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)

Aung San Suu Kyi

Name: Aung San Suu Kyi
Dates: Born in 1945
Biography:
Aung San Suu Kyi is a pro-democracy activist currently detained as a political prisoner by the government of Myanmar (Burma). Elected Prime Minister in 1990, she has intermittently been under house arrest ever since, despite calls for her release by world leaders, human rights organizations, and even the United Nations.

As a Buddhist, Suu Kyi has advocated a non-violent struggle for democracy in the face of the military dictatorship that has been in power since 1962. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 and remains under house arrest today.

Learn more: Wikipedia

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.

Minas Tirith by Astuanax

I sometimes feel like I haven’t been paying attention or something when I discover a builder I haven’t heard of before through one of the many LEGO blogs I read (LegOficina dos Baixinhos, in this case). Today’s discovery was Astuanax, whose Lord of the Rings creations are jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Check out the city of Minas Tirith (above) and The Beacon (below):

Wheeling around Hong Kong with Horace Cheng

I’m sorry to say that I really only look for LEGO pictures on Brickshelf and Flickr, so it was wonderful to find Horace Cheng on Flickr earlier today. (Remember his awesome Flappters?)

Anyway, Horace doesn’t live in Hong Kong, but he’s captured a couple iconic vehicles I remember from my visit there in 1989 — a natural gas delivery-man (above) and rickshaw (below).

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Name: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dates: 1929-1968
Biography:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the primary leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. Beginning as a Baptist minister, King led the struggle to end racial injustice, including segregation.

Inspired by his Christian convictions and the non-violent philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, King organized acts of civil disobedience, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and the March on Washington in 1963, where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1967, King voiced public opposition to the Vietnam war.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. He left behind his wife Coretta Scott King and four children. Mrs. King carried on her husband’s work until her death in 2006.

Learn more: Wikipedia

(About the minifig itself: morgan19 and at least one other builder who I can’t find at the moment have posted identical MLK figs, but in my defense, I’ve had this minifig lying around unphotographed for at least a year. ;-) )

Admiral Benbow Inn by The Brick Time

The wonderful little scene above, featuring William “Bill” Bones, caught my eye recently on The Brick Time blog, so I went a few posts back and discovered a very cool diorama of the Admiral Benbow Inn — the inn where Jim Hawkins lives in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

Click the picture to check out the full gallery on Brickshelf:

Starfleet Voyager VX-2 by Chris Giddens

Chris Giddens (Flickr) has recreated the Classic Space set 6929 Starfleet Voyager from 1981. Would it be sacrilege to say that Chris’ version is a marked improvement over the original?

World War II LEGO pinups by Charlie Co.

Charlie Co. (aka Tim) continues to post great World War II creations, including a trio of adorable pinups sure to give comfort to little plastic Allies.

Hitting the road with Aaron Sneary

Inspired by Keith Goldman, Jon Palmer (Flickr) is starting a series of vignettes starring another real-life LEGO fan, Aaron Sneary.

In Jon’s first vig, Aaron chooses the items he will take on his journey.

Steve Biko

Name: Stephen Bantu Biko
Dates: 1946-1977
Biography:
Biko was a South African anti-apartheid activist who founded the Black Consciousness Movement. As a young medical student, Biko formed the South African Students’ Organization, a group that fought for the rights of Black, Indian, and mixed-race (“Coloured”) students.

Despite being banned by the white apartheid government, Biko continued his political activities. On August 18, 1977, Biko was arrested. On September 12, he died in police custody.

Learn more: Wikipedia

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Dates: 1869-1948
Biography:
Gandhi was the spiritual and political leader of the movement for Indian independence. As a young lawyer in South Africa, he became a proponent of civil disobedience and other non-violent methods, attempting to improve the civil rights of Indians in South Africa.

In 1915, he returned to India. Throughout the rest of his life, Gandhi continued to use non-violence in the struggle to free India (which then also included the modern nations of both Pakistan and Bangladesh) from British rule, despite often-brutal reprisals. India achieved independence in August 1947, but was soon divided into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, despite Gandhi’s efforts to avoid partition.

Nicknamed “Mahatma” (“Great Soul”) and “The Father of India,” Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948.

Learn more: Wikipedia

(Inspired by the upcoming birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., this is the first in a series of posts celebrating the men and women who struggle to make this world a better place, especially those who work toward peace, human rights, and protection of the environment.)

Why head for the hills when you can be safe and sound inside Khufu’s pyramid?

Whenever a contest happens, any new theme tends to get a bit, dare I say, crowded. This is certainly true of ApocaLEGO due to the “Head for the Hills” contest, so it’s always cool to see a new twist, like Corran101‘s Egyptian-themed entry. Click the photo for the back story on this heavily armed holdout.

Gettin’ steamy with Rocko

Rocko‘s second entry in the FBTB Steam-Wars contest (following on his world-famous TIE fighter) is an excellent speeder bike. The boiler is simple yet effective, and the multiple propellors (for lift and forward propulsion) give this classic Star Wars vehicle a truly steampunk flair.

(Incidentally, Matt Forcum has been working on a speeder with a similar front and back end, but with a very interesting — and hilarious — twist. Not to detract from Rocko’s great speeder, but I’m also looking forward to Matt’s.)