Here's a fun fact. The reason that you only see kangaroos in Australia is because that's where they were invented by ancient aboriginal robotic designers. About 2500 years ago a mechanical engineer by the name of Djalu Yunupingu, working in his secret lab deep beneath Uluru, designed the first robotic kangaroo. This was in direct response to a threat from a rival designer. Working in what would eventually become the Sydney Opera House he designed what he called "the ultimate mechanical army". Those ended up being koala, but due to their dependency on eucalyptus fuel that had the side effect of making them sluggish and slow moving, they turned out to be no threat. I made that all up, but I dig this robotic roo by ToyForce 120. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

Star Wars Celebration is currently underway in Orlando Florida, and I'm not there. But I am tuning in periodically to check out the live stream on StarWars.com. Yesterday there was a very heartwarming and loving tribute to Carrie Fisher, with an introduction by George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, followed by a touching video and then John Williams himself conducting the Orlando Symphony Orchestra performing Princess Leia's Theme (I'm not crying, you're crying). Obviously I'm not the only one thinking of my princess, our princess during this celebration. Builder Miro78 put together this wonderful Leia in her Hoth costume. Her jaunty attitude comes through perfectly. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

It always amazes me how being a fan of LEGO and those that build with it opens doors on other aspects of life and art. I've never heard of the book series Tunnels, but after seeing this gigantic MOC by builder CheesyStudios I am curious. The books tell the story about the struggle against a subterranean enemy, and as you can see, the story literally goes very deep. If you're attending BrickWorld Chicago this year you'll get to see this in person. Click through for more pics. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

Whenever one of these behemoths passes me on the road I'm in awe. Humans sure can built some crazy big stuff can't we? But I think seeing this colossal MOC by Dirk Klijn in person would be equally awe inspiring. This is the culmination of over three and a half years of work, and it shows. With five S-Bricks controlling over 17 functions it's a workhorse as well. I can't wait to see video of this baby in action. Click through for loads more pictures including a lot of WIP. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

Marco den Besten, AKA 'Ecclesiastes, has been building prolifically for years. You've seen his work right here on BrickNerd several times and his fantasy and castle creations always stand out. He always strikes a great balance between structure, scenery and story, making his builds a treat for the eyes and the imagination. I'm very happy to let you all get to know him a little better.   Tell us a little about yourself, how did you get started in the hobby? I’m Marco den Besten, 28 years old and I live in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht or as we call it: ‘t Ambacht. It’s a village just below the city of Rotterdam. And I work in Retail. You know where you always have to be polite to people although you sometimes want to kick them out of the store, because the customer is always right. Good thing I got Lego to cool off. No...

Here at BrickNerd, we like to occasionally look back at past creations from the community. . .Especially when it includes seeing your favorite troublemaking birds made out of LEGO.  To me, it seems that the popular Angry Birds has still remained so to this day.  Waaaaay back in 2012, Iain Heath created perfect little models for 3 of the iconic feathered beasts and 1 green ball of bacon.  Now all we need is a slingshot and some wooden planks... Original linkOriginal author: Nathaniel Stoner

The Mon Calamari are a curious lifeform, with a bipedal, humanoid body and a squid-like head. They also have a sixth sense for not only assessing the strength of nearby weapons, but also detecting traps. Very handy in dungeon raids or say, assaulting a giant space weapon with an armada. Another fine character build from builder Djokson. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

One of the best things about the LEGO community is that we can learn from one another.  Here at BrickNerd, we like to share techniques that we see from builders all around the world. . . This week we share a very different and more unique technique compared to the structural ones we featured previously.  Karf Oohlu shares a technique "scrap," but I happen to really like this design (in truth he just didn't want to order more parts).  Using the popular t-bars and light gray binoculars, Karf developed an easy to expand tank tread.  Though it may require hundreds of each element to make a complete tread like this, it could work to make some smaller versions.  A very interesting, but parts intensive technique! Tune in next week when we explore more possibilities with the bricks! /center>Original linkOriginal author: Nathaniel Stoner

Yes, it's a bit grisly, morbid and borderline distasteful, but this sculpture by builder timofey_tkachev is also compelling, evocative and strangely beautiful. And while my first reaction was "ooh", I have to admit the second thing I thought of was the demon from Sword and the Sorcerer (yeah, I'm a cheesy movie fan) emerging from his crypt. I don't know what that says about me. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

Here’s something that has popped up on my feed and also readers emailing in about it but I questioned whether I should post about it or not. You may have heard of a few well-known builders in the LEGO community like The Arvo Brothers, Firas Abu-Jaber, Paul Boratko (CrowKillers), and Bangoo H, many of which have been featured on The Brothers Brick and other LEGO sites. Their LEGO builds are an envy of many builders who have tried to replicate themselves or take inspiration from. The 29th Guangzhou Toy & Hobby Fair kicked off yesterday and there’s a Chinese “new” brick company who has appeared to be making sets based on the designs of some of the builders I’ve named above. In a post on Facebook, there are images of a company called Xingbao (星堡) who is owned by Meizi Model (美致模型), which is the same company that owns LEPIN, at...