The end of the year is always a time for reflection. At the Brothers Brick, that normally involves trying not to think how much we spent on LEGO sets, or how many times our resident lemur mistook a LEGO piece for a snack this year. (I make it six, at last count.) But we also like to reflect on all the incredible builders to have graced our site in the past twelve months. As we do so, a handful stick out who are clear contenders for the coveted TBB Builder of the Year title. Usually, these will be creators who have shown, among other things, consistency, growth, creativity, versatility, and a mastery of the humble LEGO brick. Basically, the ones that we constantly find ourselves writing about! You can see our shortlist below, and check out previous winners in our archives (there’s a full list at the end of the article, too). Oh, and be sure to let us know who your pick is in the comments!
Nathan Don (Woomy World)
Nathan’s Karashishi tiger made it onto our Creations of the Year shortlist – but in truth, that’s barely scratching the surface of a stellar year. He lent his mastery of Bionicle parts to a variety of subject matter, and an impressive final-round boss earned a deserved win in the Bio-Cup competition. He even had his creations – including this ‘Hydralligator’ – displayed in the LEGO House’s Masterpiece Gallery!
Pan Noda
Pan Noda has a reputation for creating some of the whackiest architectural builds out there. In 2024, they really upped their game, throwing some fascinating textures onto those whimsical buildings. They also flexed their liminal space muscles, but the one below was a precursor to a complete departure from the usual fare. This hungry, hungry caterpillar made for one of the best bits of NPU (Nice Parts Use) in the whole year!
Cecilie Fritzvold
Cecilie has already cemented herself as a superbly versatile builder, and we loved everything she did in 2024! Her builds ranged from the cute (looking at you, tiny Mario Karts) to the downright beautiful, like the gorgeous painting of a solitary samurai. And that’s without even mentioning her work with Daniel Church on this motorized pig and supersized minifig combo!
Maxx Davidson
Maxx Davidson ended 2023 well, earning a nomination for that year’s Creation of the Year award. Since then, he’s gone from strength to strength. His builds often embodied some clever puns, the pick of the bunch being Stuffed Crust-acean. And we loved his Iron Forge/Builder efforts, including the sushi tray you see below. On the other hand, he also made that Minion build. Well, you can’t say he hasn’t made an impression…
Mattia Careddu
It’s often a mark of a great builder to transcend the LEGO medium altogether, and Mattia did that repeatedly over the course of the year. Appropriately enough, he drew on all sorts of artistic media for inspiration, often with results as stunning as they are surreal. We had an angelic tableau inspired by song, a depiction of an opera movement, and this brooding build derived from a Wilfred Owen poem.
That completes our shortlist! Once we’ve digested our Christmas dinners, we’ll put our heads together and unveil the winner on New Year’s Eve. In the meantime, be sure to let us know in the comments who have been your favourite builders of 2024!
And you can also check out all of our previous winners:
- 2023: Dicken Liu
- 2022: Sandro Quattrini
- 2021: Markus Rollbuhler
- 2020: Eli Willsea
- 2019: Andrea Lattanzio
- 2018: Chi Hsin Wei (LEGO 7)
- 2017: Jonas Kramm
- 2016: Grant Masters
