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)

Stephen Hawking by Ochre Jelly

Seattle based builder Iain Heath (aka “Ochre Jelly”) apparently caught a piece of science celebrity news that I missed. Eminent physicist and A Brief History of Time author Stephen Hawking will be taking a ride on a plane that will allow him to experience weightlessness. To commemorate this extraordinary man and his extraordinary moment, Iain has created a miniland scale version of Professor Hawking:

Be sure to check out Iain’s Flickr album, where you can see Professor Hawking riding around the surface of Mars, orbiting the Earth, and (I wouldn’t expect anything less from Iain) a 3D stereogram of the world’s favorite wheeled physicist, all in LEGO form.

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Izzo’s Test 53

I love dark blue mechs.
Izzo never disappoints.
Here’s his latest:

(Via Moyblik.)

Nute Gunray by Moko

Though nearly everybody has used the head from Frankenstein’s Monster as Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray’s head, everyone seems to struggle with his headdress/hat. Moko also says he struggled, but I think Nute’s pointy hat thingie turned out rather well:

And a bonus Episode I minifig — a Naboo Security Force soldier:

See all of Moko’s Star Wars minifigs in his Brickshelf gallery.

New Exo-Force Alternate Model “Naoe-Force”

Japanese hobby magazine Figure King has featured alternate models for Exo-Force sets ever since the theme was first released in Japan, and the alternate models have been fairly popular with Japanese LEGO fans (at least the ones with blogs I read).

Anime director Shoji Kawamori has designed two “Van-Force” models, which you can read about and see pictures of here on The Brothers Brick. All along, Mr. Kawamori has worked with Japanese Master Builder Kazuyoshi Naoe (who also worked on the Pieces of Peace exhibit).

The latest issue of Figure King includes the following new alternate design, titled “Naoe-Force”:

Minerva-class Battleship by Hiron

If he’s not building mecha, Hiron seems to build great vehicles and vessels inspired by mecha-themed anime.

Here’s his Minerva-class battleship from Crusher Joe (Info):

(Via Masoko Tanga.)

I’m-a gonna win!

Mike Count Blockula Crowley has so finished six characters in his series of large-scale minifigs inspired by Mario Kart since I first blogged Bowser back in January. Here are my favorites — and I can’t wait to see them in person at BrickFest PDX at the end of this month.

Mario and Toad:

Yoshi:

Donkey Kong:

Check out all of Mike’s Mario Kart characters on Flickr.

Lego, Lego me do. You know I Lego you!

Digger Digger Dogstar does it again! Here’s his version of Please Please Me:

So, more trains? Or not?

Train builders create some fantastic stuff — often overlooked by those of us more involved in themes like Space and Castle.

For example, check out Anthony Sava’s full-size and micro-scale No. 805 American 4-4-0 (via MicroBricks):

Or all of the displays LEGO train clubs create for events, like the layout Bill Ward participated in at a recent Train Collectors’ Association event:

And creations for train layouts are often on a scale much larger than in other themes, like Bill Vollbrecht’s Maersk Headquarters building in last year’s NWBrickCon train layout:

So a question for readers of The Brothers Brick: Do you want to see more trains and layouts? Or should we stick with the old stand-bys — castles, space ships, minifigs, mecha, and so on? Leave a comment and let us know.

Bith and Ithorian Minifigs by Moko

Looks like Moko’s officially working on a series. This time, it’s some of the most challenging characters from the Star Wars universe — the aliens.

His latest minifigs include a Bith musician from the Mos Eisley Cantina (not yet on Brickshelf):

And the Ithorian Momaw Nadon, also from the Cantina scene in A New Hope:

The evolution of the vignette continues...

First there was the vignette itself, then came the V-Pod, and now Nelson Yrizarry has invented a new form of vignette titled “MOCBox.” “MOC” stands for “my own creation” (doesn’t every hobby have its own vocabulary?), and as its name implies, MOCBoxes are creations inside a little box.

Check out Nelson’s first ten MOCBoxes in his Brickshelf gallery, as well as his introductory announcement on Classic-Castle Forums. Here’s my favorite, a double-decker MOCBox titled “Neighbors”:

Thwack! Shinbone to the skull!

Mark Twain is awesome, and I love Jane Austen. However, here’s what Twain had to say about Austen:

I haven’t any right to criticise books, and I don’t do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticise Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Everytime I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.

Nathan Cunningham captures this scene from Twain’s imagination in a hilarious new vignette:

Jedi Master Shaak Ti by Moko

I always thought Shaak Ti was a pretty cool-looking Jedi, but never figured out how to make a brick-built version of her. Trust Moko to figure it out: