Were You Ready For Some Football?

Football season officially ended Sunday with the super-est of bowls, and while I’m not really into sports, I can appreciate how much my friends are. Take for instance my buddy Brandon Griffith, who crafted this beautiful replica of the Vince Lombardy trophy. Brandon’s team the Titans didn’t make it this year (so close) but I’m sure he was still watching the game with enthusiasm.

Pegasus

Semi-embarrassing Idiosyncrasy time. Whenever I speak the word “Pegasus” I am overwhelmingly compelled to do it in the theatrically heroic voice of Hercules. And not from the inexplicably spirally Disney movie, more like the terrible Trans Lux cartoon from the 60’s. And yes, I did it the first time I saw this magnificent sculpture by Grantmasters (and no, I’m not ashamed).

I'll Drink To That

It’s still early September, but don’t bother pointing it out to this couple crafted by Miro78. He’s wearing lederhosen and holding a pint, she’s wearing a dirndl and holding a pretzel, and they’re no doubt listening to some fabulous oom pah pah music as they celebrate Oktoberfest. Coincidentally, I made bavarian style pretzels just last night (no really, I posted a pic on Facebook).

City Of Color

Starting in September visitors to The LEGO House in Billund are in for a visual treat. That’s when this creation by the great Brickbaron will be on display. It’s positively bursting with colorful appeal and just the right amount of story telling to draw you in. Everywhere you look there’s activity, and if I know Paul, there’s more surprises in store.

Overflowing With Art

Art is what you make it, so it’s different for every person. I like this piece by builder jarekwally because of it’s dynamic nature, capturing motion beautifully and it’s simple coloration, stark and contrasty. But I also like that it doesn't come with a lot of explanation, no message of symbolism or pompous backstory, just some beautiful sculpting and nice imagery.

Hugin & Munin

I love it when a MOC teaches me something. I’m not super knowledgeable about Norse mythology, but admiring these wonderful ravens by builder birgburg lead me to read the caption on the photo. According to it “In Norse mythology Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory) are Odin's two ravens. At day they fly over Åsgard and Midgard. At night they sit on Odin's shoulder and whisper in his ear what they have seen.” I was never aware of this and I love it. And to think I was just going to make a stupid “attempted murder” joke, shame on me.

Sylvanas Windrunner

I love when a MOC absolutely stops me in my tracks. Not that I’m really scrolling Flickr when I’m walking, but the whole world just stops, and I stare. That’s precisely the reaction to this sculpture of Sylvanas Windrunner by builder timofey_tkachev. The good news is you can build your own world stopping version of this because he has released building instructions, how cool is that?

Finding The Sculpture Inside

Being a maker and a craftsman I can really get into this piece by builder qi_tah. It combines some of my favorite things, LEGO, sculpture and the artistic drive to make something from nothing. I’ve never had a try at marble sculpture (or any stone for that matter) but it’s always interested me.

Wonder Woman

I will admit that when I heard there was going to be a modern Wonder Woman movie I was skeptical, especially considering the track record of DC movies (I’m looking at your Batman Vs Superman) but I was very pleasantly surprised by Gal Gadot’s portrayal and Patty Jenkin’s direction (can we PLEASE get some more female directors Hollywood?) There’s still a soft spot in my heart for Linda Carter, but this new Wonder Woman kicks some serious butt. And this sculpture of her by builder manufacturajarema kicks an equal amount of said butt.

Cash Money

If there's one thing that AFOLs are keenly aware of it's that LEGO is not cheap. And most of us are pretty OK with that, understanding that quality is worth paying for, and that the bricks hold their value. What better way to symbolize this than to build big piles of money like theworldinbricks.

The Doctor Is In

Attendees of San Diego Comic-Con (including yours truly) will get a chance to meet the 13th Doctor, at least in brick form, thanks to the building skills of my dear friend Brandon Griffith. Want to see just how one of these stunning sculptures takes shape? Check out the time lapse video.

Daydream

Let's be real, this is how we all feel every Monday morning, am I right? Jokes aside, this build entitled Daydream by timofey_tkachev is one of those builds that fully embraces LEGO as an art form. I've spent too much time staring at this creation, from the base of steering wheels to the intricately built hair, yet I still do not believe I fully grasp the message left by the builder in this beautiful piece. Needlessly to say the author has clearly mastered the art of the brick and this is a build to be remembered.

Welcome, To Jurassic Park

Hard to believe it's been 25 years since Jurassic Park premiered. This movie marked a pivotal moment in my life. At the time I was doing creature effects and animatronics, everything was fiberglass, rubber and servos. I had been watching the development of CGI with mild interest for years, but was never terribly impressed. This movie blew me away, and I remember saying to myself "we're finally there, time to switch to pixels". Immediately after I bought an Amiga computer and started teaching myself 3D. It's also hard to believe that BrickNerd turns five today (well, the day I registered the company, the blog doesn't officially turn five until July 1st), so it seems appropriate I should be celebrating the five year anniversary of this endeavor and admiring this sculpture by DOGOD Brick Design, two pivotal moments in my life.

NBA

While I'm not a sports fan, even I instantly recognized the logo for the National Basketball Association. Having attempted similar MOCs in this style I can truly appreciate how difficult something like this is (and how few angles and curves there are in bricks) which makes me even more impressed at how closely it matches the real logo, nice work DOGOD Brick Design.

Choose Your Color

Any kid that owned a Gameboy in the late 90's (so let's face it, most) recognizes these guys, it's the trainers from Pokemon Red and Blue, the ubiquitous monster catching role-playing game. It gives me great pleasure to present these as they come from a builder you might have heard of, Mr Kevin Hinkle himself. It's good to see you dabbling with the bricks Kevin.

Jedi Master

It took a lot of guts to use a puppet to represent a powerful Jedi master and mentor in the sequel to the most popular movie of all time. But bringing together the talents of Stuart Freeborn and Frank Oz made it work, and the gamble paid off. Now master Yoda is part of our lives, recognized around the world, represented in all forms of art including LEGO sculpture, like this stellar example by builder Felix Jaensch.

White Stag

For Bricks Cascade 2018, builder dviddy wanted to pay tribute to his adopted home town of Portland Oregon with this wonderful white stag. It's inspired by the iconic sign above the west side of the Burnside Bridge and built with a clever combination of Bionicle, Technic and System parts. 

Mermaid

I want to state for the record that I do not believe in merpeople. That being said, I think there's something deep in every one of us that yearns to believe. I think it's lurking in the depths of our sub conscience, linked to our distant past when we crawled out of the ocean and turned our faces to the sun, determined to conquer the land. Then again maybe we just want to be better swimmers. 

Venetian Mask

There are many versions of Carnival, and I'm not much of a historian of them. I know in Rio it's going on right now, and Mardi Gras is right around the corner. But there really isn't much of a Carnival community in California, so I've never been. Builder Felix Jaensch seems to be ready to celebrate with this lovely Venetian Mask, expertly built and wonderfully presented.