Ma.Ktoberfest: The Rise (and Demise?) of a Theme Month

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Ma.Ktoberfest: The Rise (and Demise?) of a Theme Month

Once upon a time, “Ma.Ktoberfest” was the main building theme for the month of October. This year, however, it didn’t even make it onto BrickNerd’s monthly contest round-up list. So what gives? Read on to learn more about the rise (and demise?) of this once vaunted community building theme.

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Chibi Style, Part 2: Techniques to Build Cute

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Chibi Style, Part 2: Techniques to Build Cute

We resume our chat with Javier Soravilla and Mike Dung, pioneering builders of expressive “chibi style” LEGO characters, and learn more about all the techniques they use to build them.

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"Gettin’ Chibi Wit It": A Chat with Javier Soravilla and Mike Dung

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"Gettin’ Chibi Wit It": A Chat with Javier Soravilla and Mike Dung

What is chibi style? We chat with Javier Soravilla and Mike Dung, pioneering builders of the expressive LEGO characters, and learn about the chibi building community.

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It's Potty Time!

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It's Potty Time!

Here at BrickNerd, we enjoy good old-fashioned potty humor as much as the next person. Sniffing around in our back catalog, we realized we were overdoo-doo in paying another visit to the venerable “thunder mug.” It’s time to put the seat down and lay a LEGO brick. Duty calls!

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Black Rover, Black Rover, Send the Impeder Over!

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Black Rover, Black Rover, Send the Impeder Over!

Despite being a year old, or from the “before times” as some members in my LUG call it, Capt. Dad’s first building foray into the land of Neo-Classic Blacktron got noticed by BrickNerd’s Message Intercept Base. I do love a good rover, and it is a great way to kick off Febrovery!

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Hyrule Castle

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Here at BrickNerd, we like to sometimes to do a blast from the past feature. . .

Back in 2015, Legends of Zelda video game fan Joseph Z. unveiled his massive model of Hyrule Castle, a recognized location from Twilight Princess. A labor of love for roughly 2 years, this creation features some beautiful octagonal roof and tower designs (which feature the use of many "click hinges"), interesting stone texture using many 2x2 tiles in light bluish gray, and a lot of attention to detail. Not only does the model look fantastic from a distance, but as you get closer you even notice that there is a complete courtyard with different scenes going on to help bring the model to life. Check out all the angles of this creation and more Zelda builds by Joseph here!

Hyrule Castle
Roof
Link and Princess Zelda
Graveyard
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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 Vintage MOC Of A Vintager Computer

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Every once in a while here at BrickNerd we like to look back, just to see how far we've come. This Classic Commodore VIC 20 might look familiar to some of you old school computer users. There's an entire generation of early home computer adopters that made this their first computer. It was built by the Arvo brothers (yeah, those Arvo brothers) a decade ago.

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. 

Your Favorite Birds in LEGO

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Here at BrickNerd, we like to occasionally look back at past creations from the community. . .Especially when it includes seeing your favorite troublemaking birds made out of LEGO.  To me, it seems that the popular Angry Birds has still remained so to this day.  Waaaaay back in 2012, Iain Heath created perfect little models for 3 of the iconic feathered beasts and 1 green ball of bacon.  Now all we need is a slingshot and some wooden planks...

LEGO Angry Birds "Minis"
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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 New Beginning for the Jedi. . .

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The vibe is strong with this build. . .  There's such a neat atmosphere included with this beautiful creation by Inthert.  "Hidden deep within the jungles of Yavin 4, Luke Skywalker gathers his first four students under the ancient Massassi structure: ‘The Praxeum Arch’ to begin their training…"  We don't know much about Luke Skywalker's creation of a new Jedi Academy, but I'm sure the knowledge we seek is not behind us, but ahead.  This allows builders like Inthert to fantasize and create their own interpretation.  There's much to admire about this build, from the perfectly rounded base, that very unique archway, and those intriguing trees made out of Mixel joints.  Never seen that before!  An awesome build by a fan wanting more from Star Wars. . .

Jedi Search - 5/5 : The Master
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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 Arrowcave (We're Not Calling It That)

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Here at BrickNerd, we like to occasionally do a blast from the past. . .

Arrow is one of my favorite superhero television shows that currently airs.  It tells the story of Oliver Queen (AKA the Green Arrow), a familiar comic book character that is given a very dark past on this series.  Today, we're sharing two separate creations of the Arrow's lair, or the Arrowcave (it should be noted that Oliver himself was against this name).  Though they are built by two different builders, each interpretation gives some of the iconic appearances of the secret lair.  Check out both of these MOC's, the first created by superhero builder Tim Lydy, followed by Brickwielder's version. 

Arrowcave
The Arrow Cave

For more LEGO Arrow, check out this ongoing vignette series by yours truly!

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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. 

MOCstalgia - Holiday Edition

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As the holidays approach us, we often reflect on events of the year.  Here at BrickNerd, we're taking a look at some classic past Christmas MOC's.

For this post, Chris McVeigh's popular "Brick Sketches" were chosen as a holiday blast from the past.  Check out these joyful characters!  Happy holidays to all, and all build on!

They Bounce
The Dentist
The Greatest Prospector in the North!
He's Making a List
He's a mean one.
The Most Famous Reindeer of All
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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.