BrickNerd returned five years ago with the intention of celebrating creativity, amplifying builder voices, and creating a home for thoughtful, in-depth coverage of the LEGO hobby. As we head into 2026, the growth and engagement of this community continue to shape not just what BrickNerd publishes, but where it goes next.

As 2025 wraps up, it feels like the right time to pause and look back. Below, we’re sharing some of the numbers that shaped the year, a handful of standout articles, and a few New Year’s resolutions guiding BrickNerd as we move into 2026.

Reflecting on BrickNerd in 2025

Looking back on 2025, it’s clear that BrickNerd continued to do what it does best by telling meaningful stories from across the LEGO community while staying grounded in the people and creativity that make the hobby special. Over the course of the year, we published hundreds of articles spanning interviews, event coverage, instructions, opinion pieces, and deep dives into building techniques. We collaborated with builders, writers, and organizers from around the world, attended events large and small, brought back the Imperial March contest, and continued to recognize outstanding community members through our Nerd of Note awards.

BrickNerd also remained a contributor-driven platform in 2025. New voices joined longtime writers, first-time contributors published their very first LEGO articles, and builders stepped outside their comfort zones to share not just what they made but why they built it. That mix of perspectives continues to shape the site’s voice in ways no single editor or algorithm could.

Representation and visibility across the global LEGO community remained an ongoing priority. Throughout 2025, we highlighted builders, cultures, events, and communities from a wide range of countries and backgrounds. The map below shows the places we’ve touched through features, interviews, and events so far. (Fun fact: More than half of BrickNerd’s readership comes from outside the United States!) While we’re proud of that reach, we’re also aware there are still regions, voices, and stories that deserve more attention, and we remain committed to broadening that lens.

We’re deeply honored by the global support and excitement for BrickNerd and everything it stands for. This platform exists for you, our fellow LEGO nerds, to share, learn, and grow together.

Challenges We Faced in 2025

2025 also brought its share of challenges, many of them reflective of broader changes across the internet and fan-media landscape. Like many independent sites, BrickNerd saw portions of its traffic affected by the growing presence of ad blockers, AI-generated summaries and scraped content, which negatively impact analytics and increasingly surface answers without directing readers back to original sources. While this shift is outside our control, it has real implications for how creative work is discovered and credited.

However, while overall site views were flat this year compared with last, BrickNerd’s influence continued to grow. We find our work is being shared, referenced, and discussed more than ever across the global LEGO fan community and beyond, even as how people discover and consume content continues to evolve. (As a fun aside, BrickNerd stickers are popping up in the craziest places too!) We don’t do all the work of maintaining this site for the views; we do it for the community. And we will continue to do so no matter what.

Alongside this, we’ve dealt with a deluge of spam and clone sites that scrape BrickNerd content wholesale, republishing articles without permission or attribution and then scamming readers. Addressing these issues has required ongoing monitoring, takedown requests, and legal review—work that is largely invisible to readers but essential to protecting the site’s integrity, which, unfortunately, takes valuable time away from making the site the best it can be.

Behind the scenes, BrickNerd also experienced a significant increase in day-to-day operational demands. As responsibilities grew and professional commitments expanded for our editorial team, it became clear that the way we’ve historically operated needs to evolve. Maintaining the quality, consistency, and responsiveness readers expect can no longer rest on a single set of shoulders, so we are in the process of distributing our editorial structure. This includes expanding the team with contributors and copy editors, redefining roles, and building systems that better support contributors, editors, and the long-term sustainability of the site. We see this as a positive step—one that allows BrickNerd to remain resilient, adaptable, and community-focused as it continues to grow and progress.

Now let’s dive into the numbers from 2025 to reflect on what we’ve accomplished as a community.

BrickNerd 2025 By The Numbers

1,690,000 articles read during the year (1% less than last year)
22,138 combined followers on various social media platforms
4,890 days worth of non-stop 24-hour reading if all the visits to BrickNerd in 2025 were accessed by a single person (more than 13 years!)
248 brand new articles
243 feature articles linked to from other LEGO fan media

215 countries where readers accessed the site (with significant increases in China and India)
129 building contest reminders
92 builder showcases, MOC spotlights and MOC round-ups
61 deep dives on nerdy LEGO topics
72 interviews (almost impossible to count since we try to talk to EVERYONE)
48 current contributors from around the world who speak dozens of languages
37 paid Patrons supporting BrickNerd every month (thank you!)
35 guest articles highlighting the best minds from the AFOL community
22 event and convention reports
20 instructions published for custom LEGO creations
4 minutes 10 seconds average read time per article

Fan Favorite Articles

Numbers can show reach, but they don’t always capture impact. With that in mind, I asked members of the BrickNerd community (patrons and contributors alike) to highlight their favorite articles from 2025. These ten rose to the top among an incredible year of work.

New Year’s Resolutions

So what’s ahead for BrickNerd in 2026? You can expect more of the thoughtful, in-depth LEGO coverage you’ve come to rely on, along with some important behind-the-scenes changes. We’re expanding both our contributors and editorial team, and we’re working on several site improvements—including better access to our archive, a refreshed social media presence, the launch of a BrickNerd swag shop, and updates to a few core pages to better reflect where the site is today.

Thanks to You!

That brings our look back at 2025 to a close. None of this would be possible without the time, care, and creativity of our contributors, the generous support of our Patrons and sponsors, and the enthusiasm of everyone who reads, shares, and supports the site.

As we head into 2026, there are plenty of ways to get involved. We’re always happy to welcome new voices to the BrickNerd contributor team, and support through Patreon, donations, or affiliate links helps keep everything running. Even something as simple as sharing an article you enjoyed makes a real difference.

Thank you for being part of the BrickNerd community, and Happy New Year from all of us at BrickNerd!

How do you think BrickNerd has done the past year? What do you want to see from us next year? We’d love to hear your feedback below!

Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Marc & Liz Puleo, Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, Wayne Tyler, Dan Church, and Roxanne Baxter to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.