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)

Grand Admiral Thrawn joins the LEGO Star Wars canon in 2017 [News]

One of the few frustrating things about the release of The Force Awakens last year was the fact that LucasFilm reset the long-established Star Wars timeline by eliminating much of the Expanded Universe from the official canon, leaving only the movies and recent animated TV series (Clone Wars and Rebels). Left by the wayside were some truly amazing stories and characters, not least of which the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn, with characters like Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. Longtime Star Wars fans rejoiced recently when it was announced that Thrawn would be re-canonized by appearing in the upcoming season of Rebels.

With fantastic LEGO sets based on the series like 75150 Vader’s TIE Advanced vs. A-wing Starfighter taking up a significant proportion of the LEGO Star Wars product line now, a Grand Admiral Thrawn minifig couldn’t have been far behind, and that suspicion has been confirmed with another batch of sets revealed today, including 75170 The Phantom, with Thrawn, alongside Kanan Jarrus wearing a cool mask.

75170 The Phantom

Check out more brand new sets:

2017 LEGO Star Wars original trilogy sets
2017 LEGO Star Wars Rogue One sets
The LEGO Batman Movie Collectible Minifigures
2017 Ford Le Mans Victories set
2017 LEGO Disney Frozen sets
2017 LEGO Disney Moana sets
2017 LEGO Architecture sets
2017 LEGO Batman Movie sets
2017 LEGO City sets
2017 LEGO Creator sets, part 1
2017 LEGO Creator sets, part 2
2017 LEGO Elves sets
2017 LEGO Friends sets
2017 LEGO Nexo Knights sets
2017 LEGO Ninjago sets
2017 LEGO Technic sets, part 1
2017 LEGO Technic sets, part 2
LEGO Technic BMW R 1200 GS set

Click to see the rest of the new sets!

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.

Guy Himber launches new Mascot Bricks Kickstarter campaign [News]

Author, artist, and all-around mad scientist Guy Himber has launched his latest Crazy Bricks Kickstarter project, centered on unique character accessories for LEGO minifigs. Mascot Bricks has just over two weeks to go toward its $15,000 goal, which will result in these entertaining characters — Mr. Slice, Pugs, Gentleman Nut, and Mr. Toast.

Mascot Bricks on Kickstarter Now!

TBB generally doesn’t endorse specific Kickstarter projects, but Guy has a strong track record of successful projects that have resulted in real, interesting products. I’m personally most excited by the pug hat. LEGO + pugs — what’s not to love?

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.

Jolly shenanigans at Pirate Cove

Master of the colorful LEGO scenes Letranger Absurde (whose atomic blast we featured this summer) is at it again with this diorama featuring a merry band of buccaneers. Showing only part of the pirate ship, the real stars are the clouds hanging in the bright sky above the skull island. The door hinges are also noteworthy on the ship itself, as is the brick-built rope ladder.

Pirate Cove

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.

The sun sets on Lady Liberty

This LEGO mosaic by Joe Perez features a fiery sunset behind the Statue of Liberty in sharp silhouette, combining standard mosaic techniques for the sunset with sculptural techniques for Lady Liberty. Joe says he created the sculpture based on a photo he took in New York on his honeymoon.

LEGO Statue of Liberty sunset mosaic by Joe Perez on Flickr

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.

LEGO Beatles Yellow Submarine out now, other Ideas sets retiring soon [News]

The new LEGO Ideas set 21306 Yellow Submarine we reviewed on Saturday is out today, available from the LEGO Shop online for $59.99 in the US, with 553 pieces and 4 minifigures.

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More importantly, though, LEGO is retiring several iconic sets that you’ll probably want to grab if you don’t have a copy already.

First up, Angus Maclane’s LEGO Ideas set 21303 Wall-E includes 676 pieces at $59.99. Read our review — we loved it.

See more LEGO sets retiring soon

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.

Tiniest AT-ST takes on the Rebellion on Sullust

We can’t emphasize often enough how challenging it can be to create really small LEGO creations. Roy of Floremheim has built an AT-ST “chicken walker” walking not on the verdant moon of Endor but on the blackened plains of Sullust, as featured in the training mission in Star Wars: Battlefront. Despite being built from only about 20 pieces, this Imperial vehicle is instantly recognizable.

Microscale LEGO AT-ST

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.

Porsche 919 Hybrid takes the pole at Le Mans

The official LEGO Porsche 919 Hybrid doesn’t quite have the same lean, low profile of the real thing, so EliteGuard01 has built a much more accurate version. To do so, the builder has taken some of the stickers from the set and applied them to a model that’s two studs wider. The race car fits a minifig, and the builder says it even has an engine.

Porsche 919 LMP1

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.

Straight up awesome

Deep into Ma.Ktober and with Novvember almost upon us, we’re still not quite done with SHIPtember yet! Most of the giant LEGO spaceships we’ve featured over the last few weeks have been lengthy, horizontal ships. LEGOLIZE IT MAN goes in a completely different direction with this huge vertically oriented spaceship mounted on docking clamps. I love the repeated circular motifs in white, along with the angled black section at the rear.

st7_testrender_small

Note the minifigs for scale. This is actually a vertically oriented, minifig-scale starfighter rather than the typical microscale battlecruiser. Very cool indeed.

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.

The perfect Christmas gift for your little Strahl Youth

For a sci-fi universe based almost exclusively on rare Japanese plastic models, Maschinen Krieger has a broad fan base within the LEGO building community, supported by an annual building challenge in October. We’ve featured the LEGO mecha created by Andy several times here on The Brothers Brick, many of them integrating Belville figures as supporting characters. In what might be the smallest Ma.K mech we’ve featured — built from only about a dozen pieces and judiciously applied stickers — Andy has created an adorably lethal “Kinder-Kröte” that could well prove to be dangerous to kids and kitties alike.

Kinder-Kröte

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.

Never let them see that they get to you

A few weeks ago we featured a lovely, fully posable LEGO Judy Hopps from Zootopia by talented Russian builder Sheo. I was hoping he’d also build Nick Wilde and some of the other charming characters from the movie, and my wish has now been granted. Nick’s expression is excellent, and the subtle sculpting of Nick’s shirt — a combination of System pieces and Technic panels — is particularly marvelous.

Nick Wilde (Zootopia)

Here are Nick and Judy together, showing their relative scale.

Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde (Zootopia)

If you like this one, check out this other LEGO Nick Wilde by Jordan Schwartz.

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.

Light-up LEGO Y-wing is ready to stay on target

LEGO builders love building LEGO X-wings, and the light-up LEGO X-wing we featured earlier this summer by Maciej Szymański may be the best. No less build-worthy are the plethora of other starfighters in the Star Wars universe, including the venerable workhorse of the Rebellion, the BTL Y-wing strike fighter. Maciej’s hyper-accurate Y-wing is built from 1,900 LEGO pieces, resulting in incredibly detailed sections of exposed machinery.

Y-wing - Flying
Click through to see more of this stellar starfighter

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.

ALERT! Unidentified alien spacecraft approaching!

We get so used to bulky LEGO spaceships, often with realistically muted color palettes, that it can be hard to know what to make of something wholly and totally different. A Plastic Infinity has posted a bright green alien spaceship, with “propulsive flagellum” and claws for weapons. The repeated circular shapes and black spikes give the craft an insectoid feeling, tapping into our darkest fears.

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The builder has also created a small group of escort ships that match the design of the mothership. I really don’t want to know what that forward probe does…

Untitled

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.