Teetering

I know just how this jester feels. This awesome MOC by Toltomeja is a perfect visual metaphor of my life these days. With home, family, BrickNerd, YouTube, building, designing, shooting, editing and social media all wobbling beneath me. And there I am, a clown trying to stay on top of it all. 

The Jongleurs Tale

Can anything quite capture the imagination like a classic battle between dragon and knight in shining armor? This may be Dodge's sole entry into CCCXI, but it's excellent. I've seen attempts to convey thought bubbles and stories this way, but I think this is one of the most successful.

Gruhzak Gur

These orcs know how to party! This is the wooden fortress of the orcs of northern Middle Earth, Gruzak Gur according to builder Disco86. I like to imagine they're celebrating 2014 just like the rest of us, but with with orc style (and maybe some man flesh, they are orcs after all).

An Explosive Experiment

KA-BOOM!

And here I was just trying to enjoy a nice, evening dinner with guests when that old wizard decided to cook something up that wasn't on the menu. Ah well, at least the explosion livened up the dinner conversation a bit.

Excellent work here by Digger1221. I always appreciate a good fireball with corresponding smoke trail. The rest of the build has some great details and wonderful contrast between the Wizard's lab in the basement and the dinning room on the main floor.

The Blacksmith's Son

Here's another stellar submission for CCCXI. The Classic Castles Contest always brings out the best in builders, but this year seems to be especially good. There have been so many amazing MOCs. I love the attention to details in this one, from the window boxes to the well it's just packed with little nuggets of awesome. Nice work Atte!

Lake Town

I've been a bad nerd this holiday season, I have yet to see The Desolation of Smaug. But, boy does this Lake Town build put me in the mood to see the movie!

When building within the castle color palette of grays and browns things can look a little washed out and boring.  It takes a lot of work to make something unique that's truly stands out and that is exactly builder Fedin has pulled off. Now if someone could only convince him to make even more of the city.

Learning A Trade

This is an awful lot of medieval awesome. Legonardo Davidy is playing this down, at least in comparison with his previous build, but I'm afraid it's still friggin' amazing. So much rich detail and excellent color use, not to mention the angles and curved lines. 

Gisellicburg

Mark of Falworth is one of my favorite castle builders, and builds like this are the reason why. It's not just a matter of scale, detail, story or clever part use that takes a MOC to the next level. It's a marriage of all the right elements in harmonious balance. This is a thing of beauty.

Longshanks' Death

Every year Castle-Castle.com runs their Colossal Castle Contest which includes some great prizes for the winners including some rare vintage castle sets. For the Castle LEGO lovers among us this means being treated to some excellent Castle-themed MOCs and this year is no exception. Some of my favorite castle builds that come out of this event are the interior creations as they tend to feature more intimate scenes. Lukasz 'LL' Wiktorowicz recently posted his interpretation of Longshanks’s death that includes some never before seen building techniques. This creation is totally worth pouring over the details.

Sanctuary In The Swale

I'm sad to say that my first reaction to seeing this sweet MOC by Sir Edwyn wasn't "what an awesome castle MOC!" but rather "Whoa, it's that crappy shack we stayed in while working on The Boneyard". I've been on some adventures to be sure.

It's Not Polite To Tease

Kids, always up to no good. You can always tell the leader of the group, he or she is the one with all the best bad ideas. Like dangling a chicken outside the opening of a beast's cave. What could possibly go wrong? 

I Shall Build A Round Table, And A Hall About The Table, And A Castle About The Hall

Sorry, couldn't resist a little nod to one of my all time favorite movies, Excalibur. This build by Disco86 is just stunning. Everything is so clean and well presented. And that curved wall is amazing. I can't imagine how much tension that is under, but the stressed bricks are worth it when it call comes together this well.

The Crow's Nest

I love this, I absolutely love it. The snow, the design, the colors, the techniques, all amazing. There seems to be a growing trend to this building style. And while it seems totally unstable by classic building standards, what it lacks in structural integrity it more than makes up for in sheer wow factor.

Jester's Prestige

CCCXI is heating up and the entries are getting more eye-popping. I love the houses in this MOC by Derfel Cadarn, with their sagging roofs and rich detail. And the textures on those walls is amazing. Really, how can you go wrong with two jesters fighting to the death?