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...

It looks like the Series 17 LEGO Collectible Minifigures (71018) have started to show up early in some places and we have a first look at the secret Highwayman minifigure that is included with wave. A user named lego_collector_dad has gotten a hold of the Highwayman at LEGOLAND Billund and he shown off the minifigure over on his Instagram page. He has a black torso with dual molded legs. To complete the look he has a tricorn hat with a bandana, and a cape. The accessories include two Flintlock pistols. I’m not sure of all the secrecy behind it but he appears to be a fairly generic character. **Via Reddit** The post LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 17 (71018) Highwayman Revealed appeared first on The Brick Fan. Original linkOriginal author: Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

For the final round of Star Wars Moc Olympics on the German LUG Imperium der Steine builder modestolus decided to take the task "One Movie One MOC" and interpret the film Rogue One as a pinball game. The results are pretty epic, with a fitting homage to an awesome movie in one playable MOC. Check out the video to see it in action. Now it needs lights and sound, just sayin'. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

My little sisters used to do this kind of stuff when we were kids. Get all dolled up, break out a "microphone" (it's truly stunning how many things can be substituted for an actual microphone) and belt out a few tunes. It appears the daughter of builder(s) vir-a-cocha loves doing this, and they immortalized the moment with this adorable MOC. Original linkOriginal author: Tommy

Look what the future holds for our garbage trucks?  It looks like we utilize these big trucks to our advantage to mount a large defence during the zombie apocalypse.  Guy Smiley built a cool armored garbage truck that looks like it could be from a video game.  Super cool job! Original linkOriginal author: Nathaniel Stoner