Nutcrackers and Toy Soldiers are two Christmas icons steeped in holiday tradition. With their distinctive uniforms and classic designs, they have long been a staple of holiday decor in homes around the world—and have each been reimagined in LEGO form several times. Join BrickNerd as we stroll down memory lane to explore the many LEGO interpretations of Nutcrackers and Toy Soldiers. Nutcrackers: The Tall and the Small For those who are unaware, Nutcrackers are traditional wooden carvings, often resembling soldiers or royalty, equipped with a lever-operated mouth to crack nuts. Their association with the holiday season primarily stems from the popularity of the “Nutcracker” ballet, a festive story in which a nutcracker figurine comes to life. In LEGO form, Nutcrackers are a bit more challenging due to the moving function of the mouth. As you will see, most iterations include this play feature while others don’t. Technically the Best Let’s start...

All aboard the Polar Express (or should that be Orient Express!?) to see some creatures we might discover on a journey to the North Pole! So get your hot chocolate and binoculars ready because we’re about to see all the LEGO animals of the Arctic. Polar Bears Naturally we have to start with the biggest, baddest predator on the ice, the Polar Bear. They are also the LEGO creature in today’s article with the largest number of versions. First up, the Duplo family. Three each of adults and cubs at least; the earliest adult and cub arrived in 1990 and the latest started life in 2009 but has most recently shown up in the 2022 Wild Animals of the World set (10975-1). The range, unsurprisingly, exhibits lots of characteristics that are typical for many Duplo creatures that have appeared across an extended timeline—we have the ‘change-in-eye-decoration-without-change-in-mould’; the ‘cub-on-a-2x2-coloured-tile’; the ‘moveable-head’ and...

With the holidays rapidly approaching, I thought we´d take a look at one of the more recognizable characters from the holiday season, the big guy himself, Santa. My wife loves collecting different types of Santas, so this year I decided to build her one. Now, there are of course, a lot of different ways you can build old Saint Nick; you can go for something classy, or perhaps a beautiful scene with him sitting by the fireplace. I decided on… something else… Usually, before I start building, I like to do some research to see what else is out there on the great big interweb. While searching for “LEGO Santa“ on Flickr, I realized there are a ton of fantastic Santas out there, and a lot of them both brilliant and hilarious. So I figured, why not share this with you guys? After all, the holidays are nearly here so if...

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published December 25, 2022. Happy Holidays everyone! Today I’m going to take you on a mini Christmas adventure making large classic LEGO pine trees. For starters I want our readers to know that this article is not a comprehensive DIY guide. Walking through CNC manuals for machining tools, router settings, and listing out a bunch of decimal numbers would be a tedious read. However, I do hope that this is a fun summary and inspires the maker in many of us. You may even be inspired to do it better! So, whether you are in a woodshop (like this project), dialing in your own 3D plastic printer, or simply want to live vicariously… let’s take a look! Slicing and Dicing As with many large element fabrications that don’t rely on a computer rendering, I started with digital calipers. I sacrificed one actual LEGO tree and...

Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published February 6, 2023. I occasionally get asked how to start building MOCs by budding AFOLs. One of my go-to responses is to get two copies of a LEGO set that they enjoy and try combining them and expanding the model into something new. That way, they are already familiar with the building style, techniques and colors and have an easier way to ease into building their own original creations. Another way to get your feet wet is to modify an existing set to customize it to your liking. Go ahead, build an extra floor of the modular, swap the colors of that car to your favorite, or add a feature or two that push the set from good to great in your mind. This practice is commonly known as “modding” or modifying a set to make it even better than ever. With the release...