When the new LEGO 72423 Shrek, Donkey & Puss in Boots was announced, my heart and mind immediately drifted back to childhood. An almost repressed memory of an old VHS tape suddenly resurfaced, tied to Christmas, family gatherings, and the warmth of being together at home. The strongest memory, however, is the one connected to my grandparents. I found myself wondering what linked those distant moments to this new LEGO set. Perhaps it was that carefree childhood feeling and the endless hours spent in front of the television, consuming meters and meters of VHS tape in the binge-watching habits of times gone by. Today, jumping between streaming services is an everyday occurrence. But in a very different time—and saying that makes me feel like a wise old man—waiting for a new film to arrive on VHS was often the only way to revisit your favorite movie. Thanks to Blockbuster, small local...

The phrase “Must go faster” may sound like a common phrase you hear at work or while sitting in traffic. However, in the summer of 1993, it echoed throughout theaters during a breathtaking T-Rex chase scene in the blockbuster hit Jurassic Park, as three unlucky riders fled in a Jurassic Park Staff Jeep. The film was the first of many sequels to feature the juxtaposition of dinosaurs in the present era, capturing our childhood imaginations as we followed the perilous story of the naive characters in awe of it all. Although the interactions between the film characters and the dinosaurs were the focal point of Jurassic Park and the sequels that followed, thanks in large part to the cutting-edge animatronics and CGI of the 1990s, one cannot ignore the important role the vehicles played in the original film. The use of memorable vehicles in movies is nothing new in Hollywood. For...

“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...