The Rebirth of Mega Nerdly

Today’s guest post comes from Joseph Opara, a memeber of the LEGO community in Toronto, Canada who embarked on a very big project to surprise BrickNerd.

Birth and Death of Mega Nerdly

In the spirit of BrickNerd’s Nerdvember Survivor Contest, let me tell you a story of birth, death and rebirth. First, let me catch you up on the crazy events that happened a few months ago.

To celebrate their tenth anniverary, Editor-in-Chief Dave Schefcik built a 12x upscaled version of BrickNerd’s bespectacled mascot, Nerdly. Built with tens of thousands of pieces, Mega Nerdly was born. The build was not only decorative but deceptively complex and functional, with modular shelves to display a community building project where BrickNerd supporters could make their own custom Nerdlies at Brickworld Chicago. To be honest, it was an awesome (if not crazy) project for the community and one that only BrickNerd could really pull off.

Tragically, on the return journey from the convention, Dave hit a deer on the highway. Thankfully Dave was mostly fine, but the impact shattered Mega Nerdly into thousands of broken pieces, scattering them across the highway before they were disposed of to clear off the road. You might think that was the end of Mega Nerdly, but that was only their mid-life crisis…

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The Surprise Plan

Dave pledged to rebuild with the community’s support. But he did not know there was another plan that was afoot. Even before he published the article about the build, convention and unfortunate encounter with Bambi, a collection of builders across the LEGO community had already sprung into action.

On June 28, just nine days after the accident, the organizing team from Toronto’s LEGO fan convention got together and had a chat. “Dave’s coming to Bricks in the Six soon! Why don’t we rebuild Mega Nerdly and present it to Dave and the BrickNerd team?” Fortunately (or unfortunately), that’s when I stepped in and volunteered, “I’ll get it done.”

I didn’t know Dave personally, but I knew what he and BrickNerd meant to the community. Plus it seemed like an exciting change of pace from my other LEGO-related endeavors. I run Quick Build Bricks, I help out with Bricks in the Six as their “Admiral of Fun,” I write for The Holobrick Archives, I volunteer with Creations for Charity, and I help coordinate TOROLUG (Toronto LEGO User Group), so I obviously had some extra time on my hands and it was a worthy cause.

I had 24 days to collect parts, figure out the design, and rebuild what Dave had originally built over a period of months, all without letting him know what was happening. Yeah, sure. I can do this! BrickNerd does so much for the LEGO community, this was the chance for us to to do something for them. So I started scavenging.

Parts Collection

We had another crazy idea. What if we handed Dave a big container of loose LEGO bricks a day before the big reveal? That would totally catch him off guard and throw him off the fact that we were going to surprise him with Mega Nerdly v2. The plan was to gather some support brick (mostly red, white and black pieces for obvious reasons) from a bunch of people in the local fan community and TOROLUG, hand it to Dave and say, “Good luck rebuilding! Look at all these pieces you can work with!”

After several conversations, a few lofty promises, and many generous donations, we had collected a decent chunk of parts—both to give to Dave as a red herring and to rebuild Mega Nerdly. I’d have enough to do both, right? (Ooo, foreshadowing!)

Designing a Redesign

I started building in earnest a few days later. You would think redesigning Mega Nerdly would be easy with all the details that Dave published on BrickNerd. I read and reread that article so many times, analyzing each and every picture. I was afraid that he’d notice a ping from Toronto opening that article again and again and either think it was a bot or that something nefarious was afoot.

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Although the article had a ton of info, we were still limited by the parts we had collected and how to use them. I also contacted everyone Dave knew from friends who went to Brickworld to BrickNerd contributors to plead for any other reference photos of Mega Nerdly and any more info. (After the fact, Dave’s partner offered to engage in some light spycraft if any other secret project were happening.)

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One issue I ran into was the design of the shelves. Dave’s original design held them up with Technic pins but I only had white 1x2 bricks with axle holes. I personally considered this a bit of a downgrade because the axle hole is compatible with fewer part types until I realized any axle length and any piece with a bar could now also be used to hold up the shelves. Already, I knew this was not going to be an exact rebuild, but a new version inspired by the original. After several drawings and sitting around counting the height and width of the bricks countless times, I ended up with a decent plan. It was time to start rebuilding.

Building Again For the First Time

As soon as I started building, I knew I had a problem. I didn’t quite have enough bricks to rebuild Mega Nerdly. It looks simple on the outside but is actually pretty complex on the inside—I had taken for granted that it looked “easy” to build and forgot how meticulous and well-researched Dave’s builds tend to be. I guess it takes talent to make something look so effortless…

Luckily Graeme Dymond, one of North America’s LEGO Certified Professionals and the creator of Bricks in the Six, was a hero and stepped in to offer the remaining parts. Now I just needed to get to work. The clock was ticking! After building up about ten layers, I realized I was looking at the wrong photo of the original Mega Nerdly, so I started again. Then I realized that Dave’s final version was different from one of his in-progress pictures he shared. So I began again. After doing this about four times, I finally had all the parts figured out for the footprint and work started in earnest.

It was a fun project at first! I was able to create a few hidden chambers and hide various secrets inside the walls of Mega Nerdly. If it is ever taken apart, you’ll find Harry Potter, Elsa, one of my business cards, some Duplo, and some chewed up bricks as internal supports all hidden inside. But the build got big quick. How did Dave even transport this thing? (I found out later that it was modular and separated into four similarly sized sections… my version was one solid build.)

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Graeme had offered his studio as a place to work on it, considering the scale. I had worked on projects with him before, so luckily I knew my way around his massive workspace. Everyone has their own organization system for storing parts, and by the end of this project, I certainly know Graeme’s! Oddly enough, the hardest parts to find were the 1x2x3 black slopes that are heavily featured in the curvature of Mega Nerdly’s glasses. I’m pretty sure I went through every single black parts bin in his workspace looking for any of them. They were important in nailing the look. After scouring bins and looking over past order forms, I finally opened an unknown tote out of desperation and found about 200 of them! Success!

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Speaking of those black glasses, attaching them to the flat red front of Mega Nerdly was extremely painful. Apparently no one got any pictures of the complex Technic supports, square rods and receiving channels, and inverted SNOT work that Dave devised to be able to slide the glasses on and off the original (see what I mean by a deceptively simple build?). After a few failed attempts at advanced engineering, I settled on MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) as my solution of choice. MEK is a substance that causes ABS plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) to chemically bond with other ABS. Yes, I used glue. In my defense, it is the same type of adhesive that LEGO uses in their large models. It can lead to some funky colouration if improperly used (and some serious headaches if not applied in a well-ventilated area).

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But time was ticking and the piles of pieces were disappearing rapidly. We decided that we could only finish the front half of Mega Nerdly but that we’d make it look great! With time running out, I finished the top with some not-so-circular studs (whoops), loaded it into the vehicle, and hoped that there were no big speed bumps on the way to the exhibition hall. The time had come to unleash our nefarious plan!

Revealing the Rebuild

The next few parts of the story are all a blur. The convention had begun and Dave was in the building setting up some MOCs. We needed to find a way to sneak this massive thing onto the convention floor while keeping Dave’s attention elsewhere. This was done with a multi-pronged approach where I distracted Dave by giving him a small orange mini version of Mega Nerdly, telling him it was a tribute to the big one. I also gave him the big tote of (leftover red herring) parts we had collected from the community as a donation to BrickNerd so he could rebuild Mega Nerdly. (Little did he know those pieces would go to him building the backside of Mega Nerdly v2!) He was so thankful and even teared up at the gesture of goodwill. Oh boy, was he in for a roller coaster ride.

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I can happily report that our plan worked, and Dave was distracted enough to not notice a thing. Mega Nerdly v2 was on the convention floor covered by a sheet for a whole day before the opening ceremony—and Dave suspected nothing. Success! Graeme, Simon Liu and I kicked off the convention and were about to reveal the result of all the hard work and donations that went into Mega Nerdly. I looked around the room to make sure Dave was there in attendance, finding him in the back of the hall.

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Reveal photos courtesy of Shawn McLeod showing Graeme Dymond and Joseph Opara in his Admiral of Fun outfit.

Then it came down to the final moment. Graeme called Dave up and started talking about the accident, how great it was to still have him around, and all the good that BrickNerd does for the LEGO community. Dave started walking up and I whipped off the sheet. Mega Nerdly was reborn! Dave stopped in his tracks like a deer in headlights (too soon?). The audience was cheering. Dave was speechless. We were all tearing up. I have no clue what Dave was feeling but I think I saw a mix of amazement, befuddlement, shock, gratitude and awe on his face.

We all hugged it out and took pictures. Dave was out of his mind. It’s funny… those who give so much of themselves to others sometimes don’t know how to receive that same kindness when it is returned. He just kept looking over the build and asking how we had pulled it off. I told him this whole story you are reading now. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Mega Nerdly was born again.

If people ask me in the future, “Why did you build something so large for someone you barely knew?” I can proudly say it was for the community that Dave has created through BrickNerd, for all the lovely people I now know so well because of Dave, and because it was a chance to give back to a place that freely offers so much knowledge, experience and passion to the LEGO community. I am profoundly happy with what we accomplished, and I’m excited to see what the next 10 years of BrickNerd brings.

The Story and Work Continues

BrickNerd built the first Mega Nerdly for the community. This Mega Nerdly was built by the community for BrickNerd. But there is still work to be done. It is still missing the back half!

Though BrickNerd may be too humble to push it that often, the best way you can help rebuild the second half of Mega Nerdly v2 is by becoming a BrickNerd Patron. Those funds help run the site, give back to the community, sponsor contests, and now build cool things like Mega Nerdly’s backside (and fix the studs on top I made so quickly that really should be reworked…). Other ways you can support them are by making a one-time donation and using their affiliate link when you shop at LEGO or Amazon (especially with Black Friday coming up).

Dave’s told me that he’s already working on the other half of Mega Nerdly v2 and that it will return in full to Brickworld Chicago 2024. So let’s all do our part to help out BrickNerd and make the revival of Mega Nerdly all the more meaningful for them and for the community. Viva Mega Nerdly!

What do you think about the story of Mega Nerdly’s rebirth? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Charlie Stephens, Marc & Liz Puleo, Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, Wayne Tyler, Monica Innis, Dan Church, and Roxanne Baxter to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.