A new month (and a New Year!) is upon us which means more competitive building! Are you ready? Here’s the latest bunch of LEGO contests and challenges from all around the AFOL community for January 2026 to help you find some inspiration and motivation to build! There’s nothing quite like a theme or a prompt to take you out of your comfort zone and give you something new to try. Besides, contests are the perfect place to interact with other contestants and judges and get to know your fellow builders. We’ve listed them in order of deadline so you can plan your building time to the best advantage. Make sure to check the LEGO activity calendar for local challenges and events near you. Here at BrickNerd, some of our fondest memories, greatest building achievements, coolest trophies, and best friendships came from LEGO contests, so we really hope you try some of...

Today’s the day! The Nerdvember 2025 Vacation contest officially closes tonight, and this is your final reminder to get those entries in before the January 4th deadline passes. Whether you’ve been building between holiday travel, sneaking in a quick photo during a staycation, or putting the finishing touches on a MOC you’ve been tinkering with all week, now’s the moment to hit submit. Once the clock runs out, Nerdly’s suitcase snaps shut. We extended the deadline to help everyone survive the end-of-year scramble, and the entries we’ve received so far have made it clear that the extra time paid off. Vacation Nerdly has been everywhere, from big trips to clever close-to-home adventures, and we can’t wait to see what comes in at the wire. Pack Your Bags (One Last Time) Nerdvember is all about stepping away, having fun, and telling a great story—and there are two ways to enter, even at...

Today’s guest article comes from ThrawnsRevenge who has built more than 150 MOCs available on Rebrickable. He shares some of the things he’s learned about mastering the platform, from sharing designs to protecting them. Finding Rebrickable The world of LEGO is constantly changing every year, both within the LEGO community itself and in the online sphere surrounding our favorite plastic bricks. Every year, we get a flurry of new parts and ways to catalog them. On top of that, we always see new programs or websites to catalog parts, blog about our experiences with LEGO, and find ways to upload our models online to share. One of these websites is called Rebrickable, a site used by many LEGO fans to share their models both for free or even for sale.  Rebrickable was started by Nathan Thom in 2011 and it has flourished as a platform since then. The website allows you...

BrickNerd sent contributor Casey McCoy 11370 Stranger Things: The Creel House and 40891 Stranger Things: WSQK Radio Station to write about. Sets provided by The LEGO Group guarantee neither positive nor negative coverage. Opinions are those expressed by the author. Strange Times How does one broach the cultural monolith that is Stranger Things? As we try to culturally sunset this beloved 1980s homage with the release of the fifth and final season of the streaming hit, it’s hard to capture just how our society has shifted “upside down” in the last ten years by sending all 80s nostalgia bait into maximum overdrive With a decade of cultural upheaval under its belt (I was in my early college years when Season One released!), anthropologists, sociologists, and a crack team of marketers will be analyzing just how all-powerful the Stranger Things franchise has been in an effort to replicate its success. And it’s...

Nature photographer and bird-building extraordinaire Bram (skabram.builds) recently re-worked an older creation and shared this absolutely stunning Cormorant build! Bram is no stranger to incredible bird builds and has a unique ability to capture their likeness in brick form, but this is the largest creation we’ve seen from him yet and makes for a striking display piece. The head rotates, the wings are flexible via the use of various ball-joints, and there’s an alternate display in which the bird’s wings are tucked in. Our favorite view is the imposing wingspan side profile below, but this build is a sight to behold no matter which angle you view it from. A front view of the Cormorant’s wingpsan reveals just how wide this creation is, and makes the posing and stability of the wings even more impressive. A rear view look shows how finished this build is from all angles. Bram truly knows...