LEGO Love at First Sight

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LEGO Love at First Sight

What was the moment you fell in love with something LEGO-related instantly? Was it a set that ended your Dark Age or maybe something more subtle? For Valentine’s Day, we asked our BrickNerd contributors to share the stories of their LEGO love at first sight.

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Steamy Burlington Northern Railways Engine

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BrickNerd_MOCstalgia.jpg

Here at BrickNerd, we like to look back at some older, yet still excellent, models from time to time... Back in 2015, JBIronworks produced this awesome train engine that has always stood out to me among others that I have seen. I'm not quite sure why that is... Perhaps it's the sleekness of the engine? The nice railing that goes around the train for the engineers? Or perhaps it's just the shaping. According to the builder, this is indeed a real life engine, produced in 1972. I personally would not have known if it was a real engine or something that the builder chose to make up, unless he had specifically stated in his image description. Whether it was real or fake, it's still a gorgeous engine model to me!

Burlington Northern EMD SD40-2
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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. 

The Flying Scotsman

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In my real life I work on the railways in the UK and part of my route is the East Coast Main Line, home of the world famous Flying Scotsman. Just recently this locomotive has returned to the rails after a multi-million pound rebuild (how much is original is debatable, you take something apart enough times, when you put it back together there is enough to build two!) This incredible model by Ryan McNaught is the largest I've ever seen of the iconic steamer. At over 3 metres long, this is one serious "Kettle"! (thats what we call a steam loco).

The Flying Scotsman to scale

Around the World in Eighty Days!

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Okay folks, hold onto your bowler hats, and tighten your corsets!  It's VirtuaLUG's award-winning rendition of Jules Verne's classic adventure tale!  Beneath the massive globe in the center, the epic story begins with Mr. Phileas Fogg's bet at the Reform Club, and circumnavigates all the way back to London.  In between you'll find multiple modes of transportation: trains, steamships, a balloon, the Nautilus, even an elephant!  The layout consists of a contiguous topographical map featuring scenes from the movie, plus various landmarks along the way.  The collab is flush with Easter Eggs:  Gandolf and the crew in the Himalayas, a micro Mount Olympus, and Dorothy and Toto (in India?); all to pay homage to past VLUG collabs.  There were over 20 members who contributed to the project, including myself.  The Man In Charge, Heath Flor, writes, "With contributors from 5 countries and nearly a dozen states, it's a collaboration that truly is from Around the World." 

Check out  VirtuaLUG's Flickr group for all of the scenes and their builders.  

Beyond the Brick was on location at Brickworld with Heath's guided tour! 

VirtuaLUG's Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days - VirtuaLUG