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)

Build your own Antarctic LC-130 Hercules designed by Ralph Savelsberg with a kit from Brickmania [News]

Did you see the LEGO LC-130 Hercules we sent to Antartica at the end of last year? Did you want your own rocket-powered ski-plane? Over the last couple of months, TBB’s own Ralph Savelsberg worked with Dan Siskind and his team at Brickmania to turn Ralph’s model of this iconic aircraft into a custom LEGO kit you can buy.

Ralph is awesome, Brickmania is awesome, science is awesome, airplanes are awesome — we couldn’t be happier that one of our team’s designs is being turned into a Brickmania kit!

Learn more about this unique LEGO kit

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.

Dutch students present prototype satellite design built from LEGO to the European Space Agency

Students at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, including LEGO builder Rinse, had an opportunity to present a prototype satellite design to the European Space Agency (ESA) at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. With a LEGO builder among them, the student team used bricks as their design medium for constructing their 3D prototype. The LEGO model has a hexagonal shape, and the solar arrays don’t require any additional support to remain extended horizontally.

I once built an 11th century Romanesque castle from LEGO for a university humanities course. How have you used LEGO in your own higher education?

“How is it possible to power a weapon of this size?”

What, you thought I’d just go with “It’s a trap!”? That’d just be lazy. (Also, repetitive.) Admiral Ackbar may not have had the most memorable line in The Force Awakens, but his presence at the Resistance base marked another point in the movie that reminded us we were watching a true Star Wars film again. Master character builder Eero Okkonen captures the essence of the Mon Calamari admiral with a variety of slopes, vehicle fenders, reins, and other sundry bits.

A few pieces of brown lend subtle texture to what would otherwise be a mass of dark red. His expressive eyes are built from a black 2×2 boat stud layered over a round 2×2 yellow tile.

Classic 1963 Porsche 911 zooms along the Autobahn

If you don’t have a couple hundred thousand dollars to spend on your own 1963 Porsche 911, you can always build one in LEGO. Michael Jasper has built a lovely 911 in black, reflecting all the iconic bulges and curves of the original. Much of the car’s sides are built studs forward, while the curves on the fully detailed underside are built studs down.

How do we know so much about the car’s interior structure? Because Michael has posted this (literal) cut-away view highlighting the complex techniques he used to achieve the vintage vehicle’s shaping.

A horse and its rider ride no longer

When we last checked in with Tim Schwalfenberg, he’d just completed his massive LEGO diorama of The Last of Us. While considerably smaller, this crumbling statue of a horse and rider — both their heads knocked off ages ago — is no less atmospheric. Although Tim considers this a small build, it still feels like a monumental sculpture that evokes the glory of a long-gone era. The brown sign also adds an air of mystery — what does it mean? Is this in the distant past or a terrifying future?

Drafting the next Fallingwater

French builder Anthony Séjourné has captured exactly how I imagine an architect’s office — drawers full of supplies, shelves with inspirational books, and a well-lit, comfortable work area in which to imagine the next great monument, home, or skyscraper. Given all that loose paper, though, I’m vaguely concerned about that black fan…

Anthony has built a substantial series of excellent LEGO furniture and accessories. The coffee machine on the rolling shelves looks ready to dispense some much-needed caffeine to keep the inspiration flowing.

LEGO Speed Champions 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40 [Review]

In both 1966 and 2016, Ford won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, marking 50 years of victory for their GT supercars. 75881 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40 brings together the iconic race cars on either end of that 50-year span.

75881 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40 includes three minifigures, with 366 pieces to build two cars and a podium and trophy for the winning driver.

Read the full review after the jump

First look at LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 17 at Toy Fair [News]

LEGO had the box for the next series of Collectible Minifigures (CMF) covered up when we were at their preview event in New York yesterday, but after we, FBTB, and others had left, they uncovered the box for some reason, and media who were still hanging around got a peek. The box confirms a number of previous leaks and rumors, so let’s dig in on what we’ve learned so far.

Read our list of LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 16

Winter 2017 LEGO Star Wars sets finally available in the US [News]

As if to punish its largest market, LEGO held back the American release of the first wave of 2017 LEGO Star Wars sets in January, even though they were available nearly everywhere else in the world on January 1st. Fans of LEGO Star Wars in the United States can now pick up the latest sets, including great new sets from Rogue One and Rebels.

75172 Y-Wing Starfighter features a Blue Squadron Y-Wing Pilot, Admiral Raddus, the bounty hunter Moroff, an astromech droid, and a stormtrooper. The set includes 691 pieces and retails for $59.99. The set is already backordered from the LEGO Shop online, but is available now from Amazon.

75171 Battle on Scarif includes Jyn Erso disguised as an Imperial ground crew member, Cassian Andor, and two shore troopers. The set includes 419 pieces and retails for $49.99.

See more new LEGO Star Wars sets available now

Summer 2017 LEGO Technic sets unveiled at Toy Fair New York 2017 [News]

Adding to the new LEGO Technic sets for 2017 unveiled last fall, LEGO unveiled several new Technic sets at Toy Fair New York earlier today. All of the new sets will be available in August 2017.

42070 6×6 All Terrain Tow Truck will retail for $289.99 and includes 1,862 pieces, including Power Functions elements.

See more 2017 LEGO Technic sets unveiled at Toy Fair

Spring 2017 LEGO Architecture Guggenheim & Arc de Triomphe sets revealed at Toy Fair New York 2017 [News]

We’re in New York City today covering LEGO unveiled at Toy Fair. LEGO unveiled two new LEGO Architecture sets this morning that will be released in April 2017.

New York’s own home of Modern and contemporary art, housed in a Frank Lloyd Wright building, gets a redesigned second edition with a new 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The set will retail at $79.99, with 744 pieces.

Another Paris landmark joins the LEGO Architecture series with 21036 Arc de Triomphe, retailing at $39.99 with 386 pieces.

Don’t miss the rest of our Toy Fair 2017 coverage here on The Brothers Brick:

Summer & Fall 2017 LEGO Star Wars sets unveiled at New York Toy Fair 2017 [News]

Continuing our coverage of LEGO at New York Toy Fair 2017, we’re happy to bring you newly unveiled sets for Star Wars. We anticipate these sets being available in June or September.

UPDATE (June 1): The summer wave of LEGO Star Wars sets is now available.

First up, 75178 Jekku Quadjumper will be available June 1st for $49.99, with Rey, Finn, another one of Unkar’s thugs, plus a First Order stormtrooper.

The Quadjumper has a knob on the top, which I’m hoping makes it explode (we’ll see). The rear of the vehicle showcases the huge engines and rear hatch.

75180 Rathtar Escape is an 836-piece playset of the Eravana highlighting the scene in The Force Awakens when our heroes escape the rathtars and Guavian Death Gang. The set includes Han Solo, Chewbacca, Bala-Tik, and two Guavian Death Gang security soldiers. The set will retail for $79.99.

See more LEGO Star Wars sets from Toy Fair New York

About Andrew Becraft (TBB Editor-in-Chief)

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