In A Hole In The Ground There Lived A Hobbit...

With all the absolute insanity in the world I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to live in the Shire more than I do at this very moment. I know it’s a fictional place, but it’s so peaceful and perfect my heart aches for it. Builders Jake Hansen and Cole Blood have crafted an idyllic place I want to be, even if it’s just to park my Airstream for a couple weeks.

My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords

One of my go to films when I’m feeling sick is the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I don’t know what it is, but they have magical healing properties. So just last weekend I watched Fellowship of the Rings and it made me quite happy to scroll to this amazing rendition of Sauron by builder Aaron Brick Designer. I was already feeling pretty good, but now I’m feeling great!

Imladris

This lovely little micro MOC by soccerkid6 of the tranquil city of Rivendell could be yours. It’s actually one of the prizes for the Colossal Castle Contest which kicked off yesterday (Yes, Nerdvember and CCC in the same month, you have some building to do). This would look awesome on any trophy shelf, especially mine…

A Wizard Should Know Better

I can't help but feel a little sorry for Saruman. He was so duped by Sauron he built an army, only to have a bunch of slow-moving talking trees show up and kick his butt. But in the end he deserved everything, and should have known better. Builder cypiratemocs recreates a small part of a pivotal moment in the battle for Middle Earth, the last march of the Ents. Lead by Treebeard, and influenced slightly my Merry and Pippin, the Ents marched on Isengard, and uncorked a great big bottle of whoopass.

The White City

Lord of the Rings fans should recognize this, it's the White City, Minas Tirith in the realm of Gondor. This build by Swan Dutchman is technically a micro build, but when it's of a subject on this scale, even in micro it's a huge undertaking. According to Koen it took about 6 months and is composed of over 11,500 parts! Just look at all the detail, it's amazing.

Tom Bombadil

One of the controversies when Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring came out was the omission of Tom Bombadil. For some reason a large chunk of the Tolkien fans were genuinely upset he wasn't in the movie. I for one was perfectly fine with it, that chapter in the book and the character has never really done anything for me. Luckily for those T.B. fans out there builder lummerlander has crafted his likeness in the bricks, and he's every bit as flamboyant as you'd expect.

The Only Brew for the Brave and True Comes from the Green Dragon!

A very lovely layout by Patrick B. features the Green Dragon, from little old Hobbiton. There are round windows and round doors, the iconic architecture you would expect to see form a Hobbit dwelling. What is the most interesting technique, at least to me, is how the building truly curves around, with roof lines meeting and trying to fill gaps. That is not easy to do, yet Patrick did an excellent job. Perhaps Gandalf helped out a little? Very well done! The scene is then complete with some outside activity on the landscaping that blends very well into the building's layout.

"Old Toby, Finest Weed In The Sound Farthing"

This is one of my favorite scenes in Lord of the Rings. During the calm before the storm, just after Gandalf arrives in the Shire, he and Bilbo enjoy some quality time with their pipes. Just two old friends enjoying each other's company. Pate-keetongu not only recreates the mood and sentiment of the scene, but he also managed to use no less than eight of the "impossible" seed part from the current round of Iron Builder, impressive.

A Pair Of Archers

Well, I don't know if "archer" properly describes either, but they both use arrows. This is Legolas of the Woodland Realm, and Daryl Dixon, of...somewhere in the south. They are the latest of a collection of ironic duos from builder Legohaulic. Legolas is an elf, son of  Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm, and one of the Fellowship of the Ring. He is a loyal companion and was instrumental in the downfall of Sauron. Daryl kills zombies.

Dumbledore The Gray?

Harry Potter never laid eyes on The One Ring, and Albus Dumbledore never entrusted a hobbit to do anything. Although a mashup between these two classic worlds could be a very cool thing. Imagine the construction of Hogwarts being interrupted by a warg attack, or the four founders hosting a feast with Elrond. Another fantastic pair of character busts by Legohaulic.

Middle Earth Mech

This MOC by Silent Builder certainly would have made the battle of the Chamber of Mazarbul a little more interesting. They have a cave troll eh? Well, we have Gimli in his exosuit! I don't know how this thing is powered, but I would love to see it in action. Makes me wonder how a whole alternate Tolkien universe would look with this tech...hmmmmm.

One Ball To Rule Them All

The battle for middle earth has never been more fun than this. Builder Balbo was so inspired by Legopard's LOTR pinball machine that he decided to build his favorite game with a LOTR theme. Now the struggle between good and evil can be more civilized, or at least as civilized as the opponents on either side of the table.

Witch-king Of Angmar

So you're a king of men, just ruling and being all kingly and stuff. And this dude shows up with a really nice, shiny ring for you. Of course you take it right? Well, if it turns out it's a ring of power, and the dude that gave it to you was the dark lord of Mordor (and he has his own ring that sorta controls yours), and now you're destined to be a ringwraith. but hey, at least you're the leader right? And then a brick artist named nameless_member builds a nifty MOC of your helm, so you have that going for you.

2015...You...Shall Not....PASS!!!!

For some reason everyone uses the analogy of old man time welcoming the baby new year, but this is really how it goes down, as recreated by builder K.Kreations. 2015 was certainly an eventful year, with good times and bad, but now Gandalf is here to put the smackdown on it. Happy New Year everyone!