Every year, AFOLs from around the world converge in a (very) small town in the southwestern part of Denmark at the end of September. Why is that, you may ask? Because of the legendary event called Skærbæk Fan Weekend (SFW)! But what is it and how do you “do Skærbæk“ properly? Well, let’s dive into it so you can make the most of the experience. What Is Skærbæk Fan Weekend? Let’s start with a short description (which is a complete rip-off from the SFW homepage—I figured the people in charge would be best equipped to explain it): “In 2005, the LEGO Company started a small get-together with some AFOLs. That event was called the LEGO Fan Weekend. Through the years it developed and grew into a fantastic event. Somehow the LEGO Company decided ten years later not to continue the LEGO Fan Weekend. Seriously bad news for the fans and so...

The vitruvian Minifigure, truly one of the best prints on a round 2x2 tile. In my continued search for the quirkiest connections in the LEGO System, I've come across quite a few unexpected pairings. Unlike in Galidor where limbs were meant to be glinched off and on, my studies of the dark arts of quirky connections have led me down a similar path... this time with minifigures and minidolls. In the search for greatness, I have strayed from the path of the Purist. WARNING: This article is not for the faint of heart or those unwilling to permanently modify or damage LEGO pieces. Minifigs and minidolls were harmed in the making of this article. Benny’s Bad Day What a jolly fella! If you are familiar with anything LEGO related, you’ll surely recognize this little fella, Benny. One of the main characters in The LEGO Movie, Benny is based on some of...

A highlight of the LEGO Fan Expo calendar every year in Australia is Bendigo Bricks. The city of Bendigo is located around 90 minutes from Melbourne and is the home of the active and enthusiastic Bendigo LEGO User Group (aka BALD). Starting in 2016 with just 35 tables of exhibits and barely 500 visitors, the event now boasts over 150 display tables and around 5,000 visitors. It’s become a major event and attracts AFOLs from many parts of Australia. Exhibitors at Bendigo Bricks 2023 Although the event is smaller than the very popular Brickvention, it has a friendly atmosphere and a community feel that is harder to achieve at larger events. It’s true that a number of the exhibits are the same as seen a few months prior at Brickvention, but the crowds are smaller so there is a greater opportunity to look at the fine detail of each of the...

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published April 27, 2021. Continuing our guest article on building LEGO skyscrapers from Deep Shen (read the first half here), today we learn the SNOT tricks, Pythagorean triples, and jumper techniques you need to know to build big architecture! 6. Isn’t that stud supposed to be on top? No, it’s SNOT! A funny thing happened at the first LEGO convention where I displayed my skyscraper models. Someone from the general public came up to me and asked how I had built the green roof in my model of 40 Wall Street. “Oh, I just used SNOT...” I started saying without thinking twice, and before I had a chance to explain what I meant, the guy had moved away with a puzzled (and slightly disgusted) look on his face. Little did he know that SNOT (Studs Not On Top) is what we AFOLs call a technique...

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published April 26, 2021. Building LEGO models of real-life skyscrapers is more complex than it seems. How do you get the right scale, nail the details, support the weight, and make the MOC portable!? To help answer those questions, we are pleased to feature a guest article from Deep Shen discussing LEGO architecture. Deep’s amazing portfolio of work can be found at Towering Brick Creations, on his Flickr page and on Instagram. My introduction to LEGO architecture It was a great honor to meet and talk LEGO with Sean Kenney at Brickfair VA 2019. It was one of his models that inspired me to get started in this hobby. My name is Deep Shen and my journey to AFOLdom has been a little unusual. Many AFOLs talk about a “dark age” that they emerged from to rediscover their childhood passion for LEGO. In my case,...