Nerdvember is halfway gone, BrickNerd aficionados! “What exactly is Nerdvember?” you ask. Well, it’s a month where we get EXCEPTIONALLY nerdy (we’re talking double-tiered pocket-protector nerdy) and dive even deeper into LEGO topics, techniques, themes, history, lore, MOCs, and more. But it also means we host our annual contest where you can reimagine our mascot, Nerdly, to win some awe-inspiring prizes!

In past years we’ve done a high fantasy theme and a survival theme. “So what’s the contest theme this year?” you ask? (Sheesh, so many questions!!!) This year we are feeling a bit more… animated. Welcome to Nerdvember 2024: Animation Edition!

Animated Excitement

Yes indeed, animation in all its forms is the theme of the contest. We want you to get creative with our Nerdly mascot (here are basic instructions as a PDF download) and customize it to an animated character of your choosing. We’re looking for the best that animation has to offer!

Will you make something classic from Disney or Pixar? Or will you go along the route of Nickelodeon and Saturday morning cartoons? You could even go in a different direction and make a kinetic and moving sculpture. Or you could create your own Nerdly Brickfilm! All interpretations of “animation” are fair game.

Think Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, DuckTales, Futurama, The Magic School Bus and more. Shrek, Monsters Inc., Kung Fu Panda, Popeye, Spongebob, Totoro, and the Minions are all on the table. Heck, so are Dora the Explorer, Sailor Moon and the Grinch. Even Avatar, Rick and Morty, Winnie the Pooh, Astro Boy, the Pink Panther, Smurfs, or even something esoteric like the Yellow Submarine are all possibilities. Surprise us with your interpretation of Animation!

Take a look at the past Nerdvember contests and the animated Nerdly builds above from previous contests for more inspiration. Remember, we are looking for several key things in your builds:

Concept: Is the idea clever, tell a story, and could be classified as animated in any way?
Quality & Presentation: Is the creation built well, feature any NPU, and composed/photographed in a way that enhances the overall creation?
Nerdiness: Does the creation have a balance of Nerdly features that clearly convey the BrickNerd mascot (color, shape, studs, glasses, etc.)?

How to Enter

You have until the end of November to build your animated Nerdly. New for this year (and based on the popularity of previous contests), we are collecting entries via a Google form as well as Flickr/Instagram. The form will help us track entries and give proper credit for linking, but make sure to also post it on Flickr in our Nerdvember 2024 group or on Instagram tagging @bricknerdofficial using the hashtags #Nerdvember2024 #BrickNerd and #Nerdly.

Prizes!

What is a contest without some prizes? The winners of Nerdvember 2024 can expect some pretty awesome animated prizes!

First Place

The first place winner can choose between receiving a mailed set 43242 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ Cottage OR a $200 LEGO spending spree!

Second Place

The second place winner can choose between receiving mailed sets 43227 Villan Icons and 40613 Palace of Agrabah OR a $150 LEGO spending spree.

Third Place

The third place winner can choose between receiving a mailed set 21352 Magic of Disney OR a $100 LEGO spending spree.

The top winner will also receive our rare and shiny Golden Nerdly trophy and a BrickNerd swag box too! So get building and all this loot could be yours.

Nerdvember 2024: Animation Edition Official Rules

Entries must be inspired by Nerdly and themed on animation or something related and witty.
The contest will be judged by BrickNerd contributors who will evaluate entries based on concept (is the idea clever and related to animation), quality (is the creation built well and feature any NPU), presentation (is the scene composed and photographed in a way that enhances the creation), and nerdiness (does the creation have a balance of Nerdly features that clearly convey the BrickNerd mascot).
Entries should be submitted via Google form and posted either in the Nerdvember 2024 Flickr group or on Instagram tagging @bricknerdofficial using the hashtags #Nerdvember2024 #BrickNerd and #Nerdly. If you don’t have a Google account or either Flicker or Instagram, please email your submission to dave@bricknerd.com.
The contest ends on Saturday, November 30th, 2024 at 11:59 pm PST (7:59 am GMT on Dec. 1st for the Europeans). Winners will be announced a few weeks later.
Please only submit one file for each entry (extras will be removed). If you upload an Instagram gallery, please make the first image the one you want to be judged.
You may enter as many times as you want with unique creations. A single builder can win multiple prizes.
All entries must be new creations. Entries may be updated as long as the contest is still open.
Digital renders are allowed, though the creation must be structurally sound and all the pieces must be available physically. Custom, modified and unavailable recolored bricks are not allowed this time around.
These rules and the prizes may be modified at any point, and prizes may be substituted for comparable items depending on the winner’s location.

Have you been working on a Nerdvember entry? Did you forget about it right up to the time you read this post? Will you now be scrambling to enter the contest? Leave your thoughts in the comments 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, LeAnna Taylor, Monica Innis, Dan Church, Roxanne Baxter, and Steven Laughlin to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.