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)

Boy’s Day Vignette by Nelson Yrizarry

Following up on his Hina-Matsuri vignette (previous PPB post), Nelson Yrizarry presents a vignette based on celebrations of Tango no Sekku, or Boy’s Day (now celebrated as “Children’s Day”).

Here’s what Nelson has to say:

Now known as “Children’s Day” in Japan (a National holiday), this is the day when sons are traditionally honored. Most notable are the large koinobori (carp) banners that are flown – one for each male son. The carp is considered as the most spirited of all fish, able to overcome obstacles such as strong currents – hence, it serves as a symbol of the desired strength and success of the family’s male childen.

I have incorporated other aspects of the Japanese culture – Father enjoying sake; a katanakake (sword stand); a small Zen garden, etc.

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Afro!

The photography is bad and the picture is way too big (sorry Tupperfan). And what sets this minifig apart isn’t even a LEGO piece, but this is just too good to pass up:

If I’m not mistaken, that’s an earbud cover. Nice.

EDIT (3/8/06): Tupperfan has taken updated pictures. Thanks dude!

Sugegasa Tames a Lizard

Who knew those crazy dinosaurs from the Dino Attack theme could be incorporated into anything?! But Sugegasa manages:

What I like about Sugegasa’s creations is that all the fiercest robots/lizards/rocket launchers/dragons are always driven/ridden/wielded/controlled by adorable smiley-faced minifigs. (Oh, and I want that torso! Minifig belly buttons are just so cute!)

Mao Asada -> Sweet-Potato Vendor

A couple more entries in the shiritori word game.

First up, Uda-san posts a vignette of figure-skater Mao Asada receiving a bag full of LEGO goodies from a fan:

Nigou continues the game, from Uda-san’s Mao Asada to her sweet-potato vendor’s cart (manned by Hagrid). These vendors sell sweet-potatoes baked on a bed of red-hot stones. Today, they most often drive around in little trucks, with their oven on the back, so these traditional carts are a rare sight:

Guildford Postlethwait

Name: Guildford Postlethwait
Occupation: Ethnographer, best-selling author, popular lecturer. Charlatan.
Published works: Reflections on Fieldwork Among the Tuba. The Purple Snows of Kashmir. Life with the Yak-Herders of Samoa. Tanganyikan Tiger-Hunting Rituals. In Marco Polo’s Footsteps: Retracing a Spaniard’s Discovery of the West Indies.

Felix Really is Great!

I’ve always been drawn to anachronism in LEGO creations. I used to create complicated laser emplacement weapons for my Forestmen to fend off my brother’s Black Falcons. That’s why my next MOC will likely be something steampunk-ish. But enough about me.

Brickshelf user felixisgr8 just posted a really cool airship that uses boat pieces in an interesting way:

Piece of Peace: UNESCO World Heritage Sites in LEGO

Earlier this week, Bruce (of VignetteBricks) posted on Classic-Castle.com about a LEGO exhibit in Japan. I’d seen links to this on Japanese LEGO blogs, but that was before I started Pan-Pacific Bricks (and then I forgot).

The “Piece of Peace” exhibit, sponsored by McDonald’s and Yahoo! Kids, was a charity event in which the proceeds from ticket and souvenir sales benefited UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. With the motto “It takes a lot of pieces to build peace,” the exhibit showcased UNESCO World Heritage Sites in LEGO, built with the assistance of Japanese LEGO Master Builder Kazuyoshi Naoe.

Here’s Mont St. Michelle in France:

And Machu Picchu in Peru:

This page lists each of the sites recreated in LEGO for the exhibit. Unfortunately, it’s in Japanese. LUGNET user M. Moolhuysen assembled a site-by-site list in English (with links), so I’ll link to his list instead of duplicating it here.

For even better pictures, watch the wonderful 20-minute video (in Windows Media Format) available at three bit rates toward the bottom of this page. The video shows close-up shots of each LEGO creation, from many different angles. A Japanese explanation appears on-screen, but each site is also identified in English. The end of the video also shows several interesting non-UNESCO LEGO creations by contemporary artists and graphic designers. Well worth watching.

The bad news is that the exhibit now appears to be over; the last listed date is October through November of 2005.

Quincy’s Escape from New York

Check it out, a LEGO Kurt Russell:

Hatena-gumi

Name: Hatena-gumi
Occupation: Charitable organization.
Interests: Security, international trade, banking, real estate, shipping, pharmaceuticals, construction, heavy industry, government, agriculture.

BaitoHELL

In Japanese, the word for “part-time job” is arubaito, which comes from the German word for “work,” arbeit. Arubaito is often shortened to baito. There’s a Japanese PSP game called “Beit Heller 2000,” which apparently includes a minigame called “Ballpoint Factory.”

This guy has figured out an ingenious method of getting the high score:

Click the image to view the full series of hilarious pictures. Thanks to mumu for finding this!

(Yes, this is LEGO-related!)

Giancarlo Verrecchia

Name: Giancarlo Verrecchia
Occupation: Taxi driver in Rome.
Interests: Freestyle skiing. Winning a gold medal in the Torino 2006 Olympics. Viva Italia!

Melinda Tottinghouse

Name: Melinda Tottinghouse
Occupation: Debutante.
Interests: Ponies. Show-jumping. Sparkly things. Unicorns. Rainbows. And uh, debuting? (Sheesh, I have no idea what a debutante’s interests are!)