all around renaissance man Craig Kyle. Craig contacted me earlier this week about Tim here and while the hundreds made sold out in a stunning 93 minutes, he still had one to generously send me. Of course I jumped at the opportunity and today he arrived, and he’s as good as eating all the chocolate in the Neapolitan (yeah, I would totally do that).

While I’m not an avid minifigure collector I do have quite a few. That is unless you’re counting the ones used for stop motion animation, then I have hundreds. I mean the ones that stay together and get displayed, and those amount to just a select few. Well you can be absolutely sure this little guy will be proudly on display at BrickNerd HQ. The problem is how to display him, because he comes packed in hands down the most clever and cute packaging i’ve seen for a minifigure, maybe for any collectable I’ve ever possessed.

I mean check it out, he comes in a little custom printed ice cream tub! And he’s not just rolling around inside, there’s a printed die cut paper “ice cream” layer for him! And you don’t just get the figure, he’s holding a cone topped with miniature him in one hand and a scoop in the other. Also included is a custom printed base.

Everywhere you look at this figure, and the packaging, it’s custom. Craig partnered with those mad geniuses at Citizen Brick to do the pad printing on the 100% genuine LEGO elements. And he’s printed all over, from his waffle pattern pants to his “eat me” hat. Even the micro figure is printed front and back. The attention to detail, whimsy and humor in this little guy has me smiling ear to ear (and strangely enough craving ice cream, hmm). Thank you very much Craig, I’ll cherish him.

While NEOPOLITIM is sold out, Craig has other things in the works. Follow him on Instagram and check out his website Lemon Scented Ninja to keep up on the progress.

Tortooga

/

I know what you are all thinking, this isn’t from Pirates of the Caribbean?!? No, it’s not, and as the kids say these days you got click-baited. I’m kidding! Tortooga is actually the name Klikstyle gave to this wonderful little turtle from a fantasy world. Although part of me is thinking about how adorable it is, there’s always that other part of me that wonders what it tastes like. But I’m sure with sharp spines and a shell like that it’s safe from my flimsy hands, for now.

Veggiesaurus

/

We all know you have to eat your veggies if you want to grow up big and strong, it’s just too bad there’s nothing in that old saying about proper arm length or a natural immunity to large meteors. But please don’t mention that to this dino by Greeble_Scum, he seems to really be enjoying his greens. Besides, just because he doesn’t eat meat doesn’t mean he won’t bite it.

The Library From Beauty And The Beast

/

BrickCon 2019 is over, and I had a blast. Among the many notable events this year were: My wife came with me (her first BrickCon), I walked just about 20 miles over the four days, I was given a Nerdly 10-Doh (thanks Mike!) and I was co-coordinator for the Pop Culture theme (with the great Brandon Griffith). Of course there were a great number of fantastic MOCs in our theme, but this incredible library from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast by builder ssential was a stand out. So much so that me and Brandon awarded it “Best Picture”, and I’m pleased to announce it went on to earn “Best in Show” for BrickCon 2019. Sarah meticulously documented its construction, posting loads of pictures on Flickr, click through to see how this stunning build was accomplished.

Aegis

/

If you didn’t know BrickCon is going on right now in Seattle WA and I’m there. This means I get to see loads of really cool builds in person and even better I get to meet (or be reunited with) the builders behind them. Yesterday I was thrilled to see this beast with my own eyeballs and chat with its builder Rphilo004. While the pictures are awesome, nothing compares to standing in front of it and gawking.

Jack's House

/

Tim Burton’s design for The Nightmare Before Christmas is as iconic as the film itself. Everywhere you look in the film there’s things so wonderfully off kilter they defy logic but draw you in. It’s so charming your brain just automatically forgives any gap in reality. Builder monstrophonic captures this aesthetic perfectly with this rendition of Jack Skellington’s house, and the same rules apply here.

Behind The Scenes Of Empire Strikes Back

/

When Star Wars came out in 1977 I was 9 years old, the perfect age to be warped for life. I can remember scouring every issue of Starlog, Cinefex, Cinefatastiqe and every other magazine and book I could find. Images like this scene, brilliantly recreated by Konrad Aksinowicz fueled my imagination and ignited my passion for visual effects and filmmaking. The creative geniuses at ILM have always been heroes of mine, and paved the way for me and entire generation of anonymous craftspeople making movie magic behind the scenes.

The One That Started It All

/

I vividly remember when the Gameboy came out. I was working on The Boneyard in North Carolina and saw a segment on TV promoting it. The next day I went to Wal-Mart (the first I’d ever been to) and bought two, one for me and one for my girlfriend. I then proceeded to play it non-stop for years. It was truly a game changer (pun intended) and I’m proud to say I still have them 30 years later, not that they’re totally functional. I still have my girlfriend too, only now I call her my wife. Thanks for the warm fuzzy nostalgia Cha Mi.

Dragon Combiner Mech

/

The French Bricks Junky has come up with a new spin on a familiar theme. Similar to the Mega Mechs we all know and love from Saturday morning cartoons way back when, and of course the official Voltron set I reviewed a while back, this combiner consists of Chinese dragons. Each one is occupied by a minifig pilot, and the entire rig is decidedly more posable than Voltron. I appreciate the intricate details put into this, too; horns, moustaches and the like. You can watch it in action in the video. Okay, now let’s see a battle!!

Mickey And The Roadster Racers

/

Everyone knows what a Disney fan I am, so naturally this brilliant little pair of cars from Ianying616 caught my eye. While I’ve never seen the show they’re based on (what do you want? There’s no young children at my house these days), I can see right away that a lot of care went into recreating these. I just want to zoom zoom them.

Spring-Heeled Jack

/

I love how much I learn because of this blog. I had never heard of Spring-Heeled Jack, or at least I was unfamiliar with him but the name rang a bell. This intrigued me and I have been distracted for a little while now reading about his history. I’d say it’s about time for a modern feature film with this chap, thanks for the newfound knowledge Paddy Bricksplitter!

Cha-Cha & Hazel

/

If you haven’t seen The Umbrella Academy you need to, it’s imaginative, out there and compelling. When described it’s really difficult to not sound insane. Like the talking patriarchal chimp, the dead “brother”, the time travel, it’s all pretty nuts. Like these two mask wearing, time traveling assassins, Cha-Cha and Hazel by builder Legopard (it makes more sense if you just watch the show).

Arggg!

/

I almost scrolled right past this based on it’s thumbnail, that’s a testament of the awesomeness of this build by Miro78. If it wasn’t for that slight tilt of his head I might have overlooked this. Celebrating LEGO Pirates’ 30th anniversary, Miro built this perfectly proportioned Captain Redbeard and his trusty parrot guarding his treasure. I’ve always had a soft spot for LEGO Pirates, it’s the theme that brought me out of my involuntary dim age.

CADA Porsche 919 Hybrid Test Car

/

I’m not a fast driver, never have been. I’ve had one speeding ticket all my life and that’s not because I enjoy the sensation of speed, it’s because I was late for dinner and I’m afraid of my wife. So I cannot fathom driving this beast by builder NikolayFX. Then again, there’s only a handful of drivers in the world Porsche would trust behind the wheel, and I’m not one of them.