Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published November 18, 2022. LEGO has announced the 10,001-piece 10307 UCS Christmas Tree, and BrickNerd was lucky enough to be sent an early copy ahead of the holidays! What follows is an epic stream-of-consciousness build journal of the life-size Ultimate Collectors Set while lighting and decorating it for Christmas. Brown Paper Packages Whoa, this Christmas tree box is huge! It won’t fit in my normal build area, so I’ve commandeered the kitchen table. Peekaboo! I see you! Getting this box out of the other box is a two-man operation. What a beautiful Christmas tree! I am so excited to build it, and look! It already came with the first present to put under the tree. Here' an obligatory photo of the backside of the box. Hmmm, I wonder what side you open since there is no obvious top... I chose the right--which was wrong. No...

Thanksgiving is about being grateful—and what is as crucial for life and at the same time so delicious as food? Minifigs may not need to eat the way we do—but judging by these scrumptious creations, they enjoy it as much as us! Our tour of minifigure dining begins in the middle ages with a feast fit for a Queen. The Law of Surprise by Jonas Kramm features an eye-grabbing and questionably mouthwatering centerpiece, a whole pig, cleverly built into the table. The kneeling night and use of Dumbledoor BrickHeadz tiles plus a cheese grater mosiac takes this presentation to the next level. The feast continues at The Banquet by Micah Beideman. There are more guests at this dinner, and the disgruntled chef is watching (for leftovers perhaps) on the side. The perspective is what sells this shot, and the texture coming from Thor’s hammer and other greebling make this look almost...

Today’s guest post comes from Joseph Opara, a memeber of the LEGO community in Toronto, Canada who embarked on a very big project to surprise BrickNerd. Birth and Death of Mega Nerdly In the spirit of BrickNerd’s Nerdvember Survivor Contest, let me tell you a story of birth, death and rebirth. First, let me catch you up on the crazy events that happened a few months ago. To celebrate their tenth anniverary, Editor-in-Chief Dave Schefcik built a 12x upscaled version of BrickNerd’s bespectacled mascot, Nerdly. Built with tens of thousands of pieces, Mega Nerdly was born. The build was not only decorative but deceptively complex and functional, with modular shelves to display a community building project where BrickNerd supporters could make their own custom Nerdlies at Brickworld Chicago. To be honest, it was an awesome (if not crazy) project for the community and one that only BrickNerd could really pull off....

There are plenty of magical (photographic) tricks that we can use when wanting to stretch the boundaries of a microscale LEGO set. The extra-micro scale 76419 Hogwarts Castle and Grounds set is no exception. The only question is which of the Wizarding World’s Extension Charm spells should we use to expand its potential? Maybe Engorgio (the growing charm)? Or Reducio (the shrinking charm)? Getting the right balance between these two spells can make a huge difference in changing our perspectives on how we see a set. Let’s see how we can use these spells to explore LEGO Hogwarts Castle and discover all of its hidden secrets! The LEGO Group generously provided BrickNerd with 76419 Hogwarts Castle and Grounds, and I have the honor and the great pleasure of being your tour guide once again into LEGO’s brick-built version of the Wizarding World. Now, let’s hop onto our flying broomsticks and take...

As a BrickNerd reader, you know (or hope) your LEGO collection is worth its weight in gold. This is especially true if you have any rare LEGO sets or one-of-a-kind MOCs made from a combination of your bricks and your brains. However, while AFOLs realize their LEGO collections are precious, many collectors don’t have insurance for their bricks. When it comes to valuable possessions, we insure our homes and our cars, so why not our LEGO? If you’ve never thought about this (or just assumed your bricks were covered by your homeowners or renters insurance), consider this article your wake-up call. If your LEGO collection was damaged by an event like a flood or a fire, what do you think would happen? What about if it was stolen? None of us want to envision horrible scenarios like these, but they can happen. If you’ve read our own Melissa Rekve’s story, you...