BricksABillion

BrickMagic is upon us. Last week Joe Meno was gracious enough to take time out of his schedule to answer a few questions for me about the life of the BrickJournal editor and his involvement with this new LEGO convention. Here’s what we had to say…

Joe Meno at BrickWorld 2009

BrickMagic is a new convention this year. Why another LEGO convention? (not that I’m complaining…) JM: Why not? Seriously, BrickMagic came into being when my publisher asked me if we could do a convention in Raleigh a couple of years ago. My first reaction was that we could do one when a LEGO store opens here (yes, the discounts on a convention are a big incentive to many), and last year, a store opened in town! More to the point, another convention is another opportunity for AFOLS to meet and show the public what can be done with bricks, imagination and dedication!

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Who is Jordan Schwartz? If you read BrickJournal magazine, follow the Brothers Brick, or just about any popular LEGO blog, then you will have seen the work of Jordan Schwartz, commonly known in the LEGO community as “Sir Nadroj.” Jordan even has his own website, an online portfolio, appropriately punned as, BrickStud.com. When I discovered that Jordan was heading to Brick Magic, I took the opportunity to pose a few questions, so we could get to know him a little better before the big event.

Jordan Schwartz aka Sir Nadroj

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Nathan Sawaya

Who is Nathan Sawaya?

If you’ve heard only one name in all of LEGO building, it is probably that of Nathan Sawaya. This well-known lawyer-turned “Brick Artist” has even had a category about his work on Jeopardy! He is covered regularly in various news outlets — the first time I heard of him was from a CNN article in 2007.

I’ve had the opportunity to exchange a few emails with Nathan and to meet him in person. (It really made my day at BrickWorld 2009 when he said he liked my piece, Wicked Smile.)

Last week, after getting back from a volcano-prolonged stay in Europe, Nathan took a few minutes  to answer some questions for BricksABillion. continue reading…

Jonathan Bender

Who is Jonathan Bender?

Jonathan is the author of the upcoming book, LEGO: A Love Story, the basic premise of which is a chronicle in the year of a life of an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO). LEGO: A Love Story will have its world-debut at BrickMagic, and I plan to be there to (among other things) get my own autographed copy. [note: thought the official release date is May, a number of sellers seem to have the book available already]

Jonathan’s been blogging about the experience for a while, and it’s been great to get to know him this way.

I also have the privilege of not being sued by Mr. Bender for my portrayal of him as a minifig in several episodes of The Brick Side. (38, 40, 42, 45, 152)

Jonathan took a few minutes this week to answer some questions I had for BricksABillion. continue reading…

Chris Giddens: Mr. Pre-Classic Space

Chris is a big name in the LEGO AFOL community. And “why” do you ask? Well, for a number of reasons. For one, he is well-known, especially among Spacers, as the guy who created Pre-Classic Space, referred to as PCS, for short. Originally most of this series was posted at pre.classic-space.com, (a sub-site of Classic-Space.com), but nowadays Chris does his posting at Flickr under the name Fazoom.

Because of his PCS theme along with collaboration with Mark Sandlin, the two were asked by LEGO to design a couple sets in the LEGO Factory line. Chris’s Pre-Classic Space became known as “Star Justice” in set 10191, and Mark’s 3vil (3 times the evil) became known as “Space Skulls” in set 10192. These sets were available from April 2008 to June 2009.

Furthermore, Chris and Mark were interviewed by Joe Meno for the Summer 2008 issue of BrickJournal magazine (pp. 52-55).

I had the privilege of meeting both of these guys several months ago when I joined up with DixieLUG, a LEGO users group based in North Georgia. (Being one of the few AFOL’s in the state of South Carolina, I have to deal with a long-distance LUG relationship. In the meantime, I’m very thankful for the online community!)

My original interview with Chris was mostly done back in September, but many things happened between then and now, or else you’d have had this lovely post sooner. We’ve also added a couple other questions about more recent events (bottom of the page). So the MOC pictured and discussed here isn’t his most recent, but is still a brilliant blend of PCS building technique and some great work in Photoshop. continue reading…