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)

Nathan Proudlove’s Hot Rod

Nathan Proudlove (smartiac on Brickshelf) presents a cool yellow hot rod:

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3vil Minifigs by Brickenrocker

In addition to Pre-Classic Space and The Eastern Block, another popular Space subtheme is 3vil.

Brickenrocker has created several great minifigs in the 3vil subtheme, including Dr. Cranium, the evil 3vil leader, the Queen of the Maggotmen, and Zognar:

Check out Brickenrocker’s Flickr and Web site as well.

The Eastern Block Revolutionary Council

LEGO Space fans have created many Space “subthemes.” Chris Giddens has created several popular subthemes, including Pre-Classic Space and The Eastern Block. With my recent Communist minifigs still lying around, I thought I’d try my hand at some Eastern Block minifigs.

First up, the Eastern Block Revolutionary Council:

From left to right in the picture above:

Leo “Snowball” Bronstein, People’s Kommissar for Guns ‘n’ Ammo
Supreme Diktat Vladimir “Major” Ulyanov
“Mad” Max Gorky, Minister of Truth
Joe “The Stalinator” Jughashvili, People’s Kommissar for Denunciations and Disappearances

Next, a chainsaw gun. If the explosive rounds from the eight-barrelled, rapid-fire particle cannon don’t get ya, the 1600-RPM chainsaw is sure to do some damage:

Finally, Ernesto “the Dude” Guevarra (voted “Most Photogenic” by 99% of the Eastern Block electorate) wields the “BFG”:

Click here to see the full gallery on Flickr.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Name: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉とよとみひでよし)
Dates: 1536-1598
Biography: Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a powerful daimyo (leader or warlord) who brought the Civil War (Sengoku) era to an end by unifying Japan under his rule. According to some scholars, he had an extra thumb on his right hand. Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the famous green-roofed castle in Osaka, where his crest remains the symbol of Osaka Prefecture to this day.
Additional reading: Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語).

Indiana Jones Minifigs by jp-30

From Bricks to Bothans Forums user jp-30 has posted some quite wonderful Indiana Jones minifigs. What sets these apart is the presentation (nudge nudge, folks!) — good photography combined with nice image manipulation.

Total awesomeness. Here’s the full gallery on Photobucket.com.

Happy Anniversary to VignetteBricks!

I can hardly believe it’s only been a year since Bruce launched VignetteBricks, the premier LEGO blog dedicated to vignettes.

VignetteBricks was one of the first LEGO blogs I encountered, and I personally would not have started either Dunechaser’s Blocklog or Pan-Pacific Bricks if it weren’t for Bruce’s inspiration.

But enough from me — head on over to VignetteBricks to read Bruce’s thoughts on VB’s first anniversary and express your own thanks!

Joe Vig Goes Fishing

With the help of Japanese LEGO fan Izzo, Nelson Yrizarry and I recently introduced Joe Vig to LEGO builders on the other side of the Pacific. We hope Joe will catch on in Japan the same way vignettes in general have caught on everywhere.

Izzo himself has posted several Joe Vig vignettes already, and he recently sent me a link to another Japanese builder’s home page. HIRO has already posted a Joe Vig vignette, titled “Fishing:”

Brick-Built Knights by Mark Stafford

Mark Stafford, of Cthulego fame, has built some great minifig-scale characters using regular parts instead of minifig pieces (previous post).

Recent updates include a “Clockwork Knight:”

And a “Sea Knight:”

Japan, 1977

I found this in my mom’s Flickr and had to post it.

Awwww, aren’t I cute? (I do have LEGO photos from that era — I’ll have to dig them out and scan them.)

（七五三の時の写真かな？）

Katou Danzou

Name: Katou Danzou (加藤段藏かとうだんぞう)
Dates: 1503-1569
Biography: Nicknamed “Flying Katou” (「飛び加藤」), this legendary ninja is shrouded in mystery. One legend says that he swallowed a bull in front of a crowd of people.
Further reading: Wikipedia (Japanese only).

Oda Nobunaga

Name: Oda Nobunaga (織田信長おだのぶなが)
Dates: 1534-1582
Biography: One of the fiercest and most feared daimyo of the Civil War (Sengoku) era in Japanese history. Born to a regional nobleman, Nobunaga spent most of his life as a warrior. By the time he died (by his own hand, after being surrounded by enemy forces), he had conquered nearly all of Japan.
Additional reading: Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語).

Vignette to go, please!

Japanese LEGO builder Sugegasa has been credited as one of the earliest builders in the popular vignette form (little creations on 6×6- or 8×8-stud bases).

Sugegasa takes this form to a new level in his V-pod — a vignette that fits in an X-Pod container (via VignetteBricks):