Best of BrickNerd — Article originally published January 8, 2021. No one seems to have a set definition of what is and what isn’t an allowed LEGO building technique. These collective norms in the fan community are called “legal” or “illegal” techniques based on a now-infamous presentation by LEGO designer Jamie Berard. Rules are routinely stretched, and everyone has a long and convoluted personal definition of what is considered purist—and what is not. In this article, I am going to take you through some “barely legal” yet purist connection points used in my model of North Vancouver Streetcar 153. But be forewarned, these techniques could open a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnaturally awesome! While these techniques are certainly not new discoveries, I’m positive that there is a likely audience that might find these connection points intriguing. Flextube Very cool and very legal! Flextube is the primary LEGO...

Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and the LEGO sets celebrating it are already available. And like fireworks, these sets come with a bang! They are wonderfully designed, filled to the brim with details, and are a buy parts-wise. But what else can you do with them? Today we’ll take a look at the sets as they are intended to be built as well as how you can mod them to fit whatever theme you like. So let’s get this party started! A Family Reunion Let’s start with taking a quick look at 80113 Family Reunion Celebration. It comes with a whopping 12 minifigures. The building experience was quite fun, because of all the details it has: the stove that puts those upside-down turntables to good use, a staircase that looks better than ones in most of the modulars, and even the first ever hanging turkey like it is...

A few of our eagle-eyed readers have noticed that for the past few days, BrickNerd has been celebrating month-long collaborative themes like FebRovery, April Tools, SHIPtember, Orctober, and NoVVember. But aside from the Winter Village, what is there to build in December? During the holidays, many fellow AFOLs, TFOLs, and kids alike enjoy building their LEGO Advent Calendars. These calendars are typically themed after Star Wars, Super Heroes, Harry Potter, City and Friends, although occasionally we’ve gotten some wonderful others, namely Castle and Clikits! But with so many available LEGO themes, what theme needed an advent calendar the most? GALIDOR, of course! Imagine the possibilities…er, wait, maybe you don’t have to? Turns out I made my own! It’s as cursed as you’ve come to expect from me… So let’s celebrate a belated new building theme for December, Glinchmas! Yes, “glinching”—that wonderful term from Galidor when you dislocate parts or limbs of...

Some LEGO creations are brilliant replicas—smaller models of things we’ve seen (or wish we’ve seen, like a castle) filled with lovely colors and clever parts uses. Other builds are insanely creative—wild spaceships or fantasy creatures pushing the envelope. And then there is this creation from Maxx Davidson (Flickr), that has combined both of these worlds together. This creation is not just ready to slice through space but is also eager to attack the school year with a full supply of highlighters, lined paper, and a pair of rulers! The spaceship is pretty much a pun made into a 3D reality, so it seems fitting for it to be named The Bic Viper. “Some young explorers doodle when they daydream, some go a step above,” Maxx said in the description. It’s safe to say that he certainly went a step above. There is so much to love about this build, from the...

There probably has been no better time to be in the LEGO MOC building community than right now when in comes to finding a building contest or activity to participate in. Each new month brings us another series of inspiring building prompts. Some of them have become annual traditions, arriving like seasons of the year. Others challenge us to build in areas that have yet to be explored. We compile a comprehensive list of these LEGO contests to help you find the ones that best fit your interests or may provide you with a creative spark to try something new. …And occasionally, we also have a contest idea of our own to add to that list. First orc I built, which ended up as a trophy prize for the contest. How Orctober Was Born Sometime last summer, I was chatting with my friend Alex from BricksLog (a LEGO-related website for the...