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)

RIP Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), first man on the moon

Three days ago, astronaut Neil Armstrong died of complications after heart surgery. For a blog full of space-themed LEGO models (and recently obsessed with NASA’s latest adventures on Mars), it would be wrong to ignore this major news story. Neil Armstrong’s achievements, alongside all the other astronauts and cosmonauts of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and today, have inspired many of our contributors and the builders we highlight here every day.

McWii of customBRICKS posted this a couple weeks ago to honor the anniversary of the moon landing in July. It’s only fitting that we highlight it here to honor the man who left so many footprints like this one on the moon (though the famous photograph is actually one of Buzz Aldrin’s footprints).

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.

5 LEGO CUUSOO projects that need your support by Sep 3

We’re just a few days away from September 3rd, the date that kicks off the autumn review period on LEGO CUUSOO. It’s not really a deadline, as such — projects that don’t hit 10,000 supporters can continue earning supporters and get into a future review cycle — but there are a handful of projects that have enough supporters that we want to give them an extra nudge to see if they can hit 10K within the next week.

At the top of my personal list (and currently the most supported project in this post at 6,552 supporters) stands Peter Reid‘s hardsuit. It’s every kind of awesome, and deserves a chance to be made into an awesome LEGO set.

Since we first posted about his British bird series back in May, DeTomaso Pantera has not only created a project for them on CUUSOO, earning 3,213 supporters as of today, but also delved into tropical birds. They’re lovely, and deserve even more love from each and every one of you.

Any list with gorgeous LEGO birds wouldn’t be complete without this adorable red squirrel by Arjen Vuurzoon. This excellent and naturalistic model deserves many more than the 1,226 supporters it has today.

Chris blogged Jason‘s customizable labyrinth maze game back in April, but like DeTomaso’s birds above, Jason created the LEGO CUUSOO project soon afterward, and he’s earned 2,205 supporters since then. This is an excellent, well-planned design with a lot of play possibilities, and deserves 7,795 more supporters.

My admiration of Masao Hidaka‘s pianos goes back to the very earliest days of this blog. Masao’s LEGO CUUSOO project, currently with 2,725 supporters, proposes famous composers with appropriate keyboard instruments — and that’s music to my ears!

If you’re still here and not off clicking the big green Support button over on CUUSOO, I may as well explain a bit more how I see The Brothers Brick supporting LEGO CUUSOO projects in the future.

As I explained in our anniversary post last month, I’m really only interested in seeing The Brothers Brick support CUUSOO projects that have a realistic likelihood that LEGO will approve. Everything else is a waste of energy.

Just for a bit of additional clarity, here are the kinds of projects that we won’t be supporting here on the blog (so, seriously, please don’t ask):

Sets that LEGO already has a license for, like Star Wars and Batman
Ideas based on M-rated video games, R-rated movies, or “TV-MA” shows
Pointlessly obscure pop culture references
Set and theme ideas for which one of LEGO’s competitors already has the building toy license (K’Nex has Nintendo, Mega Bloks has Halo & World of WarCraft, and so on)
For that matter, pretty much any set or theme that would require a new license, whether it’s a specific make of car, the mascot of a mobile phone operating system, or a fruit-themed computer company…
Projects without global appeal (pretty much everything in the bullets above)
Gargantuan ideas — sorry, Nannan! :-P

Even though we’re going to be a bit less stringent about this next guideline here at TBB, LEGO has said that CUUSOO is about proposing specific sets, not broad themes. Proposed themes with great primary models (or many to choose from, like the birds) may indeed have something from among the project’s models made into a set, and we’re happy to highlight the idea, but we’ll be doing so with the clear understanding that we’re supporting (and asking our readers to support) a model/set, not a theme idea.

Again, what are you still doing here?! Head on over to LEGO CUUSOO to support these — and many other — deserving projects.

Perijove’s LEGO MSL Curiosity Rover hits 10K on CUUSOO [News]

UPDATE (June 14, 2013): LEGO MSL Curiosity Rover is go for launch!

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Back on August 5th when I first highlighted the excellent Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover project by Stephen Pakbaz (Perijove) on LEGO CUUSOO, the project had been online for about eight months and had accumulated about 1,300 votes.

In a sign that timing is everything (with a little help from a few friends on the web), Stephen’s Curiosity project hit 10,000 supporters this weekend. In fact, the project gained its final 5,000 supporters in less than 24 hours.

(I wanted to use a picture of the model we haven’t already used several times here on the blog. Stephen’s proposed model for the project doesn’t include the skycrane, but how awesome would that be?!)

I used Stephen’s instructions to build the rover myself yesterday, and it’s a really excellent model. The build itself was very enjoyable, and I even learned a few SNOT techniques I hadn’t seen before. The final model includes so much detail and functionality it’s really fun to play with, in addition to being just shy of fully functional (with working “rocker bogie” suspension, stowable mast & arm, and little details like forward and rear haz-cams).

However, Stephen’s rover does include a handful of unusual parts, and parts in quantities or colors that I don’t have (especially the Technic parts for a mainly SYSTEM builder like me). Even with my substantial, relatively well-sorted collection, it took me the better part of an afternoon to dig around and gather all the parts, and I still had to place a couple small Bricklink orders to replace parts I don’t have at all in the right colors.

All of this is to say that an official set will be a great way to easily get all of the necessary building materials for a reasonable price — as I’m sure LEGO won’t be charging $2 for the white bracket (of which the model requires two), for example.

Congratulations to Stephen, and I can’t wait to see how LEGO handles this particular project. Specifically, I’d love to see LEGO accelerate the approval of this project, given LEGO’s existing partnership with NASA, the clear educational value of the model, and the current “space fever” gripping the world.

Finally, in case you missed it last week, be sure to check out our interview with Stephen Pakbaz (who worked at JPL as an engineer on the Curiosity project) right here on TBB.

LEGO Lord of the Rings video game trailer & gameplay footage

In case you’d missed it, TT Games will be releasing its latest LEGO video game, LEGO Lord of the Rings, in October 2012.

Here’s the latest trailer.

And here’s the original teaser trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxuGSFYm1ls

Finally, here’s a lengthy interview over actual gameplay footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=qM5wrbHi6Rc&NR=1

To be 100% honest, as much as I love what our friends over at TT Games do, the last few LEGO video games I’ve played have all seemed a bit alike. There’s a limit to the amount of entertainment I can get from appreciating the wonderful in-game models created by Carl Greatrix and the other talented model builders before the familiar gameplay itself takes center stage.

But the combination of LEGO, The Lord of the Rings, actual voice acting, and (possibly) some different gameplay mechanics all has me pretty excited.

(Via FBTB.)

Up to 30% off LEGO Star Wars sets from Amazon.com

LEGO Star Wars sets are usually excluded from sales at brick-and-mortar stores, so sales at Amazon.com and other online retailers are always a pleasant surprise.

All of the following sets are 30% off:

Save $36 on 7964 Republic Frigate
Save $21 on 7961 Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator
Save $18 on 7931 T-6 Jedi Shuttle
Save $15 on 7930 Bounty Hunter Assault Gunship

7962 Anakin’s & Sebulba’s Podracers is also discounted by 22%, saving you $20 on a $90 set

These deals tend to be pretty dynamic, so if you’ve been waiting for these sets to go on sale, now’s the time to act.

As always, The Brothers Brick receives a percentage of the sales when you click through from here, and we use that money to pay for server costs (not insubstantial with a global audience), buy prizes to give away during BrickCon and other events, and generally give back to the community.

Signs of life

Chris (Ironsniper) has built a lovely, contemplative mecha that incorporates old-style hinges — since replaced by “click hinges” — and printed tiles for some lovely spot color. What grabbed my attention though, is the story that the model tells.

Chris’ minifig-scale “BFG Suit” gets an upgrade as well, with an impressive gun that incorporates studs wonderfully into the design.

GP-1 Blackjack “Ground Pounder” walker

Jeff Churill (Cooper Works 70) mixes great shaping in LEGO with custom stickers and BrickArms to create this imposing walker that looks like it emerged from the military-industrial complex of World War II.

Buttoned up for combat, this is one walking tank I wouldn’t want to face on a dark battlefield. The feet and legs are definitely the highlight for me on this mech.

Do minifigs need haircuts?

Well, if they do, there’s a lovely barber shop on the ground floor of this terraced apartment building by Christer Nyberg.

The building has a complete interior, so don’t miss all Christer’s photos on Flickr.

Via Brick Town Talk.

London 2012 – a retrospective Olympic roundup in LEGO

I’ve generally avoided news about the 2012 Olympics in London in order to preserve some measure of surprise as I watch the much-delayed — and rightly much-maligned — TV coverage on NBC here in the States. That’s meant that we haven’t really featured much in the way of LEGO Olympics models here over the last couple of weeks. Let’s correct that, as I watch the closing ceremonies, in one fell swoop.

Her Majesty the Bloody Queen stole the show at the opening ceremonies, but didn’t look especially entertained during what was actually quite an amazing show. Iain Heath captures the Queen’s look when she visited the Athletes’ Village the next day.

Warren Elsmore spent 250 hours and 300,000 bricks building a 1:500 scale model of many recognizable Olympic buildings.

The Guardian commissioned a series of brick-by-brick stop-motion videos by Fabian Moritz, showcasing important moments during the Olympics. My favorite was Michael Phelps’ 16th gold medal.

Finally, don’t miss McKayla Maroney’s disapproval in the post right below this one.

LEGO Mars Curiosity Rover powered by MINDSTORMS NXT (not plutonium)

We’re generally not as quick to blog Technic and MINDSTORMS models here, so with apologies to our readers who’ve already seen this (but in the interest of completeness): Will Gorman and Doug Moran recently built a fairly functional version of the Mars Curiosity Rover, with four of six working wheels, robotic arm, and mast.

According to the builders, “The Curiosity Rover was created with 7 NXT Bricks, 13 NXT Motors, 2 Power Function Motors, and over 1000+ LEGO Bricks. The software was developed using leJOS NXJ.”

The LEGO Group provided all the LEGO, and the rover was featured at LEGO and NASA’s Build the Future in Space event at Kennedy Space Center.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

I’m sometimes pleased most by the overall impression that a LEGO photo leaves, but examining the details in this scene from Hugo by Gabe Umland is equally rewarding. I love the black & white, and the clockwork behind Hugo is fantastic.

Gabe’s scene was inspired by the interior of the wonderful French Cafe by Carson Hart we featured here a couple weeks ago.

LEGO Argonath guards the borders of Gondor

Noah McClung (Glory_Forever) tackles one of the most awe-inspiring scenes from The Lord of the Rings, when the Fellowship passes beneath the gaze of the Argonath, or the Pillars of the Kings, into the much-diminished lands of Gondor.

The smooth statue stands in contrast to the rough-and-tumble rocks of the cliff. Here’s hoping Noah adds Isildur’s statue on the other side of the river Anduin, joining Anárion to face down Gondor’s northern enemies.

Via FBTB.