Nerds are not jocks. We don’t gravitate to the most popular kid in the room just because they’re popular, and we’re all out to embrace the new kid in town. Which is why we were excited to see a fab new account full of elegant new LEGO works by builder Amida Na.

Turns out, Amida is absolutely not a newcomer. Even with LEGO ramping up their profile in Asia, Amida has been a professional builder in South Korea for fifteen years. In fact, Amida was featured on BrickNerd in 2013, 2014, twice in 2015, and 2017!

How was I to know? But that was then, and this is now. We new Nerds aim for more than mere photo shares; we reach out in our socially awkward ways and try to get to know the builders behind the bricks. Alas, BrickNerd has no correspondents in Korea (but if you are interested, let us know!). I’m nerdy about K-dramas, but plot points in “Coffee Prince” and the opening sequence of “Cinderella and the Four Knights” do not offer actual insight into the Korean AFOL scene. I was honored that Amida took some time to chat.

Amida’s new accounts on Flickr and Instagram signify a reboot, more focused on small LEGO builds. What a coincidence. Reboots all around!

The builds in Amida’s gallery are striking in their economy. They employ only a small number of elements, but each piece earns its keep. Personally, I enjoy the human figures most.

We’ve all seen miniland scale builds, but those involve a specific formula. Amida’s forms are slightly different—familiar, but unique; classic, but modern. LEGO has a full arsenal of curves, slopes, and angles these days, and these models employ exactly the right ones to say the most while using the least.

Amida designs digitally but also builds with real bricks to test how the models hold up in real life.

In case I needed more of a history lesson, it just so happens that Amida designed one of my first favorite MOCs I saw online, the Pegasus Automaton. Amida says that we should watch out for a reboot of that model, too. I wait with baited technic beams!

How nerdy is your global AFOL knowledge? Are there more builders in the region we should look at with our thick glasses? Are there other LEGO-centric K-dramas I should put on my watch list? Nerds love to learn. Comment below!

What other LEGO builders don’t get the attention they deserve? Let us know in the comments below.

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