About Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

Andrew Becraft is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Brothers Brick. He's been building with LEGO for more than 40 years, and writing about LEGO here on TBB since 2005. He's also the co-author, together with TBB Senior Editor Chris Malloy, of the DK book Ultimate LEGO Star Wars. Andrew is an active member of the online LEGO community, as well as his local LEGO users group, SEALUG. Andrew is also a regular attendee of BrickCon, where he organizes a collaborative display for readers of The Brothes Brick nearly every year. You can check out Andrew's own LEGO creations on Flickr. Read Andrew's non-LEGO writing on his personal blog, Andrew-Becraft.com. Andrew lives in Seattle with his wife and dogs, and by day leads software design and planning teams.

Posts by Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

The Brothers Brick to safeguard all LEGO creations featured since 2005 in response to Flickr’s changes to free accounts [News]

Early last month, we noted how changes to Flickr’s free accounts have the potential to significantly harm the historical record of the LEGO hobbyist (AFOL) community. Historically, Flickr provided unlimited storage to its Free account users, but the number of photos that can be hosted on a Free account will be limited to 1,000 starting January 1st, 2019. As a result, many LEGO creations hosted in Free accounts are now at risk of disappearing forever. This is particularly heartbreaking for photos from LEGO builders who have passed away or are no longer participating in the hobbyist community. But we have good news to share, so please read on!

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Top 10 most popular LEGO creations featured on The Brothers Brick in 2018

The Brothers Brick featured nearly 1,500 LEGO creations in 2018, ranging from unique characters to recreations of iconic vehicles and scenes from movies like Star Wars and Harry Potter. We recently shared our short-list for the best LEGO creations of 2018. But what custom creations we’ve featured were the most popular with you, our readers? Let’s take a look at the top 10 most popular LEGO models highlighted over this past year.

See the full list of the 10 most popular LEGO creations on TBB this year

Beware the dangerous depths of Layers City

With sets like 70620 Ninjago City and 70657 Ninjago City Docks, The LEGO Ninjago Movie brought a cyber-punk aesthetic to official LEGO sets, which in cool factor is only eclipsed by the post-apocalyptic aesthetic of the new LEGO sets from The LEGO Movie 2. While LEGO fans have certainly been building cyberpunk creations for many years, even more builders have embraced this aesthetic, inspiring numerous custom LEGO models, including our own Ninjago City collaborative display at BrickCon, featuring over 60 custom city blocks. Sebastian Bachórzewski is an incredibly talented builder who builds in everything from medieval to post-apoc style. His latest large-scale model is “Layers City,” featuring a slice cut from a teeming metropolis full of colorful characters.

Take a closer look at Layers City

LEGO Speed Champions 75890 Ferrari F40 Competizione [Review]

LEGO owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is famous for his love of Ferraris, and has been known to show local Danish LEGO fans around his garage full of them. So it’s no surprise that LEGO has had a longstanding partnership with the Italian supercar maker, going back more than 20 years and spanning multiple themes and even systems, from Duplo to Technic. The 2019 Speed Champions 75890 Ferrari F40 Competizione features the sleek supercar built between 1987 and 1992. This version includes 198 pieces and retails for the usual $14.99 (£12.99 in the UK and $19.99 in Canada).

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Speed Champions 75890 Ferrari F40 Competizione

LEGO Star Wars VIP Black Card Gift 5005747 VIP Frame – Was it worth the wait? [Review and Editorial]

Earlier this month, LEGO announced the one and only promotion so far for LEGO VIP Program “Black Card” holders. The Black Card is a special VIP card given to people who’d purchased 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon the first several months that it was available after its release last September. The Black Card and this “exclusive” promotional gift is limited to a relatively small number of LEGO builders and collectors — even among the “hardcore” LEGO builders on staff here at The Brothers Brick, only two of us purchased the UCS Falcon last year during the time when LEGO was issuing Black Cards — so we wanted to share our observations about the promo set as well as our experience as Black Card holders so far.

LEGO Speed Champions 75893 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and 1970 Dodge Charger R-T [Review]

The 2019 LEGO Speed Champions line includes a diverse range of new and classic cars, many of them packaged as pairs in single sets. We recently reviewed 75894 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy, which depicts two specific historical vehicles. Although 75893 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and 1970 Dodge Charger R-T doesn’t appear to depict specific race-winners, it certainly rivals the Mini Cooper set for sheer length of the set’s name! The set includes 478 pieces with three minifigs, and retails for $29.99 in the US (£34.99 in the UK and $39.99 in Canada).

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Speed Champions 75893 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and 1970 Dodge Charger R-T…

The top 10 best LEGO sets of 2018 [Review Feature]

LEGO released nearly 800 sets this year, and The Brothers Brick has so far reviewed over 120 of them — that’s more than two reviews a week over this past year. But now we’re winding down the year and looking back on 2018, with just one week left until the end of the year. LEGO’s free shipping offer ends tomorrow, so as you wrap up your holiday shopping, here are a few of our favorite LEGO sets released this year.

And for some extra goodness, don’t miss our list of the best LEGO sets of 2017 (many of which are still available).

Read our complete list of the best LEGO sets released in 2018

LEGO Star Wars Box includes 5 rare minifigs [News]

LEGO is firing off freebies and promotions fast and furious ahead of the last chance to get LEGO shipped in time for Christmas. The latest promotion is a LEGO Star Wars Box that includes five rare polybag minifigs that have previously only been available separately. You can pick up the box for free by purchasing $75 worth of LEGO Star Wars sets from the LEGO Shop. $75 also qualifies for free shipping, plus a reindeer ornament. And if you purchase 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle, you’ll also qualify for the Darth Vader Pod freebie.

Click through to see all the minifigs

LEGO Speed Champions 75894 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy [Review]

For a couple years now, certain LEGO Speed Champions sets have begun depicting specific historical vehicles, such as the stunning pair of Ford winners from Le Mans in 75881 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40 released in 2017. The LEGO Speed Champions lineup for 2019 includes another pair of specific racing cars, 75894 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy, which depicts the winning car from the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally and one of the BMW X-raid team’s entrants in the 2018 Dakar Rally. To be released on January 1st, the set includes 481 pieces and retails for $49.99 in the US (£44.99 in the UK and $69.99 in Canada).

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Speed Champions 75894 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy…

Double VIP points Dec 7-10 at the LEGO Store – Black Card promo finally revealed [News]

When LEGO released 75192 Ultimate Collector Series Millennium Falcon last year, the company made a big deal of the various promotions and special offers that LEGO VIP Program members who purchased the UCS Falcon would be receiving over the subsequent year, starting with a special new VIP “Black Card”. The reality has turned out to be considerably less awesome, with the Black Cards arriving several months after purchasing the Falcon and no unique promotions at all in the past 15 months since the Falcon’s release. But there’s finally some good news for Black Card holders, who will be receiving an email with a special code that adds a free Black Card display stand with a unique minifig when you purchase any LEGO Star Wars set.

In LEGO Shop news for everyone, the LEGO Shop is offering double VIP points on all purchases this weekend, today (Friday December 7th) through Monday, December 10th, just in time for last-minute holiday shopping.

Link for readers in the United States: The LEGO Shop online (US)
Link for readers in the United Kingdom: The LEGO Shop online (UK)
Link for readers in Canada: The LEGO Shop online (Canada)

LEGO Creator Expert 10264 Corner Garage [Review]

With the release of 10260 Downtown Diner in January 2018, the design aesthetic of LEGO’s Creator Expert modular buildings series shifted from pre-war architecture to the chrome and neon of the 1950s. This trend continues with the 2019 modular building, 10264 Corner Garage. The set includes 2,569 pieces and retails for $200 in the US ($269.99 in Canada and £159.99 in the UK).

Like the recent LEGO Star Wars set 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle, the initial reaction from LEGO fans and collectors has been mixed. But how does the set hold up when we look beyond the box photos and actually start building?

Read our hands-on review of 10264 Corner Garage

LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle [Review]

The LEGO Star Wars sets from Rogue One, released in late 2016 and early 2017 to support the movie, include several of my favorite LEGO Star Wars sets of the past few years, like the fantastic 75172 Y-wing Starfighter and 75155 Rebel U-wing Starfighter. I’ve hoped that LEGO would return to world of Rogue One, and with the recently released 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle LEGO returns to the first Star Wars Anthology film.

The set has had mixed reactions from LEGO builders and collectors since it was first announced several weeks ago, but how does it actually stack up?

Read our hands on review of LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle