Today’s article is brought to you by BrickNerd Contributor Emeritus and LEGO Masters contestant Philip Straatsma. BrickSlopes Do you have a LEGO-related bucket list? If so, what is on it? Is it a set that you want to own, a MOC that you have not built yet, or maybe an experience you wish to have? For me an experience high on my list has always been to attend BrickSlopes, a LEGO fan event in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I’d been to Salt Lake City once before in 2021 and fell in love with the place. No matter where you looked, mountains surrounded you. And, maybe it was the thin air speaking, but somehow the sky just seemed bigger in Salt Lake City—explain that to me. But I think where SLC really shines is in its AFOL community. When I was there in 2021 for an unrelated event, ULUG, the local LEGO...

The assortment of LEGO food elements is rich enough to build a creator’s sweetest dreams: food scenes! Think about building the grocery store, organizing a festive dinner, opening a LEGO high-class restaurant or cooking some great delicious life-size MOC. But the more LEGO makes food parts, the more we touch upon a fun riddle as builders as we identify these parts: What is this twig part from - a carrot or tomato? If it's a simple cheese slope, what type of cheese is this? The ambiguity is part of the fun, but it smells like a perfect puzzle that can be solved and cooked in our newest media show! The Premise of the Show Welcome to Food Detectives - the first show that combines LEGO cooking and criminalistics! The participants have to become a real Sherlock Holmes and solve the "culinary crime" analyzing the evidence left behind by our famous chef,...

This is the story of my New Hashima build for Brickworld 2023. Technically, it’s all Simon’s fault. And a deer. But we’ll get to that later… Let’s Start At The End You may recall our fearless leader, Dave, on his way back from BW Chicago, had the misfortune of hitting a deer, and then being hit by a tractor-trailer. Miraculously (and thankfully), he was unscathed, but his car and LEGO inside… not so much. But if you look closely at the picture on the right, you can see the one box with some big letters on it that survived. That’s mine! I mean, yeah, I was concerned with Dave and all, but dude! What’s the deal with my build!?!?! View fullsize View fullsize Back To The Beginning Let’s go back a few months. My old pal Simon was recruiting people for this New Hashima Cyberpunk (whatever that is, I’m still not...

In my quest for SNOT building techniques, I have come across some ways of building that might be considered somewhat controversial. You might have heard of so-called “illegal LEGO techniques” that cause stress on elements. Well, in this article I will highlight illegal techniques that have the best potential when it comes to SNOT. Don’t worry… we won’t be breaking any laws here (but we might break some LEGO elements!). This is the sixth article in our LEGO SNOT series. I suggest reading the previous articles about SNOT (Studs Not on Top) and sideways building first to get the most out of this article: Hinged SNOT Modern SNOT History of SNOT SNOT Basics Advanced SNOT So let’s take a look at some illegal techniques with the SNOT-iest potential… What Are Illegal Techniques? The term “illegal” was first used by LEGO designer Jamie Berard in a presentation about LEGO building techniques in...

This past weekend, LEGO fans from all over the world converged on Skaerbaek, Denmark for the ultimate builder gathering (that also happens to be in LEGO HQ’s metaphorical backyard). Builder and LEGO designer Wes Talbott featured this fantastic horde of baddies at the Fan Weekend, about to pass through their nerco-powered portal to attack their sworn foe, the Moon Elves. The intricacies of the portal are spectacular, from the organics growing out of its side to the stone dragon heads sitting atop it. But my favorite part has got to be Wes’s integration of bones and skulls into the structure, using the 1×1 round plate with bar. The part really gives those skeletal minifig heads a jaunty slant, evoking the makeshift/natural/ritualistic nature of goblin magic. But don’t let the glowing green gateway distract you from the brilliantly-crafted army surrounding it. Specifically, that big, boney behemoth in the background is a masterclass...