Best of BrickNerd — Article originally published January 13, 2023. For my inaugural BrickNerd article, I wanted to take a closer look at something I’ve been familiar with for the entirety of my time in the hobby but only had a cursory glance at—the Octan logo. It’s an image that has been etched in our minds almost permanently, not in the least because of its dominating presence in The LEGO Movie, but just from how ubiquitous it has become in City sets nowadays (let alone a gas station in real life). It’s got a really strong brand presence, and I thought it was worth a look. images via Brickset Historic Perspective The Octan brand has been around in our world since 1992, designed by Torben Skov, a senior LEGO designer with over a quarter of a century of experience within the company. The trademark white, red and green colours are unmistakable...

Best of BrickNerd — Article originally published December 8, 2021. While there are many fascinating facets of our wonderful LEGO hobby, one of the most divisive topics is purism; some believe that it’s never okay to mix other things with LEGO, while others feel perfectly fine throwing Mega Bloks pieces into their builds. The topic is made even more difficult by the fact that different builders’ views on what qualifies as purist vary; is it okay to incorporate broken pieces? Third-party elements? Custom decals? Today, we’re going to take a look at some MOCs that tread right on the line between purist and non-purist by incorporating LEGO gear. These are items that, while produced by LEGO in at least some sense, are not bricks, and were not necessarily intended to be incorporated into creations. Whatever view you may have about whether or not these builds qualify as purist", you’ve got to...

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 2024 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. And if you’re like me, a deadline helps make sure you actually finish! 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...

What happens when you’re restricted to the bricks of a certain LEGO era? Builder Ids de Jong thrives with such limitations, bringing us a castle that looks at home in modern-day Castle themes. Without access to modern plant parts, we still have an excellent-looking birch. Lacking today’s complement of bricks made for SNOT construction (Studs Not On Top), Ids throws together some exquisite cross-windows with the help of minifigure legs. And despite no masonry profile bricks from back in the 90’s, the old school approach of layering standard 1×2 plates to recreate the masonry texture works just fine instead. This makes me wonder what other themes could be revisited with only 1995 parts. The post The LEGO bricks of 1995 are not to be underestimated appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Kyle Keller

Man, I really brought the room down with that title! But sometimes good art has to make you feel a bit down in the dumps. Take this new LEGO creation by Toni A, for example. It’s a tentacled creature called St. Abholos. It’s all part of a larger campaign to totally squig you the heck out, and I think it’s working. It’s more of a Cosmic Horror dread, which is much deeper than the sorrow you feel when you lose a comb. While you ponder your own insignificance in this universe, why not take a gander at some other like-minded Lovecraftian Horrors all hellbent on squelching your good time. The post Bile and tears overflow, drowning everything in sorrow appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Lino