One, Two, Threeeeeeee!

This charming little memory MOC gives me mixed feelings I’m afraid, a mix of nostalgia and cringe, so this post is going to serve as a public service message. All parents end up playing this game with their kids, human swing. I can vividly remember the last time I did it, with my youngest son. We were exiting Toys R Us and doing this when suddenly he was much less enthusiastic. By the time we got to the van we could tell something was very wrong. We took him to an urgent care center a few blocks away, where a nice doctor fixed his DISLOCATED ELBOW! Happy to say he made a nearly instant recovery, but you can bet we never played that game again. This is actually a pretty common injury with children, and it’s usually from something like this. Take care all you parents out there.

The Tick - Heroes And Villains

The 90's cartoon series The Tick was known for being quirky, funny and unorthodox, and these miniland scale figures by builder BenSpector42 can be described the exact same way. Sure super strength and invulnerability are nice, but 'drama power', now that's serious. Especially when you're up against a guy with a chair for a head.

VirtuaLUG Putt Putt

For Brickworld 2016, VLUG opted to scale things back a bit from previous years, and focus more on individual creativity.  What better way to accomplish that goal than to build our own Mini-Land Plus Putt-Putt golf course!  Fearless leader Dave Kaleta took the helm again.  But unlike the Wizard of Oz collaboration which required very specific scenes and exacting standards, this year's concept left a lot up to the individual builders.   As long as you had your tee box and a path, you were good to go.  So from Cthulhu to Gamma Trianguli VI, the VLUG crew certainly didn't disappoint! 

Photos in the slideshow courtesy of Dave Kaleta, and one by Mrs. Barto of the Sand Castle scene.  There's also a nice Beyond the Brick tour with Dave.  He highlights each builder and their themes, plus you can see the mechanical action featured in several of the holes. 

Wrath Of Vaal

One of the real crowd pleasers at BrickWorld Chicago was VirtuaLUG's Miniland Putt Putt collaboration, and one of the contributors was BrickNerd's own El Barto. This is his Star Trek inspired segment of the course, inspired by the episode The Apple. I haven't played miniature golf in ages, but if the courses where more like this, I think I'd be more inclined to go...because Vaal calls to me. Let us go to him. He hungers...for balls.

Back To School

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, even at the end of summer. This MOCstalgia is inspired by Mrs BrickNerd, with the suggestion of "back to school". It's funny how at the end of the school year both parents and students are really ready for summer. I think we're just ready to not struggle to wake kids, make lunches and deal with homework (and kids just don't want to be at school). But as welcome as that first day of summer is, it's not terribly long until glances at the calendar get far more frequent with groans of "I'm bored" and parent's patience with endless video game play wears thin. So to celebrate the return to school I present to you this classic by Polywen, Pack up kids, and get out of the damn house.

Boldly Going

Here at BrickNerd we like to look back from time to time, and to boldly go where no man has gone before. I didn't intend to do two Star Trek posts in a row, especially since ST MOCs aren't all that common. But this showed up in my feed this morning, and it's been a while since I waxed nostalgic so here it is, the original crew of USS Enterprise by rionz.

Watch It, She's Got A Hammer

It's been 30 years since this iconic ad made a big impact (pardon the pun). Back then I had no personal computer allegiance. I used whatever I could get my hands on since I didn't have my own. I later became an Amiga user, then moved on to PC. About three years ago I made the switch to Mac, and haven't looked back. JK Brickworks totally nails the look and feel for the ad, with a bit of a modern update. That Apple logo is amazing.

A Peek Into The Life Of Dave Kaleta

Builder Dave Kaleta has been doing a series of autobiographical builds. His latest is his LEGO room where it's quite likely this MOC was built (wrap your head around that). At first glance these almost look like photographs because of the stark lighting and attention to detail. Well, I guess they are photographs, but they're photographs of MOCs... you know what I mean.

Sewing

Little known fact, I can sew. It's a dying art but I actually took sewing in home economics and had a grandmother that sewed. I've actually made my own costumes and repaired my family's clothing before. So not only is this miniland scale MOC by Pepa Quin charming and clever, it's of a real man, because real men sew.

Miniland Simpsons

This is so perfect! It's not always easy to capture a character's essence at miniland scale, but madoruk has done it. You knew the instant you looked at this who it was didn't you? Mission accomplished. I especially like Lisa, her silhouette is unmistakable.