Tag Archives: Interviews

The people behind the fascinating LEGO models we feature here are just as interesting! Read interviews with notable LEGO builders, LEGO book authors, LEGO set designers, and many others right here on The Brothers Brick.

Portal 0937 interviews Michael Jasper

Michael Jasper is easily one of my favorite builders. His many minuscule creations simultaneously inspire and annoy. (“Genius! So simple! Why didn’t I think of that?!”)

Portuguese LEGO fan community Portal 0937 has posted a great interview with the artist many LEGO fans know mainly by his Brickshelf user name — “mijasper“.

LEGO elements, in particular those small and special ones, can be used in many ways – you just have to look at them as what they could be.

Head on over to Portal 0937 to read the full interview with Michael Jasper.

(Via LegOficina dos Baixinhos.)

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Interview with LEGO Agents designer Matt Ashton [Interview]

It’s no secret that we here at The Brothers Brick love this year’s LEGO Agents sets — especially Andrew, who won’t shut up about them!

So we’re very pleased to bring you an interview with Matthew Ashton, Creative Director for LEGO Playthemes, and one of the set designers for the LEGO Agents theme.

(UPDATE: As I link to this in 2014, this interview is more than six years old. Sorry about the broken images. The interview is still very much worth a read.)

The Brothers Brick: To start out, please tell us who you are and a bit about yourself.

Matt Ashton: My name is Matt Ashton, I’m 32 years old (probably 33 by the time this goes to print), I’m originally from the UK and have worked for LEGO for the past 8 years. I studied as a Fashion Designer in Brighton, on the south coast of England, but always secretly had a burning desire to become a toy designer. (I’m an avid toy collector and have a house full of Star Wars figures, Transformers, Barbies, Bratz and hundreds of My Little Ponies! (!?!?! Yes I Know!?!?!)

When I graduated from Uni, we had an exhibition in London showcasing our designs, where I displayed minature replicas of my Cat Walk Collection on Barbie dolls … some LEGO Talent Scouts were at the event looking for stylists to work on Clikits. They spotted me, asked me to an interview and after quite a lengthly process I got the job. Years later I became Creative Director and moved into Playthemes, were I now oversee the IPs [intellectual properties -ed.], Star Wars, Indie, SpongeBob etc. as well as our home-grown playthemes lines like Castle, Aqua Raiders, Space themes and Agents.

TBB: What were some sources of inspiration for the theme?

Matt: We looked into anything spy, agent, super hero or super villain related! TV shows, cartoons and movies from when we were kids, right up to present day. We looked at everything from Mission Impossible to Thunderbirds.

[Mole vehicle from the iconic 60’s TV show at right -ed.]

TBB: Was the gold-jawed bad guy inspired by “Jaws” from the Roger Moore Bond films?

Matt: Possibly! :-) A lot of our characters pay homage or are twisted references to classic, iconic spy characters…. something that a lot of dads will get, but kids will just see as really cool, new baddies!

TBB: Why cyborgs for the bad guys?

Matt: We just wanted to give the theme a real twist, an element of fantasy, something a bit quirky that would lighten the tone of the whole theme.

Plus from a kid’s perspective, the fantasy characters are just so much more appealing and really help to inspire different stories when they are playing. A guy with robotic spider legs is so much cooler than just some boring guy in a suit….he can climb up walls and find different ways to attack or escape. A baddie with a chainsaw arm can cut through walls and break into bank vaults.

It really helped us give each character a different personality and a different purpose, making them more desirable and collectible.

TBB: What was the reason to use hose nozzle pieces for the guns as opposed to other LEGO gun pieces?

Matt: It was a company decision not to replicate realistic firearms in this theme, to balance the tonality of the theme, without pushing things too far.

TBB: Was there anything you really wanted to include (element, minifig, whatever) in the sets that was denied?

Matt: Not really. Of course, we always want to squeeze as much stuff in there as we can and we always have to prioritize what is most important. I think we did a really good job at getting in the essentials, to create cool models and good play value. We introduced several new elements to strengthen the theme and create new characters — laptop computers, barbed wire, robotic arms, new jaw-Helmet for Break Jaw and two new wigs for Dr. Inferno and the delightful Agent Trace….possibly the hottest girl Minifig ever!

TBB: Indeed. The barbed wire is awesome. Whose idea was that?

Matt: The team came up with it; it just helps make the Missions seem a little more difficult and dangerous. The Agents can’t just hop over a fence — they have to be super careful when they are sneaking in to a baddie’s lair!

TBB: Was there any thought of making the barbed wire interlockable, to more accurately replicate it?

Matt: Yes there was. We looked into different options, but went for this one, mainly due to manufacturing and packing issues. When designing new elements there are so many issues that we have to be aware of including safety standards, cost, manufacturing, packing, supply (the amount of time it takes to mould each item) and of course the compatibility with other LEGO elements.

The other versions we looked into would have caused too many problems from a supply and packing standpoint, as they become easily tangled up during production, really slowing the packing of the boxes and requiring the element to be manually packed which also adds a lot of cost. We had a similar issue with the flail in Castle which is why it was remolded straighter.

We feel that the execution we went for solved these issues but at the same time visually gives a good replication of barbed wire and is easy for the kids to handle and build with.

Was it hard to get approval for the first ever, new minifig arm mold?

Matt: Kinda…. the LEGO minifigure is protected by a series of patents, to prevent competitor companies making copies of them. This does however mean that we are limited ourselves with what we can and can’t do to the minifigure, without infringing on our own rights.

To get the new arm through, we had to go through a series of meetings with our legal department to check into all of this and get their approval, which they gave us….Yeah!

TBB: Was there a mandate from the company to include a lockup/prison detail in the series? Everyone knows LEGO loves a good lockup kit.

Matt: There was no such mandate…..we just know kids love locking up baddies, so we just gave them the means to do so! (And the means to escape too! ;-) So they can play it again and again and again!)

TBB: Are we likely to see more metallic parts in future products?

Matt: Hopefully…. I love them! It’s all about the bling with me! (As well as new hairdos for minfigs….think it’s my background in fashion or something!)

TBB: Do any of the Agents have a 00 designation, a license to kill?

Matt: Of course not….LEGO Agents have a license to apprehend! :-) All LEGO Agents have been through intense, strict training — equipping them with the skills, abilities and know-how to track down, apprehend and imprison the world’s most dangerous Super Villans. LEGO Agents’ firearms are only ever to be used in situations to disable villians’ vehicles to prevent their getaway, by shooting tires etc. or for forcing entry into bad guys’ hide-outs, to put a stop to criminal activity.

TBB: Is there anything else that you think people would really want to know about this theme?

Matt: Erm…if there is any more on they way? Which the answer to that is wait and see!

Also, I have been asked a lot recently if there is an overall story arc for the Agents theme… i.e a master plan for Dr. Inferno to take over the world etc. To which the answer is ….no.

When we tested Agents we found, with this theme in particular, it actually worked best not to do so. We designed the products as a series of mini missions, like “steal the Diamond back”, “retrieve the Treasure Map”, “rescue an Agent”, to act as little story starters for the kids, who can then tie them together to create their own master plans. During testing kids were like, “OMG that’s so cool, the diamond in the little set is like a special power source, the bad guys need to get hold of it, to put it inside the Laser Cannon in the Volcano to make it even more powerful!” etc, etc.

TBB: Which set is your favorite? Why?

Matt: That’s soooo difficult as I really like a lot of them, the Command Centre Truck is awesome, as it’s jam-packed full of so many cool little vehicle and gadgets and the briefing projector is sweet!

I really love the Volcano too, mainly due to its comedy, campness…. I wanna live there!!!! and Claw-Dette is soooo my favorite character! I like the speed boat one too, it’s all about the Laser Sharks, that can now swallow a minifig whole — if you put his arms up first that is!

TBB: What was the most enjoyable moment you had, as you designed these sets?

Matt: I was really involved with the character development and that was so much fun, especially doing the baddies! The more ridiculous we could make them the better.

I think for a while LEGO products have been getting a bit too serious and I really wanted to bring some tongue-in-cheek humor into these sets and I was determined to do that through the baddies. Also coming up with their names was a lot of fun, although most of our first choices didn’t get through, either because they weren’t approved by the legal department for different reasons, or they were just too silly or risky… but we had a good laugh anyway though!

TBB: Thanks so much to Matt for agreeing to do this interview with us, and to LEGO Community Team member Steve Witt for helping us make this happen.

Previous interviews on The Brothers Brick:

Angus MacLane: Lead animator for Wall-E.
Chris Giddens and Mark Sandlin: Star Justice and Space Skulls designers.

LAML Radio August wrap-up

In August LAML Radio has taken on an ambitious project and interviewed 28 amazing builders. Here is the final round-up post, featuring the following builders:

Lino Martins
Magnus Lauglo
Gary McIntire
The Arvo Brothers

In the meantime, James, the host of the show, has put together a CD of all of the August interviews. If you have enjoyed LAML radio and would like to show your appreciation for his contributions to our wonderful LEGO community, you can purchase the CD for only $12.

As a bonus, here is a news podcast recorded live this past Sunday where Dan from the LEGO® Model of the Day blog and I join in to discuss the most current LEGO news. Click here to listen to this fun little number.

Masoko Tanga interviews Lukas

Brenden Wilson of Masoko Tanga recently interviewed talented young builder Lukas Winklerprins.

Lukas talks about the difference between the hardcore adult fan community of a few years ago, discovering that world, and the much more diverse LEGO fan community today:

The starting group in toy chat rooms, LUGnet, and ultimately Classic-Space was started by men pretty much over the age of 30…. We weren’t aware of this more intense way of building until we were old enough to get on the internet and realize we could participate too….I realized how much people really cared and how much work other people put into the hobby

And on building microscale:

Once you toss the minifig out the window [*shock* -AB] really anything can be made…. it lets extraneous parts get unique uses and doesn’t destroy my collection. It also allows for a myriad of unique shapes unrestricted by gravity or that pesky thing known as “common sense.”

Read the full interview on Masoko Tanga.

LAML Radio August interviews (Part 3)

If you’ve been keeping up with LAML Radio, you know that James the host is presenting a podcast interview with a talented builder each day in August. Here’s yet another update of the featured builders in the past few days.

Lee Magpili
Matt Hamann
Eric Harshbarger
Lukas Winklerprins
Mike Psiaki
Chris Doyle
Ralph Savelsberg
Chris Giddens

LAML Radio August interviews (Part 2)

If you’ve been keeping up with LAML Radio, you know that James the host is presenting a podcast interview with a talented builder each day in August. Here’s an update of the featured builders in the past few days.

Patrick Biggs
Rocko (take two!)
Ed Diment
Mister oo7
Andrew Lee
Arthur Gugick
Peter Morris
Legohaulic

LAML Radio August interviews (Part 1)

As you may know, LAML Radio is making a special effort to feature one talented builder in a podcast interview each day in the month of August. James is on schedule and has turned out seven episodes featuring the following builders:

Nnenn
Steven Marshall
Shannon Ocean
Bryce McGlone
Nick Dean
Tim Gould
SlyOwl

I will be posting a roundup of the interviews each week.

Nnenn on LAML Radio!

James Wadsworth, host of LAML Radio, has audaciously reached the most mysterious builder on the internet – Nnenn. As a highly prolific space artist, Nnenn has astounded LEGO fans with his polished and stylized spacecrafts. As a person he remained nameless and faceless online. Now LAML Radio has a detailed and comprehensive podcast interview with Nnenn, enjoy!

Furthermore, throughout the month of August, James will attempt to interview one builder each day! Check back often at LAML Radio; you’ll never know who’s next.

YSA interviews Nick Dean

We ought to blog more interviews, and I’m glad Jacob from Young Spacers Association took the time to interview one of the more talented TFOLs (teen fan of LEGO), Nick Dean, who is associated with creating and building the RAMM theme (examples). While there exists multiple popular fan-created subthemes, RAMM has generated controversy among builders with Nick limiting those who can build RAMM. Some denounce it as highflown elitism while others claim it as a necessary gesture to preserve the integrity and quality of a unique subtheme. Find out more in this interesting interview and see from a builder’s perspective on defining oneself through subthemes.

Pixar animator Angus MacLane builds best LEGO Wall-E yet [Interview]

I had the pleasure of meeting Pixar animator and LEGO fan Angus MacLane at BrickFest 2007. When I saw the first trailer for Wall•E (in theaters Friday, June 27), I knew we should try to do something special. Our exclusive interview with Angus and first look at his LEGO Wall•E follows.

The Brothers Brick: How long did it take to build your Wall•E?

Angus MacLane: About seven hours over a span of three years. I started building the LEGO version of Wall•E around the same time he was being built in the computer in late summer of 2005. I had been waiting for some treads to be released, and with 7258 (the “Wookie Attack” set) I got just enough tread links for two treads.

The color scheme of Wall•E wasn’t settled so I stared building with all light grey. I wasn’t totally happy with the results. The treads were too small and pretty flimsy. I put him on the shelf and went back to work.

Then the snowmobile and bulldozer came out in 2007 and I had my tread solution. So I rebuilt him at the beginning of this year with the proper colors as we were finishing animation production. I’m proud of the overall proportions, but the eyes are still a bit too off for me.

TBB: Do you think that working on the movie gave you any special insights into the design of the LEGO Wall•E?

Angus: Having stared at this robot for 3+ years, I was extremely familiar with the proportions and functionality of Wall•E. It helped to know his design, but that made it hard to make the usual compromises when converting items to LEGO form.

TBB: How does your “day job” as an animator influence your LEGO hobby?

Angus: Mostly I build with LEGO as a way to unwind from a day spent in front of the computer. The tactile nature of LEGO can be much more satisfying than working in the often intangible realm of the computer. Also, a large part of an animator’s job is to clearly communicate an idea through the pose of a character. I think this is similar to building with LEGO where part of the goal is to sculpt clear shapes that communicate the purpose of the creation.

TBB: Has your LEGO hobby helped your “real” job in any way?

Angus: LEGO gets you used to thinking and designing in three dimensions. It has really helped my ability to visualize spatial relations. This is especially useful when working with artists and technical directors to take 2D designs and successfully turn them into 3D character models.

Also, when building with LEGO you often have to simplify or caricature the intended form. This is similar to caricaturing motion and simplifying acting ideas, which is an important part of the animation process.

TBB: Do you share your LEGO creations with your coworkers?

Angus: I have a small area in my office where I have my MOCs [My Own Creations] on display. Sometimes I get comments form coworkers. The question I always get is- Is that a set? Why don’t they make that? It’s very flattering to hear, but I know that they probably aren’t familiar with the latest and greatest from Brickshelf, so they have little to compare it too.

TBB: Do you check Brickshelf and Flickr for LEGO creations?

Angus: Sometimes. I mostly check out pictures that have been linked form blogs such as Brothers Brick, Klocki, etc. Favorite builders include: Mladen Pejic, Izzo, Gla Gla, Arvo Brothers, Count Blockula, Chris Giddens, LEGOhaulic, and Soren Roberts.

TBB: What’s your favorite LEGO creation inspired by Wall•E?

Angus: I was pretty blown away by Joe Meno’s Wall•E. I struggled with Wall•E’s eyes for a while, and Meno’s solution is really great. I was also impressed that he went for the arm stripes. Plus it’s motorized. Pretty amazing creation of a character from a movie that hasn’t been released.

TBB: What are your thoughts on the various LEGO games?

Angus: I’ve only played the Classic Star Wars game. The play control is pretty good and it’s fun to play. The animation is fine, but I wish that there was more truth to materials in the animation. Something about seeing the knees on minifigs kind of freaks me out.

If the only joints that moved on the characters were the wrists, heads, and legs, the animation would be a lot more charming. I realize this would limit the movement, but it would feel more like LEGO and less like clay. It would also be about 78% funnier. Which is a big win in my book.

TBB: Have you built anything from the other Pixar films that you’ve worked on?

Angus: I took a pass at the Omnidroid from The Incredibles. At minfig scale it’s a bit too chunky for my taste, but I haven’t gotten around to rebuilding it properly. I built the Luxo lamp which is a bit more on model. I also built a Monsters, Inc. door station that is to scale with the action figures.

TBB: Which Pixar film (feature length or short) is your favorite?

Angus: That’s pretty hard to for me to decide. Toy Story is the only feature that I got to see as an audience member, rather than as a crew member.

Probably The Incredibles is my favorite feature and Luxo Jr is my favorite short.

TBB: Okay, we have to ask this. :-) Why aren’t any of the main characters in Toy Story or Toy Story 2 built from LEGO?

Everybody has toys from their childhood that are very special and meaningful to them. For me personally that would be Classic Space LEGO, Fisher-Price Adventure People, Original Star Wars 4″ line and the first 3 years of the small GI Joe line. You’ll notice that the toys of the Toy Story world are loosely based on or inspired by toys that are pre-LEGO. So I don’t actually know the answer to your question, but I’m guessing it’s because the original character designers did not happen to grow up with LEGO as a major influence. As to why there hasn’t been many Buzz Lightyear LEGO MOCs that would be due to the relatively new arrival of lime green and the shortage of purple.

A huge thanks to Angus MacLane and Pixar for this interview. Be sure to check out all of the rest of Angus’s Wall•E photos on Flickr.

The Brothers Brick interviews Chris Giddens and Mark Sandlin [Interview]

There’s been more than a bit of speculation about the upcoming fan-designed Space sets (a couple more pictures), so I asked Chris Giddens and Mark Sandlin a few questions.

Andrew Becraft: Let’s get the easy questions out of the way. Are the two of you the fans behind the designs for the forthcoming Star Justice and Space Skulls sets?

Chris Giddens: Yes. I did the Star Justice set, and Mark did the Space Skulls.

Mark Sandlin: It’s been confirmed on articles in Brickjournal and Gizmodo.

Andrew: How much does each set cost and how many pieces are in each?

Chris: Cost has been announced at $99.00 for the sets. The Justice set is 895 pieces. The Skulls set has 956. I don’t know know if LEGO will make a combo pack that’s less than $198, but it’s a possiblity.

Andrew: Fans have noticed the clear similarities between “Star Justice” and Chris’ Pre-Classic Space (PCS) sub-theme, and between “Space Skulls” and Mark’s 3vil sub-theme. Now that we know you designed these sets, can you explain why they just aren’t called PCS and 3vil?

Mark: “3vil” doesn’t really translate well, unfortunately.

Chris: PCS meaning Pre Classic Space doesn’t have a whole lot of meaning to the general public. That and 3vil are kinda AFOL stuff that we get, but doesn’t easily communicate what it is on the box.

Andrew: Can each of you describe some of the highlights of the sets you designed? What’s your favorite feature?

Mark: I don’t really have one single favorite feature, but we both tried to put playability into the sets. We wanted to make sets that were fun to play with, not just a pretty model that sits on the shelf.

Chris: The Star Justice set was designed to give a Classic Space building experience. Base, Ship, Rover, Scooter, Robots, and Energy Collection. There are simple play features, rotating radars, rockets, opening cockpits, and the like. Each part is reminiscent of a Classic Space era set, but updated with today’s parts. I’m fond of the Cosmic Peace Keeper ship, it’s fun and whooshy (that’s a technical term… sorry for the confusion). Oh and I like shooting skulls. They’re bad.

Andrew: How closely did you work with LEGO set designers to finalize your initial designs?

Mark: There was a LEGO designer on staff who reviewed our sets to ensure that they met build standards and weren’t fragile. Fortunately LEGO put a priority on preserving our designs, so what you see is little changed from the original designs.

Chris: We had 2 different LEGO designers build and review our sets. The second designer had been with the company since the 80’s and had worked on Classic lines of space. He actually finalized our models.

Andrew: When did you start working on this? How long did this process take from start to finish?

Chris: The idea was mentioned to us sometime in 2006. Paal Smith Meyer and others from LEGO were kicking around the idea of doing playthemes in factory. Minifig based sets. January 2007 was about the time it was “official” that we were doing space and we began looking at pieces for our palette. We started building concepts through March and April. Initial plans had this set coming out much earlier.

Mark: LEGO first asked us if there were special pieces we would like to have in LDD. Unfortunately a lot of the pieces we wanted were special use parts, or were scheduled to go out of production before our sets were scheduled.

LEGO doesn’t produce every part in every color all the time. Each year, there is a palette of parts that are produced in certain colors, and we have to work within that.

Once we had a palette worked out with LEGO, we hand-built our models at home because LEGO was still preparing the LDD palette. Once the palette was ready within the LDD program, we rebuilt our models in LDD and sent them to LEGO. The models were reviewed by the LEGO designer, and our sets were finalized in summer 2007.

Andrew: Okay, I’ll bite the bullet and ask the question everyone seems to be asking. Why are there stickers in the sets instead of printed pieces — especially the minifig torsos?

Chris: Printing parts is expensive. If you print a part that’s going only in one line of sets, you can’t spread that cost out because of it’s limited production. We hope the space sets sell a buhjillion copies… but factory sets usually are limited runs. We had the choice of either blank torsos or do stickers. Stickers were the best option. We talked to LEGO about these issues and they agreed that stickers were the way to go. We would use stickers IF: A) we could make them B) They would be on transparent film so they could be used in other applications other than our sets C) we get enough color to make them look cool and D) they would be a part available somehow on LDD or factory so kids who can’t afford our set can still get in on the action by building a small LDD ship and adding stickers. LEGO talked internally about this for a while and made it happen.

Mark and I sketched out some ideas and his mad Illustrator skills whipped em out and there ya go. The minifig torso is very expensive to produce… and you add printing it’s even more. If you note, they stopped putting the noggins on the minifigs.. to try and cut some production cost.

Mark: Like Chris said, printed parts are VERY expensive to produce, particularly minifigs. The most expensive part LEGO produces is the printed minifig torso.

We were given the option of using printed parts that existed in LDD, like the 2×2 computer slope that appears in a couple of our sets, or any existing printed minifigs in LDD, like the plaid shirt torso, or maybe a torso with dungarees printed on — not very spacey. Or we would have been stuck with blank minifig torsos, which would’ve been pretty boring.

LEGO also said that we could have stickers, and we could help design them. In an effort to get some more classic space style in our sets, we decided to go with the stickers. Chris and I sketched up some ideas, and I rendered them in Adobe Illustrator. We sent the designs to LEGO, and they made the stickers that will be in the sets.

I know a lot of people are disappointed by this. We would have liked to have our designs printed onto the minifigs, for sure. Unique printed parts were not an option. We did the best we could under the circumstances.

Andrew: What other constraints were you working within during the design process?

Chris: Pieces.

Mark: Even though LEGO offered us the ability to choose a few parts, the LDD palette is still very limited. I sometimes would encounter “gaps” in the basic brick, like certain sizes of plates or bricks in the colors I needed.

Chris: That became even more limiting as we went through the process…

The release date being pushed back had some parts removed from our palette causing some redesign in the Justice set (fairly heavy redesign). Not all parts that are “specifically spacey” are ones LEGO sees as a mass production/bulk brick, so there were limits on what we could build. Also, LDD doesn’t like some connections we AFOLs like.

Andrew: Will you be designing other sets for LEGO?

Chris: No idea. If they call I would certainly give it some thought!

Mark: We have not been asked to make more sets at this time.

Andrew: Have they given you job offers as set designers? Would you take it if they offered you a position?

Chris: No, no offers. I’d take a position if I could stay here and work from home. The commute to Denmark is killer. Mark and I have wives, (and I have a kiddo too), I don’t think uprooting to Europe is in the cards, but we haven’t come close to an offer.

Mark: No, there haven’t been job offers. Personally, I don’t think I would accept an offer like that at this stage of my life, because it would mean moving to Denmark. I’m married and mid-career as a graphic designer, so it wouldn’t really make sense for me to do so. However, if I were a single guy just out of college, I’d definitely consider it.

Edit: Oops! Forgot to link to a podcast interview with Chris and Mark as well, by Tom McDonald:

Gizmodo interviews BrickArms’ Will Chapman

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of attending a presentation by BrickArms founder Will Chapman, Gizmodo has a great interview you should go read now.

A brief excerpt:

Jesús Diaz: I think the simplification of the real world weapons is amazing. How is the creative process? How do you decide on one weapon or another?
Will Chapman: Mostly, Ian (my youngest son) finds a weapon interesting and asks if we could make it. It is that simple. Once he finds one he likes, I study it and I abstract the design into minifig-scale.