We travel to sunny Southern California to chat with LEGO builder Cindy Zhan about her massive MOC, The Garden of Flowing Fragrance, and the Huntington Library in Pasadena that inspired it.
Read MoreIt has been an exciting month and a half here at BrickNerd, and today we are excited to welcome a few more amazing people to the BrickNerd Brainery.
Read MoreThere was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable LEGO people to see if they could become something more. Nine countries and at least ten languages later, we have gathered a team of incredible builders, writers, historians and artists to make connections across continents and showcase the best the global LEGO fan community has to offer. BrickNerds, assemble!
Read MoreDarth Nick is an awesome builder I've had the pleasure of knowing for quite some time (he's actually the reason I became an AFOL). Whenever he gets a chance to build I usually know it will be something cool! This time Nick has built the logo from The Batman LEGO Movie (launched today in Canada!), and it is spot on.
This creation measures over 4 feet long (about 152 studs) and it was built live on twitch over a span of a few days! He actually gave up his ticket to see the premiere a couple days ago to continue building this, not sure if he knew he was passing up on premiere tickets but I got to see it instead of him so yay! You can check out Nick's live build video below:
Nick also built The LEGO Movie logo for its premiere 3 years ago, you can check it out here on his flickr! (Man, does time fly!)
As some of you may know, theres a special place in my heart for micro builds and builder Paul Wolfe has really impressed with this tiny hobbit hole! Bilbo's little abode in Bag End has some fun details like the tree on top made with hair pieces and the chimney is quite clever too!
Paul is thinking about making a vignette series of these and although it is quite the project to take on I would be most excited to see that adventure unfold! It would be quite the Unexpected Gathering of creations, don't you think? ;)
Builder Delayice has posted a couple of very colorful and bright creations that I can't get enough of! The first one is called Whale Island and is such an interesting idea, the second is called Maze Entrance and has some really fun techniques and details! Both creations give off such mystery, it leaves you wanting to know the story behind them. Check them out!
The current ABS Builder Challenge has started and we're witnessing some fantastic builds so far! The ABS Challenge is a 2-week competition where 4 builders use a "seed piece", a specific LEGO element, that they must incorporate in all the of the creations for this competition. One of my favorites so far is Marcel V. "obligatory" flower! I know, I know, a flower is made at least once in every one of these rounds; but its not the flower, with the blue seed piece, that caught my eye...it was the stand!
Recently I have started really getting into shoes. I'm no "wake up early to try to get Yeezy's online" gal but I have recently acquired a few of the Toy Story Vans; and my favorite pair of kicks with donuts on them! I love this little build by Aaron Newman of these Nike Dunks! Next goal: acquire LEGO shoes!
I'm still in this Harry Potter craze this month so of course when I saw Magma Guy's beautiful Stag, what did you think I thought of?? Patronuses of course! Pottermore told me my patronus is a Shark, but in the real life my patronus is a pterodactyl, I feel it bound to my soul.
I've been in a very Harry Potter mood lately, perhaps because I recently watched Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them? So when I stumbled upon these creations of the four Hogwarts Common Rooms by Potter Brick I gushed at all the details! Check them out!
On Wednesday I was one of 100 lucky AFOLs to go to the new Lego Store in London before it officially opened to the public. The store is the largest Lego brand retail store in the world and has two floors of Lego loveliness. There was a well documented scratch card giveaway of the Lester mini figure mascot (I did not win one) I did however win a go on their new Lego Mosaic Machine. This is essentially a photo booth that turns your face into instructions to make a Lego mosaic of it! It comes with a box (set number 40179) of 4500 1x1 plates in 5 colours (900 of each) and a 48x48 baseplate. Normally it retails in the store for £99.99 but as it contains nearly £240.00 worth of lego (at Shop at Home prices) its a bargain. But better than that you have your own super exclusive lego set! And I will share that with you here, no copying it now, I can trust y'all?
Love me some macro creations - it requires a specific kind of skill of simplicity that is very difficult for some of us builders. We are eager to fill spaces with as much detail as possible and the beauty of micro/macro building is that ability to pull back and focus on only the minimum. LegoJalex treats us to this neat scene of the Eiffel Tower, using a minifigure hand for the famous landmark.
Fun fact about the Eiffel Tower: The tower is repainted every 7 years by hand. The weight of the paint alone weights as much as 10 elephants.
I'm a gamer that likes anything artistic and/or cute so you would think that Patapon would be my jam right? THINK NOT. Don't let these cute little guys deceive you, they are menacing and vicious as long as you can keep rhythm...unfortunately for them there is not a single rhythmic bone in my body.
This creation by Leonid An is so darn cute that I may just swallow my frustration and attempt to pick up Patapon again. Whats so neat about this build is that the game is 2-dimensional, so creating a character in this shaping and dimension is quite impressive!
Paul is one of those builders that make you question whether you should continue to build anything cool with LEGO. He's already built the most amazing things ever, so why bother anymore right?
Last week he posted this beautiful Steamy-punky goodness, and I needed to recover for a few days. Too much awesome in one day can really mess with your brain.
The amount of detail in this creation is just amazing, check out his profile for some close up shots and a bit of story.
Then after I recovered, he goes and posts ANOTHER mind blowing creation based on Day of the Dead:
Color choices, and the patterns are my favorite with these creations. The symmetry is something too to admire.
PAUL WINS GUYS, LET'S JUST ALL GO HOME
I absolutely adore micro models that tell so much of a story! Builder Galaktek has easily become a person I love to see new things from. His latest creation is described as a folding box, usually carved or painted, that is a keepsake for visitors of the Sanctuary; "Its design represents their experience, which can be held close inside, or unfolded to share the peace of the Sanctuary". The build "unfolds" like described; and can also come apart, allowing the four seasons to separate and be fitted like a box. Galaktek's story of the Sanctuary is as beautiful as the build itself, check detail images and the story below!
Sanctuary of Four Seasons
The Sanctuary rises from a ridge overlooking four valleys, famed for the clarity of their seasons. People from the region may be admitted to the Sanctuary for a period of secluded reflection -- traditionally, in Spring, for those who have just ended their education; in Summer, for those recently recovered from a life-threatening illness; in Autumn, for those who have completed their life work; or in Winter, for those who have lost a loved one.
Anyone who follows E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) might recognize this little guy from a beautiful game introduced to us in 2015. ReCore is a secret to most of us gamers, all we really know about it is the mysterious girl with a grappling hook and her robot side-kicks. This doesn't stop builders like LEGOJunkie from already creating some of the lovable creatures we are all eager to get to know!
ReCore doesn't launch until September but as long as cute creations like Puppy Mack keep coming out, I'm good to wait :)
I'll admit that LEGO cars aren't exactly my area of interest -- I'm more of a spaceship, spaceship, spaceship! kinda AFOL. But builders like Andrea Lattanzio, a.k.a. Norton74 on Flickr, make me embarrassed to completely overlook this theme. I mean, look at this scene, titled "'32 Ford 'Tow Rod' at the Garage" from the propped-up roadster to the superb mechanic's tool chest to the checkered tile wall pattern to the boombox on the shelf to the drill press to the "wood" pallet, the attention to detail and the craftsmanship here is simply exquisite. The only thing missing is grease stains on that lovely, 6x6 light gray tiled floor. And I'd bet Andrea will find a way to make those, too! Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines...
Sometimes, a good backstory along with a quality MOC from an established builder is just too hard to pass up. Stephen Pakbaz -- who previously designed NASA's Curiosity rover for the LEGO Ideas line -- has come up with a great one here in Pieceout, "a civilian scientist researching alternative energy on the planet Cybertron."
Hippie Transformers out to make the world a better place? Love it! Transformer MOCs that actually transform? Excellent! Clever moniker playing on the themes of that era while simultaneously paying tribute to the very hobby we all love? Just plain awesome.
Honestly, I've never heard of Discworld, the late Terry Pratchett's imaginary world, set on a platter-shaped land set atop four elephants which, in turn, are riding the back of what must be a massive, massive turtle. (Tortoise?) Just as much as I know about Star Wars and Star Trek and even Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, it's exactly the opposite for Discworld.
So please don't ask me about the backstory of this group of fellows, termed "The Ones Who Meddle With the Fabric of Reality," by Finnish AFOL Eero Okkonen. There's something magical about this bunch, and not just because they're wizards (I think).
It takes a particular skill to make MOCs look both stone-faced and alive at the same time, which Eero achieves by simultaneously using the traditional 1x1 headlight bricks for eyes and then other wildly disparate elements, such as Chima wings , to fluff out those lovingly-crafted beards. The magicians' accoutrements are also perfectly color-coordinated, with their dark red / brown / red fabrics, Friends stars, X-Pod dishes, and, hey, does that gorilla have a banana that incorporates... bananas?
Discworld should really be called Discoworld.
What happens when a lifelong Trekkie, AFOL and professional toy designer finally gets an official LEGO Star Trek playset? Samuel Hatmaker explores the new Enterprise bridge and shows why playing Star Trek matters as much as displaying it.
We spoke with several Autistic AFOLs who shared their experiences with LEGO regarding coping, community, collecting and catharsis. And we found that Autism can be both a challenge and a superpower when it comes to LEGO.
What do you do when a LEGO Pokémon set doesn’t quite hit the mark? Take it apart and create an alternate build using only the pieces from the original set! But how do you level up a character as recognizable as Pikachu?
What happens when a LEGO builder who knows almost nothing about Pokémon takes on the entire Smart Play wave? We explore the colorful and curvy sets and then remix them into crazy creations far beyond the Pokédex.
Who was Susan Williams and why was her impact on people’s perception of LEGO so significant? Join BrickNerd as we piece together the illustrious career of this mysterious LEGO employee.
Have you ever wondered what the LEGO community was like in the 2000s? Today's guest writer and veteran builder, Nannan Zhang, shares his thoughts on building and sharing MOCs online for the past 20 years.
The blue Classic Space astronaut has come a long way from the 1980s. Richard Dryden explores LEGO’s new upscaled version and reflects on the Classic Space sets and memories that started his LEGO journey.
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