Today is March 10, an annual celebration of the entire Super Mario video game franchise (because you can write the day as MAR10). To mark the occasion, I'm going to introduce you to Bricktendo (also known as Eliès) who made a beautiful diorama featuring the Mario franchise that seemingly magically moves without explanation. I had the opportunity to see it in person and discuss all the details of this creation at the Legsplay exhibition in Angouleme last month. Sam: Hi Eliès, welcome to BrickNerd! Can you introduce yourself a little? How long have you been building LEGO? Eliès: Hi Pistash! I'm Eliès, aka Bricktendo on social networks. I'm 22 years old and I'm originally from Nîmes, France. I have been building LEGO for 14 years now without interruption since I was seven years old. I have to say that I have a classic background—as a Star Wars fan, collecting sets was...

The process of photographing your LEGO creations has so many intriguing aspects, but one for me stands out the most: choosing the correct background. There are so many options when it comes to “setting the stage” to present your MOCs or minifigures. There are a few classic options like craft paper or fabric, but setting the scene for your MOC can make all the difference. "Roll along covered wagon, roll along, To the turn of your wheels I sing a song, City ladies may be fine, but give me that girl of mine, Roll along covered wagon, roll along". Today we are going to look at all the different types of backgrounds you can use to take your LEGO projects to the next level, give the scene more character, and explore which options are best for specific occasions. Brick Built Dioramas Perhaps the most common background is the one you don’t...

The Robotic Mech Factory by The_B3_ is the latest project to achieve 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas. The build features a highly detailed greebled box that opens up to reveal a factory inside. The project joins Dr. Seuss and LEGO, Sweet Honey, The Botanical Garden, The Crown – A Piece of History, Stargate SG1: Embarkation Room, Roscosmos Soyuz MS Spacecraft, Motorized Howl’s Moving Castle, The Stargate, Medieval Seaside Market, Brick Boulevard, Retro Comic Store, Shrek’s Swamp – 20th Anniversary, Baby Green Sea Turtle – Kinetic, Humpback Whale, Shrek’s Swamp, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: 99th Precinct, LED Lamp, Bricks Coffee, Ogel Creek Saw Mill, Hollow Knight: Forgotten Crossroad, LEGO Godzilla, Claus Toys, Twilight: Cullen House, Where’s Wally/Waldo?, V.&T.R.R. #12, Genoa, River Side Lodge, Catan – The Game, Daft Punk – The Robots, Monsters Inc: The Door to Monstropolis, Iljinai Family House, Multi-Tool, Portal 2 Quantum Tunnelling Device. The “Portal Gun”, LEGOLAND Central Station, E.T....

We don’t talk about new LEGO sets much at BrickNerd—there are a plethora of other great sites that do that. However to help us keep the quality up and ads down, we need your help. If you are going to purchase any new LEGO sets and want to help out BrickNerd simultaneously, we ask that you use our affiliate link for LEGO.com. It is a great way to support community-focused journalism without costing you more than you are already spending on LEGO. You support BrickNerd at the same time you get your new Rivendell display piece, BTS tribute, Captain Rex helmet, new parts intensive-Speed Champions, some amazing Classic 3-in-1 sets, a new botanical puzzle or even Disney BrickHeadz. Even if you just get a keychain using our link, we appreciate the help. See all the new sets at LEGO using the following links: US | CAN | UK | AU. (For...

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published March 3, 2021. Illuminating work by Wayne Tyler You ask: L’Enfant, qu'est-ce que c'est? (or maybe you put it more like I would: L’Enfant, what is that?). Why, it’s not a what, it’s a who! He was the Frenchman who designed Washington DC. Pierre Charles L’Enfant to be precise. In what became known as the L’Enfant Plan, this notable fellow laid out the basics of the city that we all recognize today including a roughly mile-long park that eventually became the National Mall. I can’t think of anything that better evokes for me “the best of America” so completely. The Mall encapsulates fantastic treasures of architecture, natural beauty, history, art, science, and more into one walkable beautiful park containing a seemingly endless string of top-notch museums! For builder Wayne Tyler, as our DC correspondent El Barto first covered here in 2018, the National Mall...