When we build with LEGO, we often find ourselves indoors away from the sunshine and the beautiful outdoors for many hours or days. What happens when we manage to get outside and explore a bit? We go back inside and try to capture that beauty with our favorite plastic interlocking brick system! Here’s how RebelLUG, an online LEGO User Group, put that beauty into bricks. National Parks at BrickWorld Chicago 2025 The Great Outdoors Is Calling As with most collaborations, this one started with a simple idea. What if we made a series of MOCs showcasing the many National Parks found in the United States (and Canada)? I chatted with Drew, the idea originator, about his inspiration for this project, and Paul, who helped flesh out the idea to its final form. Chris: Thanks for taking the time to chat about this collab! Where did the idea for a National Parks...

It is August once again, and for the 5th time (already!), I am happy to talk about the awesome Bauspielbahn-Treffen 2025 (BSBT)—a LEGO fan event dedicated exclusively to trains. BSBT takes place in the charming town of Schkeuditz, just 12 km (about 7.5 miles) northwest of Leipzig, Germany. My previous BrickNerd articles discussing BSBT are linked here for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. As always, the sublime quality of layouts and trains exhibited is truly special. BSBT attracts a fellowship of like-minded and passionate LEGO train builders. I cannot think of an event that sparks a similar level of inspiration and excitement from the perspective of a LEGO train fan. Also, I cannot forget to mention the amazing team which organizes and hosts BSBT: LEN-Eisenbahner, a subgroup of LEGO train fans within LBrick.de. It is an enormous amount of work to coordinate an event like this, and BSBT’s success is due to the hard work of...

While many of us around the world are sweltering in the summer heat, I thought it would be a perfect time to dive back into the deep end of the LEGO Flickr group photo pool to cool off. Swimming around, I was startled by seeing an “old school” AFOL builder breaching the surface once again with some of his killer builds. That builder is Ken Ito / 暁工房, based in Tokyo, Japan. I say “old school” as I was looking back through his photostream and I saw some of his builds that I had faved waaaaay back in 2010. Namely this cute little black-and-tan dachshund. He also built some killer dinosaur builds that still stand the test of time. The “killer builds” we are here to enjoy today, however, are killer whales (orcas), along with bottlenose dolphins and penguins. Ecologically speaking, plastic and aquatic animals are not a good combination. However,...

League of Legends is such a popular game that even non-gamers are familiar with it. That’s probably because of the Netflix hit Arcane. If you are not familiar with it and you are looking for something new to watch, then Arcane might be the show for you. It has solid animation with often vibrant colors and a captivating storyline. The same goes for this vibrant MOC built by Dan O’Connor. Forced Perspective It features wonderful colors mixed together in an often challenging pattern—a MOC that tells the story of the hero of the underworld! Dan was so kind to tell us a bit about how this MOC came together. Cheese Slopes and Friction: A Chat with Dan O’Connor Marco: What inspired you to make an arcane MOC? Are you a fan of the game or the Netflix series? Dan: Aside from building LEGO, I also spend a lot of my free...

via firstlegoleague.org Last year, at a farmer’s market, I was surprised to find a robotics team nestled in between the local fruits and veg. I watched as the young people running the booth let kids come up and control a mobile robot that was sucking up large foam rings and then shooting them at a target. The booth was run by a team of teenagers from the local high school, and they had designed, coded, and built the robot for something called the First Robotics Competition. Each year, the parent organization issues a series of challenges and rules for the playing fields and robots that the team will build. The teams then, in their own home shop, build a robot designed to complete those challenges as quickly as possible. They then meet in a series of regional events and progress to national competitions. Winners are based on the number of challenges...