“The Conversation Piece” is a monthly BrickNerd series about creativity and building with LEGO authored by our friends over at the Builder Improvement Initiative (BII), a Discord-based community that helps LEGO builders of all levels get better at their craft through knowledge-sharing and constructive feedback. Have a question you would like us to consider for a future article? You can submit it here. Enjoy! How to Improve Everyone has a different reason that they enjoy building with LEGO (honestly, a topic worthy of its own article). Regardless of the motivation, like any other creative craft there is a common thread which is the desire to improve. For us at BII, it matters enough that we’ve made it our main focus (it’s in our name)! In past articles, we’ve discussed various theories surrounding LEGO building. We hope that through these articles, readers can take something away and utilize the techniques discussed in...

The clock is almost out! You have just over 24 hours left to enter The AdoraBuild! Entries must be submitted via the contest’s Google Form by May 9th at 11:59 pm PT. Over the past few weeks we’ve seen an incredible mix of adorable, hilarious, heartfelt, and wildly creative entries, but there’s always room for one more burst of cuteness before submissions close. Whether your idea is tiny and sweet or completely over-the-top, now’s the time to lean into whimsy and build something that makes people smile instantly. Consider this your last call to build something so cute you wanna die before time officially runs out. What Makes Something Adorable? The AdoraBuild is a journey into the whimsical, the endearing, and the outright precious. From fluffy creatures to heart-melting scenes, your mission is to capture the essence of cuteness in brick-built form. But what makes a build “adorable”? Is it the...

April kept things busy on BrickNerd as we traveled all over the LEGO world, from wandering the streets of Billund in microscale form to exploring sprawling model train layouts in the Netherlands. We also soared through aviation history aboard a magnificent DC-3 and blasted off for the Moon alongside Tintin’s iconic rocket just as real-world lunar exploration continues capturing imaginations once again. Back on Earth, we dug into post-apocalyptic Fallout storytelling, expanded a Ninjago blacksmith shop 15 years in the making, and reflected on the deeper question of why we build with LEGO in the first place. We also got hands-on with aging 9V train motors, found inspiration in unexpected photography mistakes, and celebrated all the wonderfully niche holidays AFOLs somehow manage to create for themselves. And of course, April wouldn’t be complete without causing a little chaos through our LEGO Unlimited April Fools joke. In fact, we published so many...

It may be time for some new contests – it’s May, after all. So here’s our contest calendar! There’s plenty on offer in our latest lineup of LEGO contests and challenges from across the AFOL community. May 2026 has a bit of everything to offer – and there’s nothing quite like a theme or a prompt to nudge you out of your comfort zone and push you to experiment building in ways you might not otherwise attempt. We’ve listed them in order of deadline so you can plan your building time wisely—especially in a month that always seems to fly by. Be sure to check the LEGO activity calendar for local challenges and events near you. Some of our fondest memories, proudest builds, coolest trophies, and strongest friendships started with a contest entry, so we hope you’ll jump in and give one (or two) a try. LEGO Ideas: Pokémon Trading Card Challenge -...

The LEGO Smart Brick. Like many of you who read our articles, I am a big fan of LEGO. I have always had a deep fascination with how intentionally and meticulously The LEGO Group’s products are designed. Over the course of my life, I have spent so many hours watching interviews with designers, reading books and LEGO fan magazines, and talking to any designers I have been fortunate enough to meet, enough that the time could probably be equivalent to that of a college degree. I have even made LEGO my career, as a Master Model Builder at LEGOLAND, a freelance LEGO commission artist, and a former employee of The LEGO Group at one of their many Brand Retail stores. Many fellow LEGO fans have called me a die-hard fanboy, as I love anything and everything that The LEGO Group does, no matter what it is. I cannot deny that statement—it...

LEGO has revealed a new wave of summer 2026 LEGO Minecraft sets that will be releasing on June 1. The evergreen theme seems to be continuing on with character models and for some of the sets, you can unlock in-game items of the corresponding set. Chicken Jockey (21582) – 344 pieces Chicken Jockey Desert Attack (21592) – 428 pieces/$24.99 First Night Adventure (21593) – 301 pieces The Skeleton (21594) – 502 pieces/$39.99 The Ender Dragon (21595) – 710 pieces/$69.99 Evoker Village Attack (21596) – 607 pieces/$89.99 Ghast Station (21597) – 754 pieces The post LEGO Minecraft Summer 2026 Sets Revealed appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

LEGO has revealed a fairly large wave of the LEGO Disney summer 2026 sets. In this wave, we have a lot of character builds and the usual castle builds for the various princesses. Village House & Boat (43282) – 85 pieces Cinderella Animal Friends Castle (43283) – 149 pieces Belle & the Beast’s Enchanted Castle (43289) – 254 pieces Pua (43292) – 885 pieces Kakamora (43293) – 407 pieces Rapunzel’s Mini Tower (43294) – 171 pieces Jasmine’s Jewellery Box (43295) – 458 pieces Stitch & Scrump (43296) – 713 pieces Rapunzel’s Castle (43297) – 676 pieces Ariel’s Royal Wedding Boat (43299) – 519 pieces The post LEGO Disney Summer 2026 Sets Revealed appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

LEGO has revealed some of the LEGO Friends summer 2026 sets which include some familiar locations. In this wave, we have more amusement park rides including another roller coaster as well as a new hotel. Fun Water Park Day (42676) – 278 pieces Forest Tea Party (42690) – 116 pieces Creative Flower Shop (42693) – 377 pieces Pizza Truck (42694) – 190 pieces Creative Dollhouse Suitcase (42697) – 355 pieces/$49.99 Candy & Cupcake Ferris Wheel (42700) – 602 pieces/$59.99 Spinning Flower & Fairy Teacup Ride (42702) – 321 pieces Mermaid Roller Coaster (42703) – 864 pieces/$109.99 Heartlake City Grand Hotel (42704) – 1,406/$149.99 Cosy Autumn Forest Cabin (42705) – 1,229 pieces/$109.99 The post LEGO Friends Summer 2026 Sets Revealed appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

LEGO has revealed more of the summer 2026 wave of LEGO Technic sets that should be available soon. We have a couple of more iconic cars from The Fast & Furious franchise. Fast & Furious Mitsubishi Eclipse (42229) – 827 pieces/$64.99 Fast & Furious Dodge Charger R/T (42231) – 1,516 pieces/$159.99 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport (42241) – 771 pieces/$64.99 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 5023 with Crane (42242) – 1,189 pieces/$129.99 The post LEGO Technic Summer 2026 Sets Revealed appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

LEGO has revealed four new LEGO Fortnite summer 2026 sets that are slated to be released in June. Tomatohead (77079) – 210 pieces Supply Drop (77080) – 314 pieces KIT (77081) – 1,230 pieces Rave Cave (77082) – 1,963 pieces The post LEGO Fortnite Summer 2026 Sets Revealed appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran