Happy Boxing Day! We all know what a LEGO product box looks like, right? If you are anything like me, you can recognize a LEGO box even if it’s wrapped up because the dimensions are iconic (not to mention the graphic design). And hopefully, you were lucky enough to unwrap a few on Christmas Day. But not all sets are shaped like a cuboid. (And people even use packaging in their MOCs like we showed in this article and this article.) Polybags are a popular format for tiny sets, foil packs were used until recently with the Collectable Minifigure Series, and plastic canisters have been made famous by Bionicle. These have been all pretty common to see, but what about less common shapes? Let’s dive into the wild world of wacky LEGO product packaging! In the Can - Canisters Ok, you just said canisters were common, why the heck is the...

Merry Christmas from BrickNerd! As is tradition, we like to give away some presents and a shiny gold trophy for the holiday. Last month for Nerdvember, we challenged you to reimagine our mascot Nerdly through the lens of animation—and you delivered! We received nearly 40 fantastic entries that showcased creativity, technical skill, and plenty of nerdy spirit. This year’s theme celebrated animation in all its forms. We asked you all to bring Nerdly to life, whether inspired by beloved cartoons, animated films, or kinetic sculptures. From Disney to Saturday morning cartoons to custom Brickfilms, you amazed us with your creativity and talent. There were so many fantastic animated interpretations of the theme. Each BrickNerd contributor had an equal vote, and the results were close. Three key criteria were considered by the judges: Concept - Is the idea clever, tell a story, and align with the animated theme? Quality & Presentation -...

Today’s guest article comes from Graeme Dymond, a LEGO Certified Professional (LCP) and AFOL living in Toronto, Canada. A Holiday Story of Joy and Brokenness The holiday season has a unique way of amplifying our emotions—good or bad. For some, it’s a time of joy and togetherness. Many of my favorite LEGO memories are from opening presents during the holiday season, and I’m sure many other readers have similar stories. I love to decorate my front lawn with large, holiday themed DUPLO sculptures and share the love of LEGO bricks with my neighborhood. For many others, though, the holidays can be a period of isolation, self-doubt, or even quiet desperation. It can be hard to reach out for help or share what you are feeling, and many go through the holidays silently struggling alone. I want to share a story with an important lesson I learned recently, one that echoes a...

I have what could be considered a decently large family, with five siblings in addition to myself and my parents—and when there are eight of you, it can be hard to find common interests that you can all connect through. In my family, the LEGO system is one of the few things that we can all enjoy to one extent or another, so my dad figured it was a natural choice to use LEGO bricks to initiate family bonding. And what better way to do that than by collaborating on a winter village layout? Once Upon A Time… When my dad was a kid, his dad built a wooden display known as “The Village” to sit at the base of their Christmas tree. The display consisted of an L-shaped snapshot of a town consisting of a road and a variety of houses and stores. It was also designed so that lights...

Today’s guest article comes from Tammy Schefcik, the mother of BrickNerd Editor-in-Chief Dave Schefcik. She has fostered creativity and community through LEGO for years and shares her experience with the new LEGO holiday botanicals. A Flower Girl I suppose you could say I’ve always been a flower girl. My love affair with flowers began when I was just two years old, toddling down the aisle as a flower girl at my cousin’s wedding. I can still remember clutching that little basket filled with flowers, its handle wrapped in ribbons. From that moment on, flowers became a part of me, as much a part of my life as my family, holidays, and traditions. Growing up on the East Coast, flowers were everywhere, and each season brought its own magic. Crocuses would poke through the snow to announce spring, followed by daffodils, lilacs, and azaleas. Forsythia bushes exploded in yellow, while magnolia and...

Even though I don’t cover LEGO rumors that much anymore, this one definitely caught my eye. Rumor insider fateful_04 has reported that we could be getting a $1,000 LEGO Star Wars UCS Death Star (75419) which would be the fall exclusive. Obviously, that would make it the first LEGO set to hit the $1,000 price point at retail and could possibly be another set to have over 10,000 pieces. Now the question is which Death Star would it be and would it be a static sphere or a playset like with the most recent version which retired in 2020. Let the speculation begin! The post $1,000 LEGO Star Wars UCS Death Star Rumored for 2025 appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Have you ever considered decorating a Christmas tree using only brick-built LEGO ornaments? With BrickNerd being a Recognized LEGO Fan Media (RLFM), we sometimes get to bring ideas like that into reality by leveraging support like the LEGO Pick-a-Brick support program. (You may remember such grand project ideas as building Mega Nerdly.) My idea for a support order this year was, you guessed it, to decorate an entire Christmas tree using LEGO ornaments. This tree would be donated and displayed at an annual fundraiser called the “Festival of Trees and Lights” here in Louisville, Kentucky (USA). The fundraiser supports Norton Children’s Hospital Foundation, whose mission is to: “… serve all families regardless of their ability to pay. As part of a not-for-profit organization, Norton Children’s facilities rely on the generosity of the community to help fulfill our mission to provide for the physical and emotional health of children, from birth to...

The newest LEGO Ideas set on the market is The Botanical Garden (21353) which has 3,792 pieces and retails for a whopping $329.99. Let’s take a deeper look to see if it is actually worth that price. Minifigures A part of the higher price point of the set is the inclusion of 12 minifigures. These includes four members of the staff, the manager, the barista, and two gardeners. The rest are visitors to the garden. The manager has on a dark blue puffy jacket and has a similiar colored satchel. The minifigure is designed to resemble the fan designer, Valentina Bima. The barista is an older lady and she has on the typical brown apron. The beanie is molded on to the hair and she has a double-sided head showing a smile and a stern look. The two gardeners have on the exact same brown overall outfit. The male has a...

If you’re looking for a deal on the LEGO Marvel X-Men X-Jet (76281), Walmart has dropped the price on it by 25%. It is now listed for $63.76 which saves you $21.23 on it. When it was it initially released, many fans criticized that the 359 piece set was overpriced. We probably won’t be seeing a 50% discount on it so any deal on this set could be worth it. I believe this is the first time I’ve seen it discounted. As a Mavely Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The post LEGO Marvel X-Men X-Jet (76281) Walmart Sale – December 2024 appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

LEGO’s current and probably final promotion of the year is the LEGO Seasonal Christmas Picture Frame (40702) which you get until December 24 with purchases of $70. The build has 209 pieces and it features a functional decorative frame. The front of the frame has a little winter scene that includes a mini gingerbread house, Santa’s sleigh, a Christmas tree, and a snowman. On the frame itself, there are some Christmas bells in one of the corners. The main feature here is the picture frame itself that you can put a standard 4×6 picture. There are four 1×2 plates that secure the picture in the frame. Another feature is that you can either display the frame horizontally or vertically. I don’t have any pictures laying around and this was the only thing that I had available at the time. The LEGO Seasonal Christmas Picture Frame (40702) is one of the more...