In the lead paragraph of my MOC TALK article last month, I made mention of a few “anonymous white brick trophies being placed around convention halls” at LEGO fan events. I’ve written about this mysterious occurrence a couple of years ago elsewhere, but I think it is a tale that merits a retelling. The Age of Discovery In the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, a large black slab of extraterrestrial technology is discovered by our presumed hominid ancestors, causing a shift in their evolution and marking the dawn of humanity. Thousands of years later at Brickworld Chicago 2017, another significant discovery was made—a number of “White Brick” monoliths mysteriously appeared around the display hall sometime during the dawn on Sunday morning. They appeared yet again at both Brickworld 2018 and 2019. What were these mysterious white bricks? Perhaps they were a harbinger of another shift in our evolution? An evolution of both the LEGO...

Ribbit. Ribbit. Today's article is brought to you by the letter F. F is for frog. Will Hafner - Nerds The LEGO frog seems to be weirdly special to many builders within the fan community. I inadvertently chose it to be my literal calling card many years ago, and many others have had an appreciation for this cute little guy over the years. But did you know that for how ubiquitous this little guy has become, the frog wasn’t even close to being the first LEGO animal? There are a few opinions on the matter, but according to my research, the first few minifig scale animals included the horse, followed by parrot, then cat... then maybe a spider? The exact timing gets murky. But how long has the frog been around? A Frogotten Past For many of us, it seems like the frog has ALWAYS been a constant sidekick of our...

This year I ventured to a new brick show, Bristlecone Bricks and Train show in Ely, NV. Ely (E-Lee) is in White Pine County, the middle of Eastern Nevada, four hours southwest of Salt Lake City, four hours north of Las Vegas, and five hours directly east of Reno. It’s a bit high in elevation at 6,437 feet, with a population of just over 4,000 folks. It’s a great little town, home of the Northern Nevada Railway Museum, great views, garnet hunting, and steam and diesel train regular and themed (1920s) rides. Also, hand cart rides to get those muscles working. The Bristlecone Bricks and Train Show helps raise money for the continued operation and upkeep of the museum. The Event Bristcone Bricks is typically held the first weekend in June. This year it was Friday June 2 and Saturday, June 3rd. There was lots of representation from local builders. Setup...

There used to be a time when we would travel to Sydney at least once a year for a LEGO Fan Show. Attending an event in Sydney was a highlight of the LEGO fan calendar in Australia. For eight years we were able to attend the Sydney Brick Show, and marvel at the outstanding creations of the local and interstate LEGO Fan community. Then in 2020, the world was caught up in the COVID-19 pandemic. There were travel restrictions, density limits, and lockdowns, and the event had to be cancelled. In 2022, a new event emerged in Sydney called BrickBuilt. We were keen to see our Sydney AFOL friends, and to be part of a new LEGO fan event. But things don’t always work out how we want, and my partner tested positive for Covid on the very morning we were meant to travel to BrickBuilt 2022. As I also had...

“Why won’t LEGO rerelease sets people obviously want?” This question gets asked over and over to a variety of different answers. However if you look around, there has been a very prevalent wave of revival-style sets and remakes, as well as a number of iconic licensed themes making a comeback after years of fans clamoring for their return. To look at some of the ways that LEGO has answered this question, we’ll take a look through these themes that have been revived over the years. In this installment, we’ll look specifically at the history of the original LEGO themes that have been resurrected in different ways after some sort of hiatus. What Makes An Original Theme? LEGO has produced numerous original themes, from evergreen ideas such as Town and Castle to story-driven narratives and mixed media projects such as Bionicle and Hidden Side. These themes are developed in-house by LEGO and...