There and Back Again with LEGO Builder Balbo

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There and Back Again with LEGO Builder Balbo

One of the big perks of getting a gig here at BrickNerd is the opportunity to reach out to builders from all over the world and ask them questions—without appearing like a complete stalker! So today, I have the privilege to shine the spotlight on one of my favourite builders in the community, Balbo.

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A Fellowship of Builders: The 2025 Middle Earth LEGO Olympics

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A Fellowship of Builders: The 2025 Middle Earth LEGO Olympics

Builders battled through vignettes, mashups, and “what if” scenarios in MELO 2025 making the 2025 Middle Earth LEGO Olympics an epic showdown worthy of Tolkien’s legendarium. Come witness everything this fellowship of LEGO fans created.

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Things That Could Have Been: A Curious Look at 10354 The Shire

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Things That Could Have Been: A Curious Look at 10354 The Shire

LEGO’s 10354 The Shire beautifully captures Bag End from The Lord of the Rings, but what if the set had drawn inspiration from The Hobbit instead? We explore the details, the design, and the delightful what-ifs of the most famous Hobbit-hole in Middle-earth.

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The Silmarillion in LEGO

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The Silmarillion in LEGO

In the history of Middle Earth, so much happened before The Lord of the Rings. Come with us on a journey as we explore Tolkien’s Silmarillion in LEGO form to understand the origins of elves, men, and the forging of the One Ring.

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An Ode to Elves: Remaking Rivendell in the Style of LEGO Elves

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An Ode to Elves: Remaking Rivendell in the Style of LEGO Elves

LEGO’s massive 10316 Rivendell set is a love letter to The Lord of the Rings fans and a stunning model showcasing the splendor of the elves of Middle Earth, but can we make it a mashup with LEGO’s other colorful elves? Join us as we celebrate the legacy of the LEGO Elves theme through a bit of creative modding.

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LEGO LOTR 10 Years Later: In a Hole in the Ground There Lived an AFOL

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LEGO LOTR 10 Years Later: In a Hole in the Ground There Lived an AFOL

Exactly 10 years ago today, LEGO announced that it would be releasing official Lord of the Rings and Hobbit sets. The subsequent waves of sets from Middle Earth have inspired thousands of MOCs and a building frenzy like none other in the fan community.

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My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords

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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!

Edoras, the Golden Hall of Meduseld

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The Third Age Collaboration has been making its way around Flickr, bringing many talented online builders together with a common love of bricks and Tolkien. This incredible recreation of Edoras by norlego completely blew me away. This model is just beautiful in its enormous size, with so much excellent detailing. No detail was skipped, and no shortcuts were made in this design. Make sure to check out the other models featured in this online collaboration! 

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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

A Wizard Should Know Better

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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.

Isengard - Main

The White City

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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.

Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith

The Other Black Tower

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Make no mistake. This is not Isengard ("They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!"), home of the White Wizard himself. This is Barad-dûr, the "Dark Tower," the Capital of the Black Realm of Mordor, Home of the Firey Eye, the Place of Doom, and the Tower of Orc Filth ("Lovely titles..."). Koen has dared to enter Mordor and present this dark and gothic creation to all of us, which is a magnificent model of the iconic tower for sure. All of the black tower is incorporated well into the rocks (a detail many leave out), and rises above the ground with its terrifying presence. 

Barad-dûr
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

Rivendell

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Just yesterday we featured a build of where both Bilbo and Frodo started their adventures, the Shire. Well, both of them ended up here at the home of Elrond eventually. Welcome to Rivendell, by builder soccersnyderi. This microscale build is one of the finest and most detailed I've ever seen, with loads of clever techniques and wonderful color. You can practically hear the elves' ethereal singing.

Rivendell

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

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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.

The Green Dragon Inn
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

A Demon from the Dark

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Another LEGO Balrog has emerged from the dark, this time created by fan Jonas Kramm. Easily one of the most iconic, dark creatures that was created by J.R.R. Tolkien and brought to an audience's eyes by the films. This creature seems to have a large presence in this photo, even though it's not quite appropriately scaled for LEGO's minifigure versions of the Fellowship. To make it even more evil, Jonas added a light brick in order to light up this demon's back. Truly a terrifying appearance!

Balrog
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here.