Category Archives: People

LEGO fandom is a worldwide phenomenon, a vast community. Whether you consider yourself an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO), ALE (Adult LEGO Enthusiast), some other crazy acronym, a parent of a young builder, or even just a casual fan who appreciates all the amazing models LEGO builders create, there’s more to LEGO than just the models themselves. Here at The Brothers Brick, we bring you the stories behind the models, with interviews, builder profiles, and more.

HereticCreations discusses Halo, play features, rebuilds and more [Interview]

If there are two things I love spending my time doing, it’s building LEGO and playing Halo. And despite a long-standing line of Mega sets, it’s the LEGO Halo builders online that I find myself in awe of. And none more so than HereticCreations! In case you couldn’t guess, this builder specialises in Halo creations, and in prolific fashion too. With a Flickr gallery containing over 800 photos, they’ve built everything from Flood-infested Covenant to enormous UNSC juggernauts, and plenty big and small in between. We chatted with Heretic about their journey into LEGO and the process behind their many builds. But first, we have to ask the most important question of all…

The Brothers Brick: So let’s start with an icebreaker: best Halo game, in your opinion?

HereticCreations: I think Halo 2 has the best story and music, but for the gameplay and art direction, I’d have to go with Halo 3. My answer for overall favorite could really be interchanged with any of the Bungie games, depending on my mood. I appreciate all of them each for different reasons.

ODST is my pick, personally. Click here to hear more from HereticCreations!

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Building Beauty and Decay in LEGO: An Interview with Dark Dreamlands

The word “fantasy” often brings to mind pristine castles, shining armour, and impossibly lush flowerbeds. Today’s guest, however, is a builder who prefers to find beauty in the shadows. Alexander, aka dark_dreamlands, is the mind behind “Plague Town”, an 18th-century city of crumbling cathedrals, grisly guillotines, and an all-consuming deadly plague.

Alexander’s regular updates to the architecture and inhabitants of Plague Town has helped inspire a rising trend of dark fantasy creations in corners of LEGO fandom. We are thrilled to take the grand tour with him and find out how to craft melancholy in a hobby so commonly associated with glee.

Our interview with Dark Dreamlands follows

The Making of The Fellowship – Catching up with Cathedral of Bricks [Interview]

When we first encountered the LEGO castle creations from Luke, who posts on Instagram as cathedralofbricks, we were immediately struck by the builder’s skill with medieval architecture and dramatic landscaping. Since we last spoke with Luke, he has gone on to win two top awards in the Summer Joust competition and sailed from castle territory into pirate-infested seas with a stunning tall ship. This month, Luke debuted his biggest model yet, a tribute to Tolkien called “The Fellowship.” It’s such a magnificent build, we had to follow up with Luke about its creation.

our Interview with Luke and illustrations of his work and inspirations follow

One does not simply make LEGO models of Barad-Dûr this big

Barad-Dûr, seat of Sauron’s power, is known more by reputation than by first-hand accounts in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien describes it as “wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant.” Peter Jackson’s films made Barad-Dûr an iconic on-screen presence with the fiery eye watching all from atop the tallest tower. It was that version that LEGO adapted for last year’s massive Icons set. For Jae Min Lee, a Korean fantasty builder who goes by the handle Saint, the official set didn’t match the picture of Barad-Dûr in his imagination. For over a year, Saint iterated on his vision of Sauron’s stronghold with the latest version debuting just in time for Korea Brick Party 2025. Saint was kind enough to talk with us about his LEGO journey into Mordor.

Our Interview with Saint follows

Celebrating 10 Years of MOCs with LEGO Mecha Maestro Marco De Bon [Interview]

Ten years ago, Italian builder Marco De Bon emerged from his “dark age” and began sharing incredible LEGO creations of giant robots inspired by the anime of his childhood. In the years since, Marco has continued to hone his craft, building mecha that are both highly articulated and exceptionally clean. Here at The Brothers Brick, we’ve long been fans of Marco’s mecha, hardsuits, and sci-fi crafts, so in celebration of this milestone, we sat down with Marco to look back on a decade of building MOCs.

Our interview with Marco and pictures of his 10 years of amazing mecha follow…

Tiny builds, big imagination. Talking bricks with Dan Ko [Interview]

Longtime readers of The Brothers Brick will definitely be familiar with the builds of Jordan Jivkov, better known as Dan Ko, one of the most prolific builders of recent years, who specializes in small models that are packed with personality and wit. He honed his skills as an Iron Builder and continues to show up in LEGO challenges like Brickscalibur and the Rogue Olympics. It’s no surprise he’s been featured here dozens of times since 2020. In addition to sharing his models, Dan has also been generous with sharing ad-hoc instructions for his most popular builds. This month Dan is starting a new venture: a website where Dan can release free digital instructions every week for delightful builds that can be made from a modest collection of parts. We thought this would be the perfect time to catch up with Dan on his site, his journey as a builder, and the state of LEGO fandom.

Click for our interview with Dan and some of our favorites of his tiny builds

Zen and the art of building LEGO Castles with Cathedral of Bricks [Interview]

There’s no time like the present to find your creative voice with LEGO. Today’s guest is another builder who only recently began sharing their works online and already they are making quite a splash with fellow AFOLs. Luke, aka cathedralofbricks, creates castles and vignettes that blend gothic architecture and fantasy through a romantic lens.

Over just a few months, Luke has created an impressive body of MOCs. We’re excited to sit down with Luke to learn more about how he found his creative voice in LEGO as someone coming to the hobby later in life.

Our interview with cathedralofbricks follows, along with a gallery of the builder’s incredible castle creations

Bricks of questionable character: We chat with internet phenom, Iain Heath [Interview]

We sat with LEGO meme factory, Iain Heath, who immediately revokes my Gen-X card, schools us on the not-so-subtle art of going viral, and tells us what it’s like to hobnob with celebrities. Hilarity ensued! Grab yourself a good beverage and a bag of popcorn and join us as we lift the hood and try to figure out what makes him tick. Hint: I’m pretty sure it’s London Dry Gin and Jägermeister.

TBB (Lino) Thanks for being with us, Iain. I’ve known you for many years as an artist who engages in several mediums including video making, painting, and LEGO. No matter the medium, you have been consistently irreverent and funny as all get-out. Our readers likely know you by the formidable name of Ochre Jelly (I had to google what that was). How did you choose this name and is the Ochre persona different from Iain, or are they one and the same?

IH: The name comes from a monster in D&D. Lino, as a fellow Gen X-er, I can’t believe you did not already know this, but also not have its stats memorized. For shame… I think the only fitting punishment here is to confiscate your vinyl copy of Sports by Huey Lewis and the News. Bro, do you even D20?!

IH: The name is less of a persona and more a mask to hide behind, as I think many of us online prefer to do. Some people are comfortable putting their own identity and persona front and center of their art, especially creators who make a living from it, or posting daily, or want to use their personality as part of their brand (I’m looking at YOU Lego Masters contestants!). But in my experience you are more likely to just run into people’s prejudices that way (which in my case usually means age-ism, as I am older than Cthulhu). I’d prefer to be seen as a Lego Banksy, using my art to anonymously poke fun at the world, rather than “some old dude with too much free time on his hands”. Not to say that I don’t sometimes step in front of the camera for the sake of The Bit.

Click here for more not-to-be-missed hijinks from Iain!

Engineering for excellence – the Star Wars builds of Jürgen Wittner [Interview]

Today we’re joined by fan designer Jürgen Wittner, whose incredible Star Wars vehicles, built at 1:16 scale, are masterworks of LEGO engineering. We talk about his latest project, the Fall of Hoth, creative collaboration, and the process for designing and sharing these premium builds.

TBB: Hi, Jürgen. It’s been some time since the Brothers Brick checked in with you, but you’ve been quite busy. Maybe we can start by talking a bit about your latest build, the Fall of Hoth. I saw the illustration by Laurie Greasley and the 3D model by Jeff Lu. What inspired you to continue adapting this image into LEGO? Did you coordinate with either of the other artists?

Our interview with master fan designer Jürgen Wittner follows…

Building on the wild side with rising MOC star Hodgepodge Builds [Interview]

Every so often, a builder shows up, seemingly out of nowhere, with a creative style so distinctive, complex, and cool that you feel shook – like walking barefoot on a pile of bricks, but in a good way. C, who posts as @hodgepodgebuilds, only started posting LEGO models three months ago, is such a builder. Of course, talent doesn’t come from nowhere. Today we sit down with C to learn more about his LEGO journey and unique style.

TBB: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. Maybe you could talk about your LEGO journey. What was the first set or theme that really excited you?

C: The first theme that really excited me was definitely the 2009 Pirates line, which came out when I was about 5 (and insanely obsessed with pirates). I still think that line is remarkably well-designed. My interest in nautical aesthetics and ships has morphed since then, but is still rooted in my love of it back then. A recent build that speaks to that would be the research vessel ketch sailboat that I built this past winter. It was a full circle moment for me, finally being able to build a ship I was completely satisfied with from a technical and visual standpoint.

TBB: Have you stuck with LEGO continuously or did you go through a dark age before coming back to the hobby? What inspired you to start sharing your models?

C: I’ve never had a true dark age when it comes to LEGO, but it’s always ebbed and flowed for me. It’s always functioned as a sort of calming process in times of stress, especially during the last year as a college English major. It helps me relax and express my creative ideas in a visual sense. Honestly, what inspired me to share my models was the community, I had made the account a few months earlier to follow builders I liked and got very excited by the work I was seeing. I had been building consistently for about 8 months by the time I first posted, so I was also very excited to finally get my work out there (and thank you to my dear friends who encouraged me to post!)

Our interview with rising star HodgepodgeBuilds continues

Talking Iron Builder with LEGO space legend Tim Goddard [Feature]

The most recent Iron Builder competition just came to an end, providing the LEGO community with some truly excellent creations fueled by the creativity of two amazing AFOL talents: Tim Goddard and Bousker. For those who are not familiar with Iron Builder, it is a competition that puts two builders directly against each other in a two-week contest of creating models that incorporate a specific LEGO piece. In this instance, the Airplane Door in White. Fresh off an amazing run of 7 stellar creations, we sat down with Tim about his thoughts on competing for the Iron Builder crown.

Read TBB’s interview with Tim below!

Spreading joy and crossing cultures with LEGO legend Dicken Liu [Interview]

TBB: Your LEGO creations first came to our attention after your appearance on LEGO Masters China, when you started a Flickr gallery. From the start, you were building at a very high level. I’m sure there was a long journey between when you first discovered LEGO to where you are today. When did you first discover LEGO?

Dicken Liu: Lego hasn’t been in the Chinese market for very long, and the price was a big reason why it wasn’t a toy for the average person when they first appeared in China. I first saw Lego in a shopping mall in the 90s. But it was more than a decade later that I actually bought my first Lego set.

TBB: How did you discover that LEGO was more than just a toy? When did you become “serious” about making your own creations?

DL: It was probably from 2016 that I started to try my hand at making small pieces. (Before that my interests were more focused on models, drones, and film.) I started to look around for information and learn techniques to enrich my MOC knowledge, but at that time the actual LEGO MOC pieces I saw were quite limited. Here are a few pieces I’ve kept. They’re pretty rough to look at now, but it was really the start of my MOC journey.

Our interview with Dicken Liu continues