A new month is upon us which means more competitive building! Are you ready? Here’s the latest batch of LEGO contests and challenges from all around the AFOL community for August 2023 to help you find some inspiration and motivation to build! There’s nothing quite like a theme or a prompt to take you out of your comfort zone and give you something new to try. Besides, contests are the perfect place to interact with other contestants and judges and get to know your fellow builders. And if you’re like me, a deadline helps make sure you actually finish! We’ve listed them in order of deadline so you can plan your building time to the best advantage. Make sure to check the LEGO activity calendar for local challenges and events near you. Here at BrickNerd, some of our fondest memories, greatest building achievements, coolest trophies, and best friendships came from LEGO...

Today’s guest article comes from fellow AFOL Chris Castagnetto who shares his experience with LEGO at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. SDCC 2023 San Diego Comic-Con, one of the largest fan events in the world, was hosted from July 19th to 23rd. In classic form, LEGO showed up with a collection of fan activations and experiences throughout the weekend for fans of all ages. I’m an AFOL and as such, I am also a huge fan of pop culture. I have been attending Comic-Con since 2002 and have been lucky enough to have been witness to LEGO and their fan experiences and activations over the years—and this year was definitely one of the best. Not only did LEGO host their annual animation panel, but they also hosted activations on the IMDB boat and showed up in a very different way when it comes to their annual LEGO booth presence on the show...

When LEGO offered the entire LEGO Dreamzzz lineup to BrickNerd, we knew we wanted to do something different with them. To celebrate the boundless creativity of the sets available now, we shipped them to various talented AFOLs to play with and dream about. What would they do with the sets? Would they dream or have a nightmare? (If you’ve read yesterday’s article you already know the answer…) Let’s embrace the dark! Aiden Rexroad’s Dream Dragon Aiden Rexroad is from Florida and is a character and creature builder. They can be found online on BrickNerd, Flickr and Instagram. BrickNerd sent them sets 71457 Pegasus Flying Horse and 71459 Stable of Dream Creatures to see what they would dream about. 75413 Pegasus Flying Horse When building this Pegasus, my first impression was that I love this set! As someone who builds creature MOCs, I was very happy to see some wonderful animal builds...

When LEGO offered the entire LEGO Dreamzzz lineup to BrickNerd, we knew we wanted to do something different with them. To celebrate the boundless creativity of the sets available now, we shipped them to various talented AFOLs to play with and dream about. What would they do with the sets? You will soon find out today (and tomorrow in our Dreamzzz Nightmare Edition). Let the daydreaming begin! Isaac Wilder Dreams of Vehicles Isaac Wilder is from Oregon and is a constantly evolving LEGO fan and builder. They can be found online on Flickr and Instagram. BrickNerd sent them sets 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van and 71458 Crocodile Car to see what they would dream about. 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van was such a fun set to build, and I love the combined animal/vehicle aspect. I think a turtle and van go together well; the shape of the...

July is over and we’re in the midst of Summer—time to sit back and enjoy a cocktail of great features, insightful articles and deep dives from all across the LEGO community! We are lucky to have this many outlets and channels that keep creating incredible content, and these are the best of the month. Here at BrickNerd, we built (and destroyed) a giant Nerdly and went to a Ninjago baseball game. We hosted New Hashima Takeover Week and learned the story behind the colossal cyberpunk city, analyzed a spaceship on wheels, celebrated the friends we made along the way and more. We got nerdy about the Statue of Liberty, moving MOCs, and LEGO’s financial history. We visited Japan with an architect and the high seas with a buccaneer. We even looked at the Bio-Cup entries from Round 2 and Round 3, and then had time to post some instructions for a...