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...

LEGO has started some new promotions on the LEGO Shop with the LEGO Year of the Dragon (40611) gift with purchase set as well as Double Insider Points on all your orders. You can get the set from now until January 31 with purchases of $85 or more, while supplies last. The double points promotional period will be a lot shorter and will end on January 24. To celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year, LEGO has released a number of Chinese Traditional Festival sets for 2024. • Red Dragon (31145) – $9.99• Money Tree (40648) – $24.99• Spring Festival Mickey Mouse (40673) – $9.99• Festival Calendar (40678) – $29.94• Auspicious Dragon (80112) – $89.99• Family Reunion Celebration (80113) – $129.99 As a Rakuten/Linkshare Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The post LEGO Year of the Dragon (40611) & Double Insider Points Live on LEGO Shop appeared first on The Brick Fan....

We can now confirm that the LEGO Year of the Dragon (40611) promotion will be going live tonight along with the Double Insider Points event. The GWP will be available with purchases of $85 which is pretty much the same as previous years for the zodiac animals. The promotion will run from January 20-31 so there’s plenty of time to get it. The post LEGO Year of the Dragon (40611) Promotion Starts Soon appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch by BenBuilds is the latest project to achieve 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas. The build is based on the Christmas story of the Grinch with a house from Whoville along with the Grinch sleigh. The project joins Spirited Away, Appa the Sky Bison, from Avatar the Last Airbender, Venus Flytrap, Minerals Display, Dreamworks’ Shrek’s Swamp 2, and Hello Kitty and Friends – 50 Years as the ones to reach the First 2024 Review Stage. The post LEGO Ideas Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch Achieves 10,000 Supporters appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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 years ago, LEGO announced that sets will be having paper bags for packaging and so far there have been various sets that have achieved that. They have just released a behind the scenes video of the manufacturing process from the factory showing LEGO bricks being packaged in the bags. Europe and Asia have already had sets with the paper bags and the Americas will be coming soon. Our packaging lines in Europe to Asia are already busy manufacturing new paper-based bags for LEGO sets and Americas will follow shortly. Sneak a peek behind the scenes to see the magic unfold! pic.twitter.com/0dcowEqhNZ — LEGO (@LEGO_Group) January 19, 2024 The post LEGO Releases Paper Packaging Behind the Scenes Video appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Hello Kitty and Friends – 50 Years by Bulldoozer is the latest project to achieve 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas. This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty and the project is inspired by the Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures animated series. The project joins Spirited Away, Appa the Sky Bison, from Avatar the Last Airbender, Venus Flytrap, Minerals Display, and Dreamworks’ Shrek’s Swamp 2 as the ones to reach the First 2024 Review Stage. The post LEGO Ideas Hello Kitty and Friends – 50 Years Achieves 10,000 Supporters appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

The LEGO Animal Crossing theme releases in March but if you’re a collecting completionist, there will be more to collect. LEGO Japan has revealed that there will be Japanese exclusive versions of the sets as well with the words Doubutsu No Mori (どうぶつの森) for the theme title. Pre-orders for the Japanese versions will start on Saturday, January 20 and there is also a Maple’s Pumpkin Garden (30662) polybag as a free gift when you purchase Isabelle’s House Visit (77049). • Julian’s Birthday Party (77046) – 170 pieces/$14.99• Bunnie’s Outdoor Activities (77047) – 164 pieces/$19.99• Kapp’n’s Island Boat Tour (77048) – 233 pieces/$29.99• Isabelle’s House Visit (77049) – 389 pieces/$39.99• Nook’s Cranny & Rosie´s House (77050) – 535 pieces/$74.99 The post LEGO Animal Crossing Sets to Have Japanese Variants appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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...