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)

Iron Cross battleship by rack911

Even though LEGO has released ship hulls in other colors, it’s unusual to see fan-made LEGO sailing ships that aren’t brown. Haung (rack911) combines red hulls with light gray to create a battleship evocative of warships of the early 20th century.

Iron Cross battleship by rack911

The round cannon doors, LEGO Castle minifigs, and the tall statue ahead of the ship also lend an air of fantasy to the scene. See more photos on MOCpages and Brickshelf.

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.

LEGO Strong Bad replies to e-mails with hands of bricks

Dirk VH (dm_meister) has created a large-scale sculpture of Strong Bad from Homestar Runner.

LEGO Strong Bad sculpture

Dirk even added details like the lacing on the back of Strong Bad’s luchador mask, along with photos of the internal structure that keeps LEGO Strong Bad…strong.

See more photos of Strong Bad in Dirk’s photostream on Flickr.

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.

Trouble at the Quarry

Chris M (powerpig) apparently has a troupe of semi-tame chipmunks living in his back yard. In fact, they’re so tame that they’ll pose for photos with his toys.

Chipmunk with LEGO dump truck

I’d just been paying attention to Chris’ LEGO photography until now, but his critter pictures are amazing too!

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.

PC World’s list of 9 LEGO games you’ll never see

Following the official announcement of the rumored LEGO Rock Band, Darren Gladstone over at PC World has written a hilarious list of the 9 LEGO Games You’ll Never See.

LEGO Left 4 Dead

  • World of Legocraft
  • Halo 3: LEGO
  • LEGO NFL: 2011
  • Grand Theft LEGO: Brick City
  • LEGO Gear Solid: Bricks of the Patriots
  • LEGO Fallout
  • LEGO StarCraft
  • Resident LEGO/Left 4 LEGO
  • Mortal Kombat vs. LEGO Universe

Read Darren’s “pitch” for each game on PCWorld.com.

If you’d asked me six months ago, I couldn’t have imagined a LEGO Rock Band. With that in mind, I’m rooting for LEGO StarCraft.

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.

Prettier than a panda

Cheyne Potter (AfroEngineer) posted this cute little plane based on concept art in the Classic-Space.com concept art gallery.

LEGO scout plane

The minifig has hair from one of the upcoming Town sets, so it looks like those sets should be more widely available soon!

While we’re at it, check out Cheyne’s ingenious use of blue chairs as water in this scene:

LEGO bird of prey

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.

It’s a Bad Day for Micropolis on ReasonablyClever.com [w00t!]

In more contest news, Reasonably Clever and TwinLUG are hosting the Bad Day for Micropolis contest.

LEGO Micropolis block

As this gorgeous school (with adorably itty-bitty school buses) built by judge Max Braun illustrates, the TwinLUG Micro City Standard is fairly simple — to fit into collaborative displays — while still enabling individual builders to do some pretty cool things.

There are four categories in the contest, and you can win a cartload of prizes. The contest ends at 2:22 AM EST on May 4, 2009, so get 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.

LEGO Builders of Tomorrow contest on WIRED GeekDad [w00t!]

Many of you out there first became an adult fan of LEGO when you bought LEGO for your kids (while some of us just never stopped).

LEGO Builders of Tomorrow setFor LEGO fans like you, the GeekDad blog from Wired.com is currently running the perfect contest — the LEGO Builders of Tomorrow contest.

To enter, just add a photo of you and your kids building together to the GeekDad photo pool on Flickr. The contest ends next Thursday, April 30.

There’s LEGO to be won, of course, but the winning family also gets their picture featured on an upcoming LEGO set. In LEGO fandom, that’s pretty close to immortality.

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.

VignetteBricks, Microbricks, MinilandBricks recruiting co-bloggers

Bruce NH sigfigWhether it’s in my list of 10 favorite LEGO blogs or as examples of the best LEGO blogs, Bruce H. operates several of the most influential and long-running LEGO blogs on the Web.

With VignetteBricks, MicroBricks, MinilandBricks, and now GodBricks, Bruce is looking for a little help from his fellow LEGO fans.

If you think you have what it takes to contribute to one of these blogs, head on over to Bruce’s call for co-bloggers to find out more.

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.

EH-191 Whirlwind military chopper by Aleksander Stein

A LEGO military model you probably can’t buy is this dark green beauty by Aleksander Stein.

EH-191 Whirlwind helicopter

The helicopter can seat ten minifigs (2 crew, 8 troops) and has internal lighting. I find the unique shape of the blades particularly noteworthy.

See more in Aleksander’s EH-191 Whirlwind photoset on Flickr. (Hat-tip to reader Kaupuan.)

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.

BrickMania releases custom Panzer IV Ausf. G. LEGO tank kit [News]

LEGO Blacksmith ShopThe most frequent question we get from LEGO builders is How do I get blogged? But for all of you out there who read The Brothers Brick to see what we builders do, one of your most common questions is “Where can I buy that?” The answer is usually “You can’t.”

Daniel Siskind of BrickMania was one of the first LEGO fans to create and sell custom LEGO sets of his own design, way back in 1999 or 2000. After a five-year hiatus, Dan recently began producing new custom kits.

The Panzer IV Ausf. G. tank kit from World War II comes in Afrikakorps tan, with a unique BrickArms prototype MG42 machine gun.

LEGO Panzer tank

Dan’s Panzer tank kit includes 690 pieces and sells for $99.95 with instructions on CD.

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.

LEGO Star Wars 2009 7753 Pirate Tank and 7778 Midi-scale Millenium Falcon revealed on StarWars.com [News]

Apparently, StarWars.com is getting all the exclusive details about the upcoming 2009 LEGO Star Wars sets. I didn’t notice when I blogged 7754 Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, but the site also has articles about 7753 Pirate Tank and 7778 Midi-scale Millenium Falcon.

From the Clone Wars animated TV series, 7753 Pirate Tank could be at home in the 2009 LEGO Space Police theme.

LEGO Star Wars 7753 Pirate Tank

The pirate figs (Hondo Ohnaka and Turk Falso, apparently) look unlike any other LEGO Star Wars minifigs I’ve ever seen.

LEGO Star Wars 7753 Pirate Tank minifigs

7753 Midi-scale Millenium Falcon is the third fourth scale in which the Millenium Falcon has been released, following 7190 and 4504 at minifig-scale, 4488 at mini-scale, and 10179 at UCS scale.

LEGO Star Wars 7778 Midi-scale Millenium Falcon box art

Read the interviews with Jens Kronvold Frederiksen in the articles about the Falcon and tank on StarWars.com.

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.

Star Cruiser Benevolence and Battleship Azuker by Steef de Prouw

Steef de Prouw recently joined MOCpages and posted this huge white spaceship, a large luxury cruiser called Benevolence.

The large white dishes on each side of the ship are apparently “used frequently to scan for missing passengers, who didn’t return from their shopping trips.” Ha! Excellent.

Thanks for the tip, David B!

UPDATE: Steef has just added an even cooler mega-ship, the USS Azuker (“LL-813 class battlecruiser”):

LL-813 battlecruiser

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.