LEGO Community Headlines and Highlights for October 2023
It’s high time to do some trick or treating, but while it might be Halloween today, it’s also high time for our monthly LEGO community round-up! So sit back in that cozy chair of yours, take a sip of your pumpkin-spiced latte (or your preferred choice of warm drink), and enjoy this month’s potpourri of interesting articles, deep drives and insightful features from all across the LEGO community! We are lucky to have this many outlets and channels that keep creating incredible content, and these are the best of the month.
Here at BrickNerd, we traveled to Seattle and Kuwait, stopped by elementary school and college, and explored sorting and SortLUG. We learned about LEGO smoke techniques, turtles and floating islands. We looked at figure building and minifigures of real people. And we took a look at how element molds change, how creativity evolves, what kids think of instruction symbols, and even every Comic-con set that’s ever been released and more. In fact, we’ve published so many interesting articles in October that we’ve included an interactive calendar of them at the bottom of this post so you can make sure you didn’t miss a thing.
But there are many more fascinating stories to be told from within the LEGO community, so here are some of the best LEGO articles and videos that caught our contributors’ attention throughout the month of October. We applaud the effort that went into each of these features, so click on the headlines or photos to head to each story or video. They are well worth your time!
Brick Train Awards: Winners of the Brick Train Awards 2023
For the fourth year in a row the Brick Train Awards have crowned stunning models from across the LEGO railway community. This year saw a whopping 680 entries – no easy job to judge!
BrickCentral: Artist Spotlight - mumubrix
What role does atmosphere add to LEGO photography? BrickCentral highlights the emotional elements of mumubrix’ photographs from mist to rain and everything in between.
Bricking Up Brad: A Look Back at LEGO Vikings
Based on Norse mythology and Scandinavian warriors, the Vikings theme was about warriors taking on monstrous creatures — and it has been revisited many times including CMFs, 3-in-1s and LEGO Ideas.
Brickset: BrickLink MOC Pop-Up Store interview
With BrickLink’s recent launch of the MOC Pop-Up Store pilot, there’s a new kid on the block of selling MOCs to eager fans. Brickset sat down with Al Chick, Head of Marketing at BrickLink, to discuss this new pilot and what it entails.
Brickset: Staying ‘fresh’ in traffic thanks to MD milk and LEGO
Milk and LEGO – that is a combination one hears of rather rarely. Brickset’s historical feature on one of the most expensive LEGO sets uncovers an interesting collaboration and a traffic safety game on top of that – all because of this Denmark-exclusive milk truck from the early 90s.
Cheesey Studios: The Humble Beginnings of LEGO Harry Potter
Turn back your Time-Turner to revisit the past and see how LEGO Harry Potter came to be and how the theme’s design language has evolved over the years.
Generic Stud: Visiting a LEGO Theme Park in Billund
What is visiting LEGOLAND Billund like for a LEGO fan… for the first time? Generic Stud rides everything and even pops over to the LEGO House… but most importantly, he visited Ninjago World.
Financial Times: LEGO - Can the Brick Behemoth Rival Disney?
With a portfolio of toys, movies and theme parks, and booming revenues, the family business of LEGO has big ambitions. But can they become as big a brand as Disney?
Josh Builds Stuff: Are Insider Instruction Points Worth the Free LEGO?
Scanning and registering your LEGO instruction books can net you a few extra Insiders points, but is all that effort worth it? Josh does the hard work scanning more than 275 of them to find out.
LEGO For Adults: The Origins of LEGO Monster Fighters with Adam Grabowski
How did a simple request for a haunted castle somehow grow into the launch of one of the most memorable ‘monster-led’ themes from LEGO? Read on to learn the terrifying tale.
Lukas Builds LEGO: The Great Wave - Building a Masterpiece
It isn’t often that we recommend reviews, but occasionally one stands out so much we can’t help it! Lukas’ take on the Great Wave is refreshing, informative, and well-produced!
Matyho Kostky: The Mystery of LEGO Misprints (translated)
What are the most common types of LEGO misprints and how do they happen? Dive into the printing of plastic to see how these errors occur… and how much they might be worth.
New Elementary: Modulex Manuals, Brochures and Catalogues
A new resource for Modulex fans is now available, curated by BrickNerd fans Ryan Howeter, Karyn Murphy and Bailey Fullarton. Whether you’re a Modulex aficionado or a complete novice, you’ll find items to enjoy in this collection.
R.R. Slugger: Let’s Talk About Power Miners
From the orange and lime coloring to the similar setting, does LEGO Power Miners have what it takes to truly be the spiritual successor to Rock Raiders?
Solid Brix Sudios: The $3,000 LEGO Inside Tour
From an exclusive set to building with designers, the LEGO Inside Tour can be quite the expensive, yet memorable trip for any AFOL. But is it worth it at the end of the day?
StepOnABrick: A New Frontier
Join Marius Herrmann as he recreates the Nova Galactic Discovery-class ship from the 2023 game Starfield. He takes us on a tour of the ship and his building process as he considers design, color, functionality and stability – an impressive feat for a minifgure-scale ship!
StoneWars: The Making of the LEGO Rivendell Set (translated)
At the Skærbæk Fan Weekend, the LEGO designers behind Rivendell talked about the challenges of making an iconic set and also showed a microscale concept model of Rivendell for the first time.
The Brothers Brick: The SquatchLUG Dungeon Delve at BrickCon 2023 Rolls a Nat 20
Go on a dungeon crawl and learn how this collab came to be for BrickCon 2023. From building standards to Beholders, see what made this campaign a memorable one.
Tips&Bricks: Global LEGO Communities
From LEGO Stores to LUGs and beyond, LEGO brings people together across a global community. But what makes this Danish building system a truly global presence? And which places on the planet have hardly any LEGO culture at all?
Tips&Bricks: LEGO and Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD)
How does one’s ability to see color affect the LEGO building experience? T&B highlights the experiences of LEGO fans with CVD (commonly known as colour blindness) and it can lead to both frustration and creativity.
True North Bricks: An Exhaustive History of LEGO Zombies
Get ready to go on a personal history through time documenting the spread of the zombie virus throughout LEGO City. Be careful of their bite!
If all of those amazing features weren’t enough to satisfy your LEGO community craving, here is an interactive calendar of everything that BrickNerd has published this last month to make sure you didn’t miss a single article.
Did we miss any of your favorite LEGO articles and content for the month? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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