Say Hello to the New BrickNerd Team
/There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable LEGO people to see if they could become something more. Nine countries and at least ten languages later, we have gathered a team of incredible builders, writers, historians and artists to make connections across continents and showcase the best the global LEGO fan community has to offer. BrickNerds, assemble!
We are excited to share our love of LEGO, some intriguing stories, building talent and opinions while highlighting many amazing creations and creators within the AFOL community. We come from diverse backgrounds, generations, locations and demographics, and invite you to join us in dialogue as we explore the awesome nerdiness that is LEGO. Let’s meet the team!
Andreas Lenander
Andreas is from Sweden and builds just about everything! He is a member of Swebrick, and you can find him on Flickr, Instagram and LEGO Ideas.
“I’m an AFOL from Sweden with a patient wife and three kids. LEGO Masterpiece Gallery alumni. Been out of my dark age for about five years and love building... well, pretty much everything, haha!”
Are M. Heiseldal
Are hails from Norway and is most interested in storytelling, culture, and fascinating interviews. He is a member of both Brikkelauget and Brickish. You can find him on Flickr.
“I got back into LEGO because of the modular buildings - so the Café Corner is special to me - and then I dove into an amazing community, traveling to events all over Europe and North America. Through these travels, plus my contributions to the LEGO Adventure Books, Bricks Culture Magazine, the Skærbæk and Paredes de Coura Fan Weekends, and the LEGO House Fan Evenings, I've met some wonderful people both inside the LEGO company and elsewhere. I'll mainly be sharing stories from these experiences: The perspective of a traveling AFOL.”
Bart Larrow, Jr., D.M.D. (aka El Barto)
Bart lives in Vermont (USA) and is continuing as a contributor to BrickNerd! He loves Space, Architecture, and all things dental-related. He is a member of VirtuaLUG, and you can find him on Flickr and Bart’s Brick Designs.
“I’m a dentist in Vermont. I’ve been into LEGO since the 1970s, mostly Space, then I began collecting Star Wars Sets when they came out. I built my first Battlestar Galactica in 2010, and that’s when I found the online community. My family and I attended our first of many Brickworlds in 2013 with the VirtuaLUG Wizard of Oz collab. I started writing for BrickNerd back in 2015 when it was just a few of us, barely scraping by on a shoestring budget. I’m excited to see where this all goes under new management. But I’m STILL waiting to see a new coffee machine in the break room...”
Billy Mohr
Billy is from Pennsylvania (USA) and focuses on minifigure customization, military builds, and third-party offerings. You can find him on Instagram.
“Hello there! My name is Billy and I've been involved in the custom minifigure world since 2013. My goal is to engage customizers and purists alike as I share all that has me so excited to keep on creating. You can expect content ranging anywhere from an in-depth analysis of custom works to an informative look at popular techniques used in the community.”
Dave Schefcik
Dave lives in New York (USA) and loves LEGO Architecture, Winter Village, all things community-related, conventions, and meeting interesting people. He is a member of SeaLUG, PSLTC, I LUG NY, FabuLUG and SortLUG, helps organize BrickCon, and previously contributed to The Brothers Brick. You can find him on Flickr, Instagram and Facebook.
“I’m a lifetime lover of LEGO though I did suffer a Dark Age! As an adult, I started with the Modular Buildings then graduated to full AFOL status by building a huge custom Winter Village. I love building BIG and small, experimenting with foliage, and creating convention trophies. I collect rare sets and elements, analyze new parts, and try to learn everything I can about LEGO. I especially enjoy hearing how LEGO has impacted people’s lives, making connections within the community, and meeting fellow LEGO fans at events and conventions. I hope to see you at one in the future!”
“Hello! I'm Doug Hughes, an AFOL in my free time and an engineer by trade. I'm originally from the East coast but have made Seattle, WA my home as an adult. I love the LEGO community both here in the wonderful Pacific Northwest and also online, originally on MocPages and now on Flickr, Instagram, and Discord, so I hope to see you there! If you scroll through my work you'll find builds containing power functions, fantasy, castle... and just about anything else!”
Eduard Petrac
Eduard lives in Norway and is from Croatia. He focuses on all things City, interviews and event reports. He is a member of Kockice RLUG in Croatia, has written for Hispabrick, and you can find him on Flickr.
“I’ve been a LEGO fan since I can remember, growing up and building Town/City layouts. A part of the AFOL Community since 2010 which opened up a world of like-minded people on my journeys across Europe. Hoping to bring a fresh approach to Interviews and City-themed sets.”
Francesco Spreafico
Francesco is from Italy and enjoys LEGO History and European Events. He is a member of ItLUG, and contributes to New Elementary and OldBricks.it. You can find him on Flickr and Instagram.
“I am the LAN Ambassador for ItLUG, the Italian LUG, and since I visited the LEGO Idea House five years ago my main LEGO interest has become LEGO History. Another thing I like to do, when the world situation is normal, is organizing and participating in international events in Europe. And that's mainly what I'm going to write about here.”
“I started building with LEGO bricks back when I was 14, and since then I've tried everything from medieval towers to banana-shaped spaceships! Along the way, I've learned new techniques, photography tips, and more from other LEGO builders, so I try to take whatever chances come my way to give a little back. I'm also a writer, I play classical guitar, I'm bilingual, and I do Taekwondo. I'm a Bible-believing Christian and my goal in life is to glorify God and enjoy him forever!”
Gwyneth Kozbial
Gwyneth lives in California and loves LEGO art, new elements and techniques, the fan community, and fantasy lines. She is a member of LUGOLA, and you can find her on Instagram.
“I’m an adult-onset AFOL who digs the community's creative diversity and is best known for MOCing the British Beatles album covers, with each "mosaic" employing a unique building style. I’m based in the Southern California desert and hope to explore new techniques while humanizing the talents of builders who push the system's bounds.”
“I've been building since I was little. LEGO has always been a big part of my life even through my ‘dark ages.’ LEGO became a huge part of life again when I joined a lug in 2012. It’s lead to many great memories and friendships since then. Looking forward to showcasing many great MOCs, builders and events.”
“Hiya, I'm Lia Chan, I live near Dallas, Texas, member of the D/FW-LUG. I got my first set of LEGO when I was 5 years old and have been building ever since. I build mostly realistic Space MOCs, especially things related to NASA.”
“I’m a creative MOC builder who likes to build fantasy or sci-fi inspired builds with a great love for vibrant colours especially blue and green. The LEGO hobby is more than just building, it´s therapy, expressing creativity and being a part of an amazing community.”
Markus Rollbühler
Markus lives in Denmark and builds Castle, Microscale and more! He is a member of both RogueBricks and Brick.ie. You can find him on Flickr and Instagram.
“I’m Markus and I love to build in a variety of themes, scales and styles – a jack of all trades, if you may. I constantly find myself building castle though, and I love using pieces creatively especially in microbuilds. When I'm not building, I attend events all over the globe or organise things like Iron Builder – ultimately giving back to the community that has given me so much. I'm excited to bring all of that to BrickNerd, writing about techniques, sorting or photography, latest builds or events – whatever might be of interest! :) ”
Michael J.
Michael lives in Central USA and is continuing on as a contributor to BrickNerd! He loves Space, Castle, Pirates, and everything in between. He is a member of GTWLUG, and you can find him on Flickr.
“I've been building for almost as long as I can remember (one of the lucky few without a significant dark age). Found the online community about 10 years ago and a LUG to call home about six years ago. I've been an occasional contributor here at BrickNerd since May of 2019.”
Miro Dudas
Miro lives in California and loves building characters, animals, and nature. He is a member of SanDLUG, and you can find him on Instagram.
“I’m a lifelong LEGO fan and builder from San Diego, California. I enjoy creating character models and animals out of LEGO when I’m not hiking, busy with woodworking projects, playing guitar or running the San Diego LEGO Users Group (SandLUG).”
Noah Hennings
Noah lives in Germany and loves all things Star Wars, Cyberpunk, Medieval and Lord of the Rings. He is a member of RebelLUG, and you can find him on YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter, Block Heads, and MOC Builder.
“Hello there, I’m Noah! Using this artistic medium loved by many, I assemble models and scenes from mostly the science fiction realm, primarily Star Wars with some recent dabbles into Cyberpunk. I’m looking to share creations from around the community that not only look impressive, but come from people who give their twist as to what LEGO means for them.”
“Photography and pop culture were the fuel to restart the LEGO passion in me after a long dark ages years ago when there wasn't a LEGO community in Chile. Lucky for me more people were looking for AFOLs to share their hobby and so we founded ChileLUG. But for me not only are the builds interesting, also getting to know how people live their hobby all around the world: their LEGO rooms, the creative process, local conventions and more.”
“Hey I'm Simon, I like building Sci-Fi — mainly so that I can systematically shove the cutest creature in little mech suits. I've been in the community for a few years now, but I still feel like I'm a new kid on the block with so many aspects of community I have yet to meet and such deep established roots. But early on I realized what an amazing impact the community can have, so I've been sneaking my way and trying to see as much as I can, and hopefully you can see some of the LEGO community through my eyes via some sort of brain to text technology!”
Sue Ann Barber
Sue Ann lives in Australia, and is mostly interested in unusual LEGO themes like Scala, Clickits and Fabuland as well as building standards like Micropolis, Miniland Scale, Minifig Habitats and Brick Bending. She is a current member of MUGs (Melbourne LEGO User Group) and was part of the team behind Brickvention. You can find her on her Brick Room Blog and The Plastic Brick House.
“I became an AFOL in the early 1990s and have been active in the local and international community ever since. I’m a big fan of the more unusual aspects of the LEGO fan community — from obscure themes to weird collectibles and everything in-between”
Ted Andes
Ted lives in Kentucky (USA) and loves contests, Trains, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Speederbikes, Collabs, and more. You can find him on Flickr.
“I’m a MOC builder based in Louisville, KY (USA), drawn to building in sci-fi and fantasy themes and finding creative ways to seamlessly use System/Technic/Constraction parts in my builds. I tend to write articles more about the human elements of the building hobby than those little plastic ones that we all adore.”
Will Fong
Will lives in Canada and loves Trains, Battle Bricks and Robots. He is a member of VLC, and you can find him on Flickr, Instagram and Battle Bricks.
“I started building in 2016. I focus on building public transit vehicles, and I am also the theme coordinator for Battle Bricks fighting robots at BrickCan and BrickCon. Most of my content revolves around what I do and how you too can build fighting robots.”
But wait, there’s more! BrickNerd is still growing and adding amazing contributors so stay tuned to see who else is joining our Nerdly ranks. If you are interested in becoming a contributor for BrickNerd, please send an email to dave@bricknerd.com. Let the LEGO nerdiness commence!
