For the Love of Brick: Interviews with LEGO Enthusiasts

It's Father's Day today and we are releasing a special episode dedicated to our late son Alby, who unexpectedly passed away a few weeks ago. Greg shares how LEGO played a role in their relationship and in the weeks after Alby's death.

Greg sits down with Bruce B. Heller, a US AFOL who went from a successful career in animation to building LEGO commissions full-time. He is also the founder of GayFOLs- a global community providing a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ AFOLs. He discusses some of the discrimination faced by many in the community, and what GayFOLs means to its members. Bruce educates listeners (and Greg) on how they can be allies to the LGBTQIA+ community and shares his hopes for the future of GayFOLs.

In today's episode, Greg chats with Corey D. Samuels, the LEGO STEM Teacher from the first season of LEGO Masters US. Corey talks about how he uses LEGO to enhance students' engagement in his science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes. He discusses his other LEGO projects including his fashion creation, the Brego (LEGO brooch). Corey also chats about starting a charity with his brother Travis called Brothers Who Brick, a project close to their hearts, inspired by Travis’ diagnosis of cancer as a child.

Greg had the extraordinaire opportunity to chat with Nathan Sawaya – former corporate lawyer turned brick artist, renowned for his large-scale LEGO sculptures. Nathan is also a LEGO Master Builder, LEGO Certified Professional AND holds four Guinness records for his artwork! Nathan talks about his successful art career and how his art has evolved over the years. He also gives us an insight into his work helping bring the latest season of LEGO Masters US to the screen and how COVID provided additional challenges to the show’s production.

Greg catches up with Jay Ong, a fellow Aussie AFOL behind Jay’s Brick Blog – an independent LEGO blog that started when social media was just in its infancy and influencers weren’t a thing. Jay shares with us why he finds creating media content about LEGO so fulfilling and what he hopes his followers get from following his blog. Jay talks about embracing the type of LEGO fan he is and his latest project ‘Extra Pieces’ – a shiny new LEGO podcast with another Aussie AFOL, Richard Jones (Rambling Brick).

Greg chats with the accomplished emiko oye, a US jeweller who creates bold and colourful jewellery using repurposed LEGO. She shares with Greg her LEGO journey - going from having dreams of becoming a fashion designer to having her work exhibited at numerous shows and museums. Greg learns more about the unique qualities of LEGO that make emiko’s jewellery so engaging and how jewellery is considered a serious art form. emiko also talks about how blind luck played a role in connecting her with the LEGO Group, that kick-started their collaborations.

This episode features Tom Alphin, the multitalented AFOL who runs the Brick Architect website. Tom has authored The LEGO Architect book and Greg learns more about the process of creating a successfully published LEGO book. They chat about Tom’s resources for the LEGO community, such as the LEGO Storage Guide that helps people identify the most ideal way to organize their LEGO collection. Greg also hears more about his favourite of Tom's creations – the LEGO Brick Labels which helps AFOLs locate pieces amongst those walls of LEGO storage.  

Greg chats with Marcel Bonnici, an automation engineer behind the hugely popular YouTube channel ‘Astonishing Studios’, where he showcases his astonishing LEGO creations inspired by vending machines – machines that dispense food to even more advanced machines that actually cook the food! Greg learns more about the evolution of both Marcel’s machines and his YouTube channel, and the challenges of balancing practical mechanics with good-looking designs. Marcel also shares useful tips that may help hopeful LEGO YouTubers in finding success.

To see Marcel’s astonishing creations, please check out his Astonishing Studios YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW-nTiduQso39qU-nwRLFnw.

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In celebration of the 10 year anniversary of LEGO Ninjago, Greg meets with Brayden Nelson and Lachlan 'Jan' Jansen - both who teamed up with two other Day 1 Ninjago friends to create an upcoming documentary called Ninjago 10 years of Spinjitzu: A Documentary. Greg gets a rundown on Ninjago including how to actually pronounce the word! They also share the process of tackling this remarkable project. Brayden and Jan share why Ninjago resonates with so many fans and generally rave on about the awesomeness of the show, the talented creators and the dedicated fan community.

Greg meets with Andrew Tuppen and Damian Hinds, known by many as last year’s runner-ups of LEGO Masters Australia, but their love of LEGO extends much further than the limits of the show. They reflect over their time on LEGO Masters but also discuss how the show has allowed them to launch their own LEGO business, Clicking Bricks – where they continue to spread their love of LEGO with others whilst often supporting valuable community organisations and schools in the process. Greg can’t help but get caught up in their genuine joy and enthusiasm for the colourful plastic bricks in this episode.