LEGO has published a wide array of books in recent years. My own (growing) collection of LEGO books includes how-to-build books, books about collections (often with collectible mini figures inside), story books featuring minifigures, and even an exhibit companion book. My children and I have spent many happy hours reading together, often finding inspiration for builds between the pages. What I hadn’t realized—until I read LEGO In Focus—is that my collection had been sorely missing an awesome photography book. LEGO In Focus is everything a bibliophile could want in a book about photography. It’s got beautiful photos, glimpses behind the scenes, and great stories told both through text and in pictures. But to LEGO fans of all ages, LEGO in FOCUS is so much more than a great photography book. It offers a different avenue to enjoy this hobby that we love so well. Cliffs Notes Thirty-two photographers from Stuck in...

This article was originally written for my blog. Thanks to the BrickNerd team for their interest in featuring it here for Nerdvember! What’s a hero shot, you ask? Well, it’s the distilled essence of a moment of epicness, the high point of a heroic act of daring, the emotion-charged second when against all odds a hero confronts seemingly unstoppable evil. So, basically, a cool scene with two clear characters facing off. I recently built two of these “hero shots” for the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics. The first one is a recreation of Eowyn’s fight with the King of Angmar. The second scene is Glorfindel facing a Balrog. While I intentionally gave these two scenes very different colors and atmospheres, they share some striking similarities: both are low angles, framing the carefully posed backside of a minifigure that looks larger than life, with a clearly evil menace confronting the minifigure and showing...

“LEGO goats are rare,” they say. Indeed, the minifig scale creature appeared in only one set; 2011’s Mill Village Raid (7189). LEGO made one goat, the story goes, then they broke the mold. The goat is gone, and it can never come back! Used-condition minifigure-scale goats from this set cost a pretty penny. The creature is so coveted that some have suggested LEGO goats should be used as a primary form of currency—“the goat standard,” if you will. But if you need a LEGO goat and don’t want to break the bank, you have options. Goating Back in History My last name means “white goat” in Polish, so there is no Nerd better qualified to take this goat by the horns. Get on board the LEGO wooden pull toy to learn more! (Not much is known about this pull toy, alas.) After the Mill Village Raid, the second best place to...

Best of BrickNerd: Weekend Highlight — Article originally published November 10, 2021. Today it’s my great pleasure to showcase a fellow RLUG-member and a truly awesome builder and person, Emil Lidé. He is probably best known in the community as Full Plate, or perhaps “that guy that makes awesome trees and landscapes“. He is also a former contestant on the Swedish edition of LEGO Masters! We actually joined the Swedish RLUG Swebrick around the same time if I’m not mistaken, and the first thing I remember about him is one of his signature trees. It had the most insane trunk (made with like a thousand little axes and droid-arms!) and looked so organic I almost couldn’t believe it was made out of LEGO. Since then, he’s been known in the community as someone who builds some of the most amazing landscapes and continuously comes up with great new techniques for building...

Best of BrickNerd: Weekend Highlight — Article originally published November 2, 2021. Although the sunset of the 9V train era has long passed by in 2006, it is encouraging to see many LEGO train fans still using the superb and much-missed metal rail track from this era. Also encouraging is the potential renaissance of metal rail track with both DIY modifications and 3rd party commercial products keeping the dream alive. One of the benefits of metal rail track is its durability and long life. However, metal rails also perform one other critical function; delivering electrical power to a train motor. Thus, the rail forms a vital part of an electrical circuit and is therefore vulnerable to the effects of dirt, contamination, oxidization (“rust”), and other environmental threats which affect the electrical performance of the rails. Fortunately, LEGO (and incidentally Fx Bricks) have adopted the use of Nickel-plated Copper Beryllium (Ni-BeCu) alloys...