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)

Announcing “Big in Japan” – collaborative display for TBB readers at BrickCon 2010

A LEGO zombie apocalypse is so last year (and the year before that). We’re pleased to announce that the collaborative display that The Brothers Brick will be coordinating this fall at BrickCon in Seattle will be inspired by the rich history and culture of Japan.

Like these wonderful characters from Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro by Iain Heath (Ochre Jelly) — elements of the “Miyazakitopia” section Iain is planning for the display — we’ll welcome creations spanning many different eras and building styles. Part of the fun of a collaborative display is figuring out how to fit it all together once all the builders and their creations arrive at the convention!

From the epic Battle of Sekigahara to Godzilla battling Mothra in retro-future Tokyo, both reality and fiction from the Land of the Rising Sun provide plenty of inspiration for great LEGO creations.

Many of my earliest posted LEGO creations were inspired by the legends and history of land where I was born, and I’m personally looking forward to building again from that cultural heritage.

This is the earliest we’ve announced a collaborative display — for good reason. We hope that Big in Japan will inspire some truly different LEGO creations (like Proudlove‘s dekotora), alongside the iconic samurai and mecha we expect. From sketching designs to buying the parts you need on Bricklink, planning substantial contributions to the display may take the next eight or nine months.

As in years past, we’ll have prizes and giveaways, though we’re still working out the details about what those might be. In the meantime, break out those Kurosawa DVDs, crack open some Natsume Soseki novels, and start building!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Proudlove’s Mistral II – what the Eiffel Tower dreams of being when it sleeps

We all have those dreams — flying around in our sleep. The ironwork supporting Nathan Proudlove‘s Mistral II steampunk aircraft carrier is inspired by Gustave Eiffel’s architectural masterpiece, topped with a lovely pavilion reminiscent of the Palais d’Industrie from the 1855 Paris World’s Fair.

Naturally, the crow’s nest hangs down, and the flight deck is primed with five auto-gyro bombers. I’m not sure I’d want to be in a glass pavilion with gatling guns blazing away around me, but it sure is pretty…

See what we though of Nathan’s original Mistral way back in 2006.

Colonial Town Center by Sir Regonold

Daniel Shehadeh (Sir Regonold) users overlapping, partially pressed-on tiles to create an excellent roof on this Spanish-style building:

The crane, little roof on the well, and beams sticking out of the stone walls all add believable detail.

LEGOLAND Florida scheduled to open in 2011 [News]

In slightly belated news (but for the sake of completeness), LEGOLAND operators Merlin Entertainment last week announced LEGOLAND Florida, scheduled to open in 2011.

The new park is replacing the defunct Cypress Gardens, located in Winter Haven, about an hour south of Orlando.

Here’s the official word:

Merlin has purchased the historical Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven Florida from property investment company Land South Group and will open LEGOLAND Florida on the site at the end of 2011. The deal to buy the 145-acre site includes the freehold on the current theme park and waterpark as well as an operating lease in perpetuity on the historic botanical gardens. Merlin plans a significant multi-million dollar investment over a number of years, up to and beyond opening, in what will be the biggest LEGOLAND to date. In line with the group’s “resort” strategy for its theme parks this is likely to include both accommodation and the addition of further branded attractions from the Merlin portfolio. This will build on the $100m invested over the last few years in improved infrastructure on the site.

Read the full press release on the Merlin site.

And don’t miss Thanel’s review of LEGOLAND California for adult visitors.

Jonathan Bender interviews GeekDad John Baichtal

2010 looks like it’s going to be a great year for LEGO literature, with at least two non-fiction books about the adult fan experience due to be published. I’ve had the pleasure of talking with both writers about our hobby and the “LEGO life,” so I was pleased to see one interviewing the other.

In journalist Jonathan Bender‘s interview with GeekDad John Baichtal, the two discuss writing about LEGO, being an AFOL parent, and more.

As a Geekdad, what’s it like to play with LEGO bricks with the next generation?

It was something of a reality check. I was expecting instant love, but there were stumbling blocks. First, the more complicated elements are hard for little kids to figure out…. Second, kids have so many toys and activities these days — interactive games like Wii or the Internet grab kids so much more readily than a bunch of bricks. Nevertheless, my son’s bedroom floor is covered in Lego bricks as I write this.

Read Jonathan’s full interview with John Baichtal on his blog, Brick Bender.

Registration now open for Bricks by the Bay 2010 [News]

The San Francisco Bay area in California is hosting a new LEGO convention later this spring called Bricks by the Bay. The event will be held in Fremont on April 9-11, 2010.

You can now register for Bricks by the Bay on their website.

The brick-built world of Pandora

Avatar movie poster While I enjoyed the discussion about Avatar on the post featuring Harvey Cu’s Bionicle Thanator beast, I can’t say that it really convinced me to go see the movie. Nevertheless, we plunked down $15.50 each yesterday to go see the move in IMAX 3D, and I’ll grudgingly admit that it was well worth it — not for the story, which had the audience laughing in several places, but for the sheer spectacle.

Naturally, a major blockbuster movie like this wouldn’t be complete without the LEGO fan community cranking out creations inspired by the film. Here’s our round-up.

Imagine Rigney (imagine’s brickzone) gets us started with a great vertically oriented diorama complete with a Na’vi flying an Ikran, AMP suit on the ground, and Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson hovering in the air:

Harrison (corran101) uses the new Woody legs from the Toy Story sets for the 12-foot-tall Na’vi in the background of his vignette:

JasBrick (Flickr) takes a rather different approach with this pair of highly customized figs. The Na’vi minifig is actually an old Jack Stone figure!

Finally, Colonel Quaritch stomps around in his AMP suit in this vignette by MasterChief 1:

For more LEGO Avatar, there’s already a Flickr group, of course. (As much as I enjoyed the movie and like the LEGO creations I’ve featured here, here’s hoping Avatar isn’t the next Halo…)

Catsy’s EM-14 “Badger” Energy PDW goes “pew pew!”

Photos rarely do LEGO guns justice. They’re best seen from a distance or in person. Brandon Bannerman (Catsy) brought this very cool energy gun to the most recent SEALUG meeting.

Brandon’s gun has a clip that pops out, stock that slides in, working trigger, and a very nice series of greebly bits for the sight. I couldn’t help making “pew pew” noises throughout the meeting, whenever someone picked it up.

Adorable micro sub discovers micro LEGO Atlantis

Tim Goddard (roguebantha_1138) brings us what is likely the first microscale creation inspired by the new LEGO Atlantis theme.

Note how Tim integrated the new Atlantis visor and helmet into the vehicle.

All hail Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico!

Apparently, for more than two decades in the 1860s and 1870s the city of San Francisco humored the eccentricities — or insanity — of a man styling himself Emperor Norton. I as an American didn’t know that, but our Australian friend Aaron Andrews (DARKspawn) did.

Avatar Thanator beast built from Bionicle

I suspect I’m the last person on the planet who hasn’t seen Avatar yet (though I’ve never watched James Cameron’s Titanic either). Harvey Cu seems to have caught a showing of the latest epic, resulting in a rather nice Thanator beast:

Danish snowstorm inspires minifig snowman

Bjarne Tveskov and his family took advantage of the recent snowstorm in Denmark to build a lovely snowman:

(And don’t forget the British snowman minifig from last February.)