Tales From The Brick

In Episode 45 of Tales From The Brick, Jon (8 Bit Bricks) sits down with Tim Hutchings, a contestant from Season 4 of LEGO Masters and the creator behind Tim's Brick Adventures. Fresh off a weekend at BrickFair, Tim shares how a childhood LEGO train set, a lifelong love of Westerns, and a Christmas gift from his mother-in-law eventually led him into the world of LEGO conventions, television, and a community of builders he now considers family. Tim takes us through his LEGO journey, from discovering custom minifigures and joining Texas LEGO clubs to becoming a regular part of the BrickFair setup crew. He talks about meeting fellow builders, making lifelong friendships, and how a chance encounter with Julian, the Bricksmith, opened the door to LEGO livestreams and convention work. The conversation also explores Tim's passion for Western-themed builds, including his massive Wild West display that he's been touring since 2016, complete with a working train, historical characters, and some unexpected appearances from the Looney Tunes, Muppets, and other familiar faces. Of course, there's plenty of LEGO Masters talk. Tim shares how he and his building partner, Tim Hall, went from being alternates for Season 3 to competing on Season 4. He discusses what filming the show was really like, his thoughts on how LEGO Masters has been promoted, and the friendships he's made with contestants from across the series. He also talks about traveling to conventions around the country and hosting his Build with a LEGO Master activities, where kids, parents, and even grandparents get the chance to discover the fun of building. Along the way, Jon and Tim swap stories from years of LEGO conventions, including memorable displays, collecting convention badges, charity fundraising, and the occasional runaway LEGO train. Tim explains why he doesn't build for awards, why sharing his creations matters more than winning, and how the LEGO community continues to bring people together. He also teases a brand-new creation he's been asked to build, meaning his long-running Wild West display may soon have some company on the convention circuit. Find Tim Hutchings & Tim's Brick Adventures: • Instagram: TimsBrickAdventures• Facebook: TimsBrickAdventures• YouTube: TimsBrickAdventures To find the best LEGO deals, check out the Bargain Bricks app - https://bargain-bricks.com View the video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/rQpqbfAjk7g For more Tales From The Brick, visit https://talesfromthebrick.com Until next time... play well.

In Episode 44 of Tales From The Brick, Jon (8 Bit Bricks) sits down with Jared Gella, founder of Brick Blast, the Bay Area LEGO convention in Santa Clara, California. Jared shares how his childhood love of LEGO Star Wars grew into a passion for collecting, selling, and eventually organizing LEGO events. From discovering the value of his childhood minifigures to traveling across the country as a young LEGO vendor, Jared's journey has taken him from selling bricks at flea markets to bringing a major LEGO convention back to the Bay Area. Jared takes us through his early experiences in the LEGO community, including attending Bricks by the Bay with his family and traveling to more than 30 cities while still in college. He talks about the friendships and lessons he picked up along the way, his years working with a nonprofit serving young people in San Francisco, and the personal experiences that ultimately inspired him and his wife to launch Brick Blast after Bricks by the Bay held its final convention in 2023. The conversation goes behind the scenes of building a LEGO convention from scratch. Jared shares the challenges of securing a venue, coordinating vendors and exhibitors, building trust within the community, and turning an idea into a successful event. He discusses the importance of relationships, transparency, and his philosophy of underpromising and overdelivering. Along the way, he shares some memorable moments from Brick Blast's first year, including a young fan winning a LEGO set with an unbelievable ball toss and the excitement of seeing families and builders come together. Jared also gives us a look at what's ahead for Brick Blast 2027, including an expanded 45,000-square-foot venue at the Santa Clara Convention Center, a full convention experience for AFOLs, and appearances by voice actors from LEGO Ninjago. He and Jon also discuss the explosive growth of LEGO's adult fan base, the increasing number of sets being released, and why conventions remain such an important part of bringing the LEGO community together. Find Jared Gella & Brick Blast: • Website: https://brickblastlive.com• Instagram: @brickblastlive• TikTok: @brickblastlive• YouTube: Brick Blast Live To find the best LEGO deals, check out the Bargain Bricks app. View the video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/GhNhV5YsPQg For more Tales From The Brick, visit https://talesfromthebrick.com. Until next time... play well.

In Episode 43 of Tales From The Brick, Jon (8 Bit Bricks) sits down with Greg Avola, creator of Brickd, a social app designed to help LEGO fans track their collections, share their building experiences, and connect with other builders. Greg shares how his childhood love of LEGO Pirates and underwater themes eventually gave way to a dark age, until receiving the LEGO Disney Up house brought him back into the hobby. Now, he's sharing that passion with his own children while building a growing community of LEGO enthusiasts. Greg takes us through the story behind Brickd, from his experience creating the popular beer-tracking app Untappd to realizing that LEGO fans could benefit from a similar way to document and share their experiences. Inspired while building the LEGO Home Alone house, Greg wanted to create something that captured the entire building process, including the hidden details and Easter eggs that often get overlooked once a set is finished. Since launching in February 2024, Brickd has grown to more than 35,000 users worldwide. The conversation explores Brickd's features, including collection management, wishlists, build progress tracking, community discussions, set ratings, and the ability to share custom MOCs. Greg explains how users can document their builds bag by bag, discover other builders with similar interests, import existing collections from spreadsheets and other services, and even use AI-powered image recognition to identify LEGO sets. He also discusses the app's leaderboards, achievement badges, privacy controls, and why he wants Brickd to complement the building experience rather than keep people glued to their phones. Greg also shares some of the latest additions to Brickd, including the ability to photograph an entire LEGO collection and automatically identify multiple sets, estimate collection values, and search for sets using natural language. Along the way, he talks about the generosity of the LEGO community, the challenges of keeping up with an ever-growing number of new releases, and what it's like developing an app as a one-person operation while listening to feedback from thousands of users. Find Greg Avola & Brickd: • App: Brickd, available on iOS and Android• Website: http://brickd.app To find the best LEGO deals, check out the Bargain Bricks app. View the video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/_G2u4TSeb6M For more Tales From The Brick, visit https://talesfromthebrick.com Until next time... play well.

In Episode 42 of Tales From The Brick, Jon (8 Bit Bricks) sits down with Adrian Drake, longtime AFOL, legendary SHIP builder, and the creator behind BrickFrenzy. Adrian shares how growing up in Germany surrounded by LEGO sparked a lifelong passion for building, and how the release of LEGO Star Wars in 1999 helped turn that passion into decades of creating some of the most ambitious LEGO models in the AFOL community. Adrian takes us back to the earliest days of the online LEGO community, from Usenet and LUGNET to attending BrickFest in 2001, when conventions were small gatherings of just a few hundred builders. He talks about helping pioneer the SHIP building movement, contributing to the original Moonbase Standard, and watching the LEGO community grow from a handful of dedicated builders into the massive worldwide fandom it is today. The conversation explores some of Adrian's most recognizable creations, including his massive Serenity from Firefly, an eight-foot-wide Deep Space Nine, a life-size six-foot-tall Bender from Futurama, and his latest project, the Highwind from Final Fantasy VII. Adrian shares what goes into designing these enormous builds, from engineering internal structures strong enough to support thousands of bricks to figuring out how to transport creations that can take years to complete. He also reveals why Bender once had several bottles of whiskey stored inside his chest and what happened when a fellow builder accidentally knocked off his arm at a convention. Along the way, Adrian discusses building with his family, the friendships formed at LEGO conventions, and why he prefers creating for the enjoyment rather than chasing awards. He also offers advice for anyone looking to tackle their first large-scale MOC, explaining why the best way to improve is to study other builders, experiment with techniques, and simply start building. Find Adrian Drake & BrickFrenzy: • Website: brickfrenzy.com• Instagram: @brickfrenzy• Flickr: BrickFrenzy To find the best LEGO deals, check out the Bargain Bricks app. View the video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/uM8ZAtv8xE8 For more Tales From The Brick, visit talesfromthebrick.com. Until next time... play well.

In Episode 41 of Tales From The Brick, Jon (8 Bit Bricks) sits down with Dana Knudsen, longtime AFOL, Classic Space enthusiast, and one of the founding members of Old Grey Bricks. Dana shares how his childhood love of LEGO Space eventually led him back into the hobby, from rebuilding his original sets to discovering the AFOL community and setting out on a mission to collect every Classic Space set ever released. Dana takes us through his journey of restoring all 74 original Classic Space sets, hunting down rare pieces, and eventually expanding his collection into nearly every LEGO Space theme that followed. He talks about joining Peach LUG, becoming its ambassador, and working alongside legendary Space builders like Chris Giddens and Mark Sandlin to create massive collaborative moon bases. Along the way, he shares how those friendships introduced him to a larger LEGO community that has become like an extended family. The conversation explores some of Dana's most ambitious creations, including a collection of monochrome minifigure habitats spanning 50 different LEGO colors, miniature versions of all 74 Classic Space sets built to accommodate the blue Space Baby, and a massive 10-foot-tall David Bowie mosaic made from approximately 70,000 LEGO tiles. Dana also discusses the challenges of sourcing rare elements, experimenting with unusual building techniques, and why he builds for the enjoyment rather than chasing convention awards. Dana reflects on the friendships he's made through LEGO conventions, the creative outlet that building provides, and why the AFOL community has become such an important part of his life. Plus, he shares some hilarious stories about his name being repeatedly mispronounced, including the convention award ceremony that accidentally gave birth to his alter ego, David Zuell. Find Dana Knudsen: • Instagram: @troublesbricking• YouTube: TroublesBricking• Old Grey Bricks: Find the show on YouTube• Gunpla Instagram: @troublesmeching To find the best LEGO deals, check out the Bargain Bricks app. View the video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/MLRLHzOIYQY For more Tales From The Brick, visit https://talesfromthebrick.com. Until next time... play well.