Green Abyss

Builder Blufiji shows us what it looks like when "unsavory characters, refugees, and denizens who simply want to disappear" take up residence in a swamp, and it's awesome. You can practically hear the insects, smell the damp air and feel the oppressive humidity as you look at this large, lush diorama. And if I'm not mistaken, in the distance, that's a banjo being played...slowly.

Green Abyss

Hornet

One of the perks of living on the central coast of California is a distinct lack of bugs. I'm not saying there's none, there's plenty, but whenever someone visits from the midwest or south, they marvel at how few bugs there are, I'm totally OK with that. Take for instance this little critter by Takamichi Irie, I can't tell you the last time I saw a hornet, they're around I'm sure, but I haven't seen one. 

Hornet
Hornet

The Last Skimmer

Grant Davis is leading the charge. . . This happens to be the first build I have seen from the Last Jedi trailer, and it's an excellent model indeed. The new resistance vehicles are seen skimming across the surface of Crait towards a battle with the First Order. Though we have very limited footage of these new vehicles, Grant was able to build a model that is easily recognizable, even if it didn't have the iconic dust behind it. This is one of the things I knew we would see multiple versions of in LEGO, because most of the other footage from the trailer is just scenes with a few characters. I was also planning to build this craft, but I may hold off, because we have this awesome representation!

Resistance Skimmer
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here

HAL

Jason at JK Brickworks is back with another nifty MOC that has your best interests at heart. This one isn't kinetic, but sci-fi and Kubrick fans will recognize HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL is brought to life by the Pfx Brick, featuring light and sound. They're in the final push on their Kickstarter and need your help. You can also find instructions to build your own HAL here.

HAL 0937

Tree Town

Is there anything more inviting than a tree house? Admit it, you see one, you just want to climb up and hang out (unless you're afraid of heights, or squirrels or something I suppose). I can say I've never had the opportunity to spend any time in a quality tree house, but I've always wanted to, especially if it was as awesome as this MOC by Tim Schwalfenberg. I'm not sure how much I'd trust that bridge, or that bee hive, but I desperately want to visit this place.

Treetown

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A Cubist Interpretation

Superman has probably never been edgier (see what I did there?) than in this cool cubist version by builder Amida Na. The man of steel is a man of bricks, and I think he looks pretty super. Now some may debate that everything in LEGO is cubist, or even say that this isn't cubism at all (art is so subjective) but no one can deny that this is pretty awesome.

And You Had Trouble Picking Out A Tie This Morning

Tony Stark certainly has no shortage of suits, both three piece and Iron Man suits. One he uses for guest appearances at charity auctions and being a playboy on the town, the other he uses when he needs to look business-like. I don't know if this MOC by John Toulouse has every single Iron Man minifigure that has ever been made, but it certainly looks like it (even the micro-fig!). It also has some fun surprises on the back side, very cool.

Labo stark 01
Labo stark 13
Labo stark 10

The House That Jamie Built...

UK builder Jamie Douglas always thinks, and builds, big. In 2015 he built a giant train station  Manchester Brickadilly, and now he's turned his attention to the Palace of Westminster.  That's the British Houses of Parliament, the Commons and the Lords, to you & me.

Palace of Westminster

Fun facts:  
To create this monster build, Jamie used parts from 10 of the Big Ben sets (#10253), as well as a large number of Bricklink orders.  So if you find the price of Tan elements has gone up, you know who to blame. The whole thing uses in excess of 50,000 pieces, and took 235 hours to build, which doesn't include the 25 - 30 hours planning time.

The finished MOC will be on display for the first time at this year's Bricktastic, 1-2 July in Manchester UK.  If you can, go see it in person, but if you can't, click through to Jamie's stream on Flickr.

Palace of Westminster

The Simple Pleasures Of Childhood

I remember them well, out in front of the K-Mart, the rides. They were actually in front of several places here in my home town growing up. You know, those little rides that don't do much, don't cost much and don't seem to be very fun, but we all begged our moms for a quarter so we could ride. Builder LEGOMINDED takes advantage of the new rocket costume collectible minifigure to bring back a bit of nostalgia, and the results are as charming as they are clever.

"1940 Space Dream'in"

Titanic On The High Seas

We're all familiar with the name Titanic. It's become synonymous with tragedy or failure. But that description couldn't be further from truth with this awesome animated mechanical MOC by builder Bangooh. With a crank of the handle the Titanic sails one again, while the ocean waves swell by. Check out the video to see it in action.

LEGO MOC Titanic Automaton - Bangoo
LEGO MOC Titanic Automaton - Bangoo

Poe Dameron Brick Cosplay

He's the best pilot in the resistance, and a hero of the republic, he's Poe Dameron. And builder Takamichi Irie is such a fan he's built his costume. But it's no ordinary cosplay, the helmet, chest box, pistol and many other accessories are all brick-built. It's a Star Wars, costuming and LEGO mashup, and it's pretty awesome.

Brick Built Poe Dameron's Costume
Brick Built Poe Dameron's Costume

Information Retrieval

Robots will eventually be a part of our everyday lives, in some way they are. But as we imbue them with more personality and human like characteristics will it become harder to think of them as hardware? Take this little guy from builder Legoloverman, it's really hard not to feel sorry for him. A robot is a bunch of metal, plastic and circuits, no more "alive" than a Roomba, but I doubt I'd feel anything if one was in this same position.

Information Retrieval

Journey

Builder and BrickNerd alum Melan-E is a huge fan of the game Journey, and to celebrate she has build this gorgeous figure of the main character of the game. I've never played Journey, mainly because I don't have a Playstation. But if I did I have no doubt this would be in my collection, it's totally my kind of game. This beautiful figure has the sweeping lines and curves of the game character, or the flow-ness as Mel puts it, and looks ready to glide over the dunes.

Journey Figure