The Magical Wizarding Bank

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"Well there's yer money, Harry!  Gringotts the wizard bank.  Ain't no safer place, not one.  Except perhaps Hogwarts."

My sister introduced me to the magical world created by JK Rowling.  I don't have many memories of reading any other book series, but I absolutely remember reading the Harry Potter books for the first time!  The series has been given a lot of love in the LEGO community this year, especially thanks to the Harry's Magical Journey project.  Fellow builder and friend Jared has created a beautiful replica of Gringotts, the famous bank in Diagon Alley.  Obviously, a main attraction of this build is the well-designed dragon.  Before I talk about that, let's take a minute to admire the building itself.  Jared created a very unique roof design for this building, and the way he built the walls is, quite literally, simply fantastic.  Moreover the columns in the front, a main point of interest for the building, are recreated so well.  Now let's talk about that dragon...man.  What a work of art as well!  I included Jared's second photo of the back of the dragon below, just so more details of this wonderful LEGO creature are revealed.  All in all, this is an amazing creation that I was fortunate enough to see for the "unveiling" at BrickFair Virginia.  Looking forward to seeing more Harry Potter creations from you in the future, Jared!

 

LEGO® Harry Potter: Escape from Gringotts!
LEGO® Harry Potter: Escape from Gringotts!
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Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here. 

Iron Mountain Guardians

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One of the things I love about Iron Builder is the out-of-the-box thinking that it inevitably inspires. I've heard stories of builders carrying the part in their pocket for the entire month, continually aware of it, continually looking for that spark. Sure you or I look at that part and say "handle" or maybe "plumbing". But 2 Much Caffeine looks at it and says "classic Chinese dragon whiskers", brilliant.

Iron Mountain Guardians

Scourge Of The Gray Dragon

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Normally if you heard the phrase "it's a dragon attacking a village, setting it on fire" you would imagine a MOC with 5-10 thousand pieces, but not if you're Grantmasters. There's what, 32 pieces here? But it tells the story so well with clever part use and construction in a tiny and effective micro MOC. That dragon is awesome, and as for the villagers...well, I suppose that's what you get for building your village out of flammable materials. 

Sun Salamander

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Yes, in the description of this stunning MOC by Siercon and Coral says Sun Salamander, but I think I'll nickname this dragon "Enpiyu" (say it out loud, you'll get it). It's been a while since I've seen so many clever techniques and part use in a single MOC. From the life jacket neck to the rip cord wings and from the watch band belly to the banana and flex tube horns this thing is awesome.

Sun Salamander

Smoke, Wings And Escape

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Mark of Falworth brings us this excellent MOC with a twist. If you look closely you'll see the entire thing rests on a footprint of 8x8 studs, which is one of the categories of the Classic Castle Global Challenge VI. It's also part of a bigger story which I actually don't know anything about, but from what I gather after reading the description it's an epic tale.

(LCC) From Doom to Victory!