Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published February 6, 2023. I occasionally get asked how to start building MOCs by budding AFOLs. One of my go-to responses is to get two copies of a LEGO set that they enjoy and try combining them and expanding the model into something new. That way, they are already familiar with the building style, techniques and colors and have an easier way to ease into building their own original creations. Another way to get your feet wet is to modify an existing set to customize it to your liking. Go ahead, build an extra floor of the modular, swap the colors of that car to your favorite, or add a feature or two that push the set from good to great in your mind. This practice is commonly known as “modding” or modifying a set to make it even better than ever. With the release...

Last night was the finale of LEGO Masters Season 4 and we now have two new LEGO Masters as well as the set that will be made into an official LEGO set in the future. If you didn’t know, the winners will be flown to Billund to meet with LEGO designers with the winning build be turned into a new set. Before you read on, there are spoilers if you didn’t watch the show. The team of Christopher (DuckBbricks) and Robert are your newest LEGO Masters and their 8ft by 8ft build of the World Wonderliner will be displayed at the flagship LEGO Store in New York. Their build features a plane with three core icons of their most memorable travel experiences which include the Kenyan baobab tree, the Forbidden City, and the Colosseum. The release of the set won’t be out for at least another year or two but expect...

LEGO has officially revealed the new LEGO Ideas Polaroid OneStep SX-70 Camera (21345) which will be available on January 1. The set has 516 pieces and will retail for $79.99. You can actually pre-order the set starting today on the LEGO Shop. The Polaroid OneStep SX-70 Camera features a working viewfinder, the iconic Color Spectrum, exposure compensation dial, and a shutter button so you even can load and eject the illustrated photos. Also included is an opening film door to load LEGO Polaroid Photos in. There’s also a buildable Polaroid Time-Zero Land Film pack and three LEGO Polaroid illustrated photos. Lights, Camera… Build! The LEGO Group and Polaroid launch the new LEGO® IDEAS: Polaroid OneStep Camera for photography aficionados and LEGO builders everywhere! The LEGO Group and Polaroid has today unveiled the new LEGO® IDEAS: Polaroid OneStep SX-70 Camera. Originally conceived by LEGO fan Marc a.k.a. Minibrick Productions (@minibrickYT), bringing Polaroid’s...

Gingerbread has so much going for it—deep, sweet browns, rich, spicy aromas, and the splendid color contrasts of fluffy white frosting and colorful candies. Innately playful and consistently colorful, gingerbread houses are perfect for recreation in LEGO bricks. So this December, let’s cut some calories by enjoying our gingerbread LEGO-style! Let’s start the tour of gingerbread town with LittleJohn’s crispy Gingerbread House. This mouthwatering creation was built for an Iron Builder round. See if you can guess the seed part! If your gingerbread men need a little more space—or you want more cookies to eat—consider this Gingerbread Manor by Stilly Bricks that looks delicious! Kudos for using yellow, a non-traditional gingerbread house frosting color. Grant Davis must have pulled out his Christmas tree in August in order to photograph this creation. Once again, it’s a Gingerbread House fit for an Iron Builder, though you may have a harder time guessing the...

LEGO has brought back the the LEGO Houses of the World 4 (40599) on the LEGO Shop as well as starting a new promo for the Winter Fun Add-on Pack (40610). Like before, the Houses of the World will require a $250 purchase while the Add-on Pack will be the same as the previous sets which needs only a $50 purchase. Both promotions looks like the last ones for 2023 as they will be ending on December 24, while supplies last. To get your orders by Christmas with standard shipping, you’ll have to get your orders in by December 19. As a Rakuten/Linkshare Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The post LEGO Houses of the World 4 (40599) & Winter Fun Add-on Pack (40610) Promotions Live on LEGO Shop appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

The LEGO Store on JD.com has revealed the upcoming 2024 LEGO Year of the Dragon (40611). Like with previous sets based on the Chinese Zodiac animals, the set represents the Dragon which is for 2024. It’ll most likely be available on the LEGO Shop some time in January as a gift with purchase set. There’s no information yet on the price requirements but it’s usually around the $80-$88 range since the Chinese pronunciation for eight sounds similar to the word fortune. Thanks to Dylan Chow who was able to access JD.com to grab the images. The post LEGO Year of the Dragon (40611) GWP Revealed appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

LEGO and Epic Games have started sending out LEGO Fortnite influencer mystery boxes for fans to check out. I was one of the lucky ones to be able to check it out so here’s a quick review of what’s inside. First you get this giant box that you can see above and inside are things that are LEGO Fortnite related. There’s a nice organic cotton shirt with the LEGO Fortnite logo. The second thing is a poster tube along with a poster showing how to escape along with parts needed to do so. Step #1: Spot a brute.Step #2: Build a getaway vehicle.Step #3: Escape! Third, we have the LEGO DREAMZzz Nightmare Shark Ship (71469) that we can build. It can also be found in-game as well. If you follow the site, we’ve already done a review of the set and you can check it out here. I’m not sure what...

The winter season brings lots of joy to young and old through various forms: the warmth of a roaring fire in the fireplace, the festive holiday seasons, playing in the snow, or sipping a hot drinks purchased from a mug-shaped beverage stand! Wait, what? That’s right, a delightful mug-shaped beverage stand in Santa colors of red, white, and black that I call Cup-o-Jolly Java. I created this little festive beverage stand as a new addition to my LEGO Winter Village. I imagine the LEGO townspeople stopping by for a hot beverage to keep them warm. Although this build is a relatively recent build of mine, it was actually not my first version of the drink stand. Back in 2016, I built one in a Starbucks-like dark green and silver color scheme, but the silver pieces were very expensive as they were only available for a brief period in 2012. You can...

Amazon has yet again dropped the price on the LEGO Star Wars UCS The Razor Crest (75331) by 30% on a flash sale. The set is now listed at $419.99 which saves you $180 on it and is the best price the set has been listed for. As of this post, the set has already 59% claimed so there’s not too much of it left. Once the claims hit 100%, it’ll go back to regular price. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The post LEGO Star Wars UCS The Razor Crest (75331) Amazon Sale – December 2023 appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Swamps. Muddy, stinky, and generally not desirable places to live. But if you need to, it’s way better to be mobile. Why lock yourself into a single location when all of them are available!? Jake (Mountain Hobbit) shows us exactly what this would look like with his wonderful Swamp Walker MOC. We also get to pick his brain a bit on how he went about designing and engineering this. Inspiration Chris: What was the inspiration for this build? Jake: The idea for this build came from a piece of concept art that I found while looking for build inspiration. I didn’t have much of an idea of what I wanted to build, just that I wanted to make something swamp-themed. I came across this piece of art and knew I had to try building it. cONCEPT aRT BASED ON Bridal Procession on the Hardanger I actually followed the concept art very...