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)

A Pimp, Robin Hood in Space, and Steampunk Security

I seem to have missed a couple cool figs from lego2000/m20xr, but I hope you’ll agree that they were worth the wait.

A pimp to go with his pimpmobile, plus Robin Hood — in Space!

But here’s what I find especially cool — a steampunk security force for one of his floating rocks:


(Check out the funky steampunk jetpack one of them is wearing.)

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Artistic Minifigs

It’s been a while since I created any historical people, so I was pleased earlier this weekend while throwing together pieces when Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec popped up in the palm of my hand:

Naturally, that inspired me to keep building this morning, ending up with a full complement of Impressionists, including Claude Monet (you know, of waterlilly fame):

I wasn’t happy with earlier versions of Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dali, so I rebuilt and re-photographed them. Here’s Vincent van Gogh:

I made several more, so check ’em out on Flickr:

  • Salvador Dali
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir
  • Camille Pissarro
  • Paul Cézanne
  • Édouard Manet
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    Princess Mononoke Minifig by Andrew Horvatits

    Try as I might, I can’t think of a better way to build Princess Mononoke minifigs than the way Moko did. With San and Ashitaka out of our reach, the rest of us mere mortals are stuck building minor characters, as Andrew Horvatits does:


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    Stuff I Saw at SEALUG Yesterday

    Okay, a quick post to highlight some of the creations I saw at the SEALUG meeting yesterday.

    First up, Todd Kubo’s skull inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean:

    (C’mon Todd, post new pictures with your wicked awesome voodoo charms!)

    Next, Justin Pratt’s tank with urban survivability package:

    Finally, Mark Neumann’s mecha inspired by Soren and Tim’s instructions:

    Thomas Garrison graciously took photos of the meeting, and you can see a few more creations in his gallery. Here I am talking to Dan Sabath and Caylin Feiring:

    That’s me in the green shirt. No, our faces aren’t intentionally blurred out — we just all happend to be moving our heads at the same time I guess!

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    LEGO Settlers of Catan Board Game

    One thing I really liked about my previous job was that the company was full of board game geeks, and at least twice a week we gathered around a table in the kitchen and played games. Suzanne Rich has recreated The Settlers of Catan in LEGO:

    (Thanks for the great photo from Brickfest, Josh Crockett!)

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    Finally Registered for NWBrickCon

    Phew! I finally registered for NWBrickCon, the annual west-coast LEGO convention held here in Seattle. This year it’s at Seattle Center on October 6, 7, and 8. I’m not sure what I’ll be building for the convention, but time is running short, so I better go on it.

    For being the “smaller” convention (compared to the recently concluded BrickFest), it sounds like this year’s NWBrickCon will be a great success. Looking at the list of potential attendees (you can register on the site without making a commitment to attend, thus “potential”), I’m seeing many familiar names. Conference registration for all three days is $44.

    There are also times when the show floor is open to the public, for a very reasonable $5. (For those of you reading this in Redmond, stop by my office for a coupon that’ll get you in the door for $4.)

    I’ve worked in the neighborhood where the conference is held until recently, so I know all the best places to hang out and grab a bite to eat. I’d love to get together with our readers. See you all in October!

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    LEGO Star Wars II: The Original WHAAA?!

    My wife picked up a copy of LEGO Star Wars for PlayStation 2 the other day (can you believe I haven’t played it yet?!). I’m already looking forward to the sequel, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Triology — hey what a second, that’s not right!

    (Via the always entertaining Destructoid!)

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    Minifig Superhero Contest on Eurobricks

    “Mostly purist” minifigs are encouraged. Contest deadline is September 13. Click the banner for details:

    (Thanks for the e-mail, Matt Zitron!)

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    Double the Bloggers, Double the Trouble!

    Heh heh, I think you’d have to be blind and/or illiterate not to have noticed a few recent changes to The Brothers Brick. It’s taken a few days to get everything lined up, and there may be a few more changes in store, but without further ado, I’m pleased to welcome Linus Bohman and Nathan Wells to the Brotherhood of the Brick!

    As he says in his own introduction, Linus joins us from Classic-Space Forums and From Bricks to Bothans. In his non-LEGO life (hey, we do have lives outside LEGO; more on that below), Linus is a student in Sweden and blogs his thoughts and photographs at Picturing the World. I’ve featured Linus’ creations here on TBB many times, and look forward to his coverage of all things sci-fi and the world of tomorrow — Space, Star Wars, steampunk, and so on.

    Nathan Wells joins us from Classic-Castle Forums, Brickfilms, the wonderful Unique Brique Techniques, and his own blog, Behind the Redwood Curtain. Nathan and I have seen eye-to-eye on what makes a good LEGO creation for quite some time, competing and stealing liberally from each other. I expect Nathan will continue to highlight interesting building techniques on UBT, but I’m also overjoyed to have him taking on a role here, where he’ll be handling all things fantastical and real — Castle, Town, etc. One area of the LEGO world underrepresented here on TBB is LEGO-based animation, so I hope to see lots of brickfilms from Nathan (including his own).

    I also hope Josh will be able to begin blogging here on TBB again soon, but real life (such as a new baby) is always the highest priority.

    Which makes an appropriate transition to me. One reason I’m recruiting new contributors is that I’ve been neglecting the sort of Japanese-themed creations and overseas events that I had been blogging on Pan-Pacific Bricks. I have quite the backlog of interesting news and creations, but that takes much more time than posting the latest minifigs or mecha (which I’ll continue handling myself here on TBB). Handing off themes like Space and Castle — as much as I love them — will enable me to be a better bridge between English-speaking LEGO fans and our compatriots across the Pacific.

    Unfortunately, I’ve also been neglecting my creative writing. Regular readers should know by now that I’m passionate about writing and literature, and a few of you may already know that some of my poetry has been accepted by a major literary journal (I’m sure I’ll find an excuse to let you know when it’s actually been published). As much as it pains me to say so, time spent blogging about LEGO has made it more difficult to take full advantage of that huge break. I need to spend more time writing poetry and to do a better job managing my creative writing career. All of you out there have been very loyal readers, and I thought you deserved to know one of the primary non-LEGO reasons I’m making these changes.

    So, enough about the people. Back to the LEGO!

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    Tremble Before the Beeesh!

    Eric Sophie makes what he calls “living LEGO.” He recently updated an older mecha that certainly does exude a palpable menace. Behold the Beeesh (yes, three E’s):

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    I’ve got a lovely fresh cuttlefish for you...

    From Moko (as opposed to Mr. Praline):

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    Greeple and Urple the Podagons

    Megan Rothrock is at it again — creating truly unique, wildly colorful creatures. Her two latest beasts are inspired by X-pods. There’s a green one and a purple one.

    Greeple, who loves “pizza, and pizza delivery boys”:

    Urple, whose palate is equally sophisticated:


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