Today’s guest article comes from Fabian Lindblad, a 23-year-old collector from Norway who focuses on LEGO history including sets, prototypes, test parts and paperwork from 1970 and earlier. LEGO in Norway Last year the fan community celebrated 60 years of LEGO around the world, so it may come as a surprise that Norway is celebrating the 70th anniversary of LEGO this year. How did Norway become the first country outside Denmark to produce and sell LEGO, and why don’t we hear more about it? Today, we will look into the history and items of the short-lived Norwegian LEGO factory.  The Norwegian LEGO logo top left, the Norwegian factory top right and a selection of Norwegian-made LEGO on the bottom.  As a brief aside, collecting items with a story has always been important for me, and it is probably why I have ended up collecting and researching these specific parts of LEGO...

Upon seeing the name of this article, you might be asking yourself, “Hey BrickNerd, haven’t you already published multiple articles on custom lighting for both sets and MOCs?” And the answer is yes! You should absolutely check out our past lighting articles, peruse our LEGO Lighting Compendium and explore our other lighting experiments. But where this article is going, we don’t need vendors. That’s right, we are going to dive into completely DIY lighting, from the hardware itself to using code to drive it. Now, if soldering and writing code sounds terrifying but you aren’t satisfied with the pre-made lighting solutions currently available from vendors, then I highly recommend sticking around! You might find that custom lighting for LEGO is not as scary as it seems. I’ll be using a recent MOC of mine as a demo project, showing the electronics I used and the code I used to drive it...

For each issue of BrickJournal Magazine, the BrickNerd team creates instructions for a LEGO mini-model to go with the theme of the cover story. For their recent issue about Disney’s 100th anniversary, BrickNerd contributor Miro Dudas created a life-size Tinkerbell—the largest “mini-model” we’ve ever published. A Fantastic Floating Fairy To celebrate the magical theme of this BrickJournal issue, we decided to create a life-size LEGO Tinkerbell. The core design repurposes my previous Surfing Girls creation from a few years ago. The arms and legs were already positioned perfectly so adjusting them for Tink was a breeze. All I had to do was make her fly. I gave her a pedestal and a clear support to anchor her in mid-air. (Building tip: use an older clear support rod since they are more rigid. The newer ones are made with a newer plastic that has a bit more bend and can’t quite support...

Today’s article comes from guest contributor Jesse Gros who discusses how AI-generated “LEGO” sets are sparking a debate between inspiration and imitation within the AFOL community. From Pixels to Plastic Is the world of MOC building on the brink of a transformation? This past week, high-quality IA-generated “LEGO” sets started popping up on Instagram on pages like @brick4world. At first glance, these images looked like real sets. When I saw the first one, my heart skipped a beat: “Oh, I’m buying that set for sure!” Seconds later, I read the post and realized it was an AI mockup made up of digital “pieces” that approximate LEGO. This sent my mind whirling. AI creation by brick4world. One of the first comments in the thread below the image expressed anger: “Can we not post that AI crap here?” Responses included comments about the images being used for “inspiration.” Another pointed out that translating...

A new month is upon us which means more competitive building! Are you ready? Here’s the latest batch of LEGO contests and challenges from all around the AFOL community for November 2023 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 friendships came from LEGO...