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)

We all change. When you think about it, we’re all different people, all through our lives.

We’ve seen plenty of great LEGO TARDIS models over the years, including the rather excellent LEGO Ideas 21304 Doctor Who set released at the end of 2015. Prior to the official set, most builders focused on creating great police boxes, rather than the detailed interiors that generally vary from Doctor to Doctor. Inthert corrects this oversight with the main console room of the 11th Doctor’s TARDIS, including the white interior of the front door and the sloped walls with circular openings.

The console itself is lovely, with various controls that only the Doctor and a few experienced companions understand how to operate. The floor is built from trans-clear plates, and various walkways lead off to other parts of the vessel’s enormous interior.

My only complaint is that the scene feels a bit quiet, so I’ll just assume that the Doctor is off on an adventure with Amy and Rory.

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To the edge of the universe and back. Endure and survive.

While it’s always going to be hard to top the massive 20,000-brick diorama of The Last of Us by Tim Schwalfenberg that we featured earlier this year, the post-apocalyptic video game is so full of atmosphere that I’m glad to see other LEGO builders tackle the haunting game. Christophe captures the protagonists as they approach a dilapidated building. Foliage cascades from an upper floor, with broken glass hanging from windows. My favorite detail is the air conditioning unit on the second floor.

I do wonder what kind of interior Christophe has included in his build, because one of the only shots other than the one above is of Ellie’s guitar sitting silent in an empty room.

Amazon.com LEGO sales & deals for Prime Day 2017 [News]

Every year, Amazon.com has run a Prime Day promotion for Amazon Prime members, and this year there are quite a few LEGO deals.

75154 TIE Striker from Rogue One is 43% off at $39.99. As we indicated when we reviewed the LEGO TIE Striker, this is definitely a great price for 543 pieces.

As a side note for our readers in Canada and the UK, you can now join our readers in the US by supporting TBB when you click through from Brothers-Brick.com to make purchases on Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk. Just follow any Amazon link on the site before you make your purchases, and a portion of the proceeds (without any additional cost to you) will go to help run TBB’s servers, provide more product reviews, sponsor events like BrickCon and BrickCan, and award prizes and giveaways to builders all over the world.

See more Amazon Prime Day LEGO deals after the jump

LEGO Star Wars 75180 Rathtar Escape [Review]

After Rey and Finn escape Jakku in the Millennium Falcon rather than a Quadjumper, they get captured by the massive Eravana. Once aboard Han & Chewie’s new freighter, much adventure ensues. Complementing the minifig selection in the 75105 Millennium Falcon from the release of The Force Awakens in 2015 (with Kanjiklub gang members), 75180 Rathtar Escape depicts the confrontation between our plucky heroes and the Guavian death gang while attempting to escape loosed rathtars.

75180 Rathtar Escape includes 836 pieces with 5 minifigs, and retails for $79.99.

Read the full review of 75180 Rathtar Escape

LEGO Star Wars 75167 Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike Battle Pack [Review]

Since before the dawn of time, bounty hunters have been some of the most popular side characters in the Star Wars franchise, with Boba Fett and his iconic Slave I leading the pack. In The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader assembles a motley crew of bounty hunters aboard his Star Destroyer, commissioning them to hunt down the Rebels. 75167 Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike Battle Pack brings together four of the six bounty hunters in a single set under $15.

If that’s not enough already to run out and buy this set, read on for our hands-on review.

Read the full review of 75167 Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike Battle Pack

LEGO Star Wars 75178 Jakku Quadjumper [Revew]

In Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens, as Rey and Finn try to escape Jakku, they run toward a parked spacecraft with four enormous engines, only to have it blown up by First Order TIE fighters. The vehicle, a Subpro Quadrijet transfer space-tug (or “Quadjumper”), never leaves the ground and only appears in the film for about three seconds. Nevertheless, here we are 18 months after the release of the movie with the LEGO Star Wars set 75178 Jakku Quadjumper, which includes 457 pieces with 5 minifigs and retails for $49.99.

We first saw the LEGO Quadjumper in person at Toy Fair in New York back in February, and the set is part of the summer 2017 wave of LEGO Star Wars sets.

Read the full review of 75178 Jakku Quadjumper

Catch Yanni or Vangelis at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a theater on the Acropolis in Athens, which still hosts concerts, plays, and other events today. George Panteleon has recreated this ancient Greek structure in LEGO, with a central stage, a ring of seating, and the original backdrop against which both modern and ancient artists wowed the crowd.

The technique George used for the sloped seating is quite interesting, and worth a closer look. Clips connect slopes set on their side to achieve the classic bowl shape of theaters.

LEGO Speed Champions 75877 Mercedes-AMG GT3 [Review]

One of the LEGO Speed Champions cars released earlier this year that we overlooked — perhaps distracted by the truly awesome 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40 (my favorite Speed Champions set yet) — was 75877 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Before we dig into reviews of the summer 2017 LEGO sets, let’s catch up with this speedy little roadster.

Read the full review after the jump

Something’s cooking in Bio Lab One...

Have you ever wondered where Neo-Classic Space minifigures come from? Well, Wami Delthorn has captured a certain Dr. Clarke at work, creating what I can only assume is the next generation of Neo-Classic Space crew members. Most of the NCS LEGO creations we feature here are spaceships in the the usual combination of blue and gray, with the requisite pops of red and yellow. But this interior scene fits right into that aesthetic, with masses of greebles on every surface, illuminated by some excellent lighting.

For those who require a spaceship in their NCS posts, here’s Wami’s LL-527 Rapier fighter (in lovely blue and gray, with pops of red and yellow).

More LEGO Star Wars sets on discount from Amazon.com [News]

Presumably in advance of the impending release of summer 2017 LEGO Star Wars sets, Amazon.com is heavily discounting a number of sets from The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and Rebels.

75148 Encounter on Jakku from The Force Awakens is a whopping 40% off, listed at only $35.76 (down from $60). This is the only set so far that includes Unkar Plutt, and the Luggabeast with Teedo is definitely the highlight of the set.

75154 TIE Striker from Rogue One is 34% off $45.88. We thought this set wasn’t worth the full $70 price tag when we reviewed the LEGO TIE Striker, but this is definitely a much more palatable price for 543 pieces.

See more LEGO Star Wars sets on sale

What is M-Tron up to on Zosma 4?

Given the shared building blocks of matter and the uniformitarian geological processes likely occurring all over the universe, it seems fairly likely that future human explorers will encounter landscapes similar to our own on distant worlds. Mark Erickson has built an excellent gulch that would look right at home in the American southwest. But the builder says that this is the planet Zosma 4, with an M-Tron mining crew trundling along under the watchful eyes of a certain Captain Simon Lou. While the little M-Tron vehicles will probably evoke a certain nostalgia for LEGO Space fans who came of age in the early 90’s, I’m much more impressed by the realistically layered rocks — truly lovely.

Three-tiered LEGO diorama recreates every Star Wars movie

Today is the 40th anniversary of the opening day of Star Wars. To celebrate, teen builder Bryan Ng built this diorama that showcases scenes from every Star Wars movie released so far, including last year’s Rogue One. With vignettes spread across several levels and around all four sides, the setup of this diorama is reminiscent of the LEGO Death Star. It deservedly won 1st prize in a Star Wars fan build showcase held in Malaysia last week to celebrate this auspicious movie milestone.

Bryan’s Mustafar scene from Revenge of the Sith is excellent, with lava flowing beneath Obi-wan Kenobi as he battles the soon-to-be-crispy Anakin Skywalker.

About Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

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