Ever since appearing on LEGO Masters season 3 with his sister Asiza, Eddie Gooden (@e.b_brixx) has been spreading the message that all are welcome and anyone can be creative with LEGO. While Eddie regularly builds and shares mosaics, habitats, and custom minifig creations, finding time for larger MOCs can be a challenge. When the chance arrived to contribute to an exhibit on historic buildings in his local community of Spokane, Washington, Eddie leapt at the opportunity. We took this opportunity to catch up with Eddie about his minifig-scale recreation of the Spokesman-Review Building and life with LEGO after LEGO Masters.
TBB: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. Maybe we could start at the beginning of your LEGO journey. When did you know that LEGO would be such a pivotal part of your life?
EB: Have you ever felt like some things are just meant for you? That’s LEGO for me. I got my first LEGO set from a box of Froot Loops. I was hooked from that moment. As I grew up, that’s all I ever wanted was LEGO , Christmas, birthdays, whatever. But it was never anything more than just a hobby in my mind. Something to do when it wasn’t safe to be outside or when I didn’t have any friends around, and that’s how it was up into adulthood.
I was 20 years old when I lost my life’s LEGO collection in a storage fire after a breakup. I was devastated and I kind of gave up on Lego until my mid 30s when I decided to pick it back up and start collecting again. I started building mocs and got into minifigure photography after coming across the @HanaSansiro account on Instagram one day. At one point, my wife had suggested, since I’m doing all this building and taking all these pictures, why don’t I share them with anybody? And that’s when I created my instagram account @e.b_brixx.
Fast forward a couple years to my 40th birthday, my wife threw me a huge LEGO themed birthday party and I posted some pics from that party on my Instagram. A month later, I started receiving instant messages from a guy claiming he was a producer for LEGO Masters. Of course, I thought it was a scam and I completely ignored him but he didn’t give up, and I told my wife about it one day. She asked if she could see the messages so I showed her, and she instantly recognized the guy who was messaging me as a cast member from Big Brother, her being a big reality tv fan
She literally yelled at me to answer him back right now!
So I did, and long story short, I ended up on LEGO Masters because of it.
TBB: We’re coming up on four years since you appeared on LEGO Masters Season 3. How did participating in the show change your relationship to LEGO?
EB: So LEGO Masters was this awesome experience I can’t even explain. All of the cast members of season three LEGO masters, we all still keep in contact, and we’re very tight. When we see each other at conventions or events, it’s all love.
Although our run was very short, it has earned me so much recognition and has opened some very cool doors for me. It’s the reason why my sister and I were contacted by our local library network to start doing LEGO classes for kids and families. I now have 3 television news spots under my belt along with 6 newspaper and magazine publications at this point and now I have a build sitting in a museum!
TBB: About that build, congratulations on your amazing model of the Spokesman-Review Building(Review Tower). Can you tell us how the “We built this city” project came about and how you became involved? How did you decide upon what building to create?
EB: So, Brick Buy Brick is my local mom & pop Lego shop here in Spokane Wa. My sister and LEGO Masters teammate and I did an appearance for their grand opening, and since then, I have become friends with owners Bryce and Frankie. I received a DM from Bryce at the beginning of September last year. He said there was something big going on and he needed a team, and I was the first guy that came to mind. The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture here in town was planning an exhibit called “Brick by Brick” featuring the most iconic, historical buildings in Spokane built from LEGO. He asked if I would be interested in participating so I asked “what buildings are being featured?” He named off about three and on the fourth he mentioned the Spokesman Review (headquarters of the local newspaper). As soon as he said that, I told him I’m in and I want the SR! I had been featured front page of the SR on Thanksgiving day the previous year and, at that time, I told the reporter that I would love to build a model of the SR building one day just because I’m a big architecture fan and it really is one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. So now that I had an opportunity and reason to build it, I had to jump on.
TBB: Did you know the other participants prior to joining the exhibit? Does Spokane have an active building community?
EBB: Spokane does have a very active Lego community. My sister and I host free LEGO events with the Spokane Library 4-5 times a year ever since we competed on LEGO Masters Season 3 and we meet LEGO enthusiasts of all ages, however I was only familiar with two of the other builders by name and seeing them in passing, as they were also frequent patrons of Brick Buy Brick.
TBB: Taking on a real-world building at this larger scale must be quite a challenge! How did you go about preparing for the build? Did you have any assistance your work?
EB: So once It was decided that i would build the SR, Bryce and I discussed and decided it would be built at minifigure scale and I got right to work and went downtown to the building and started taking pictures of the structure for references. Bryce and I were invited to take a tour of the building giving us access to parts of the building not visible from the street, helping with accuracy. I did the entire project by myself from start to finish with the exception of a few idea inputs such as adding a newsstand and character minifigs to add to it for easter eggs.
TBB: How do you go about planning a model of this scale? Do you use Studio or other software or jump straight into physical bricks?
EB: I consider myself a visual builder. I get an idea in my head then simply start laying bricks until they start to look like what’s in my head. I don’t really plan or design any of my builds. Sadly, I still cant even figure out BL Studio. (I’d love to use it more)
TBB: What are the final dimensions of your build? That’s a lot of dark red profile/brick bricks! Do you have any estimates on the number of bricks used?
EB: The dimensions of the build are about 29” long x 18″ wide x 25″ tall. Approximately 3,470 LEGO pieces and about 60 Duplo bricks inside for support. Main color is dark red with reddish brown trim and all windows blacked out and dark bluish gray on the roof and spire.
TBB: I’m surprised there aren’t more pieces, but then I guess that’s the advantage of using Duplo for support.
TBB: What was the greatest challenge in recreating this local landmark? Are there any building techniques that you’re especially proud of?
EB: The biggest challenges of this build first off was, just like LEGO Masters, the clock. We had 3 months to complete the builds but in that time there was a lot of waiting for Bricklink orders. Also, I am a full time trainer of caretakers and I work about 50-60 hours per week and I’m on-call every other week. Add home life, 3 kids, and everything else that takes time out of the day to that. I had to do my best with an hour here, 2 hours there and maybe 3 or 4 hours on the weekends to sit and build. The framing of the building was pretty easy.
The most difficult part of the build itself were the odd angles the building has. It sits on a corner and the front of the building has a curve to it that conflicts with the angles of the building itself toward the top. The roof was very challenging as well due to having to pivot after ordering the wrong parts for it. And I have to mention, a lot of broken bricks and plates. Everyone knows about brittle brown and dark red. I’m very happy and proud, however, I was able to create the cuts and angles of the building beautifully by having level by level support using Duplo and larger plates and after 3 different attempts at creating the top tower and spire I finally was able to figure out how to make it look just right.
TBB: When and where did the model go on display? What has the response been since you revealed the finished moc?
EB: The build is currently on display at Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, or The MAC as its better known. The exhibit opened this past Saturday and will run through mid June. The official opening gala for the exhibit is being held on Friday the 30th this month. The best way to describe the responses so far is humbling. The moment we delivered the finished build to The Mac, it’s been nothing but dropped jaws, oohs and awes. The best feeling is the the praise I’ve been receiving from my fellow artists participating in the exhibit who built, in my opinion, much bigger and way more intricate builds. Mine is the fourth largest of all the builds in the exhibit.
TBB: In addition to your involvement in the local LEGO scene, you’re part of Dreambuilders LUG (LUGG = LEGO User Group, or club). Can you share a bit about that organization and its role in the broader LEGO community?
EB: Being a member of Dreambuilders LUG (DBL) is so awesome, I love it. I joined the online LEGO Community in 2020 and during that time period it was a known thing that there weren’t a lot of people standing out in the community that looked like myself. As time progressed, beetween the rising popularity of LEGO Masters and YouTube LEGO personalities gaining traction, diversity in the community started to grow. DBL was started in November of 2022 by Lenee Harris aka @thebrickbabe, a very popular figure in LEGO, as an all inclusive virtual LUG highlighting and showcasing prominent black and brown LEGO builders in the community but open to any and everyone. As a virtual LUG, we build, share and support builders of all colors creeds and orientations in hope to give the online LEGO community a more welcoming feel.
TBB: You also participate in many online challenges and community events – habitats, mosaics, sigfigs… You must always be creating something!
EB: I do try to keep busy in Lego. I love creating, working with my hands, and giving the people the same feeling I get when I see awesome LEGO creations. I’m often in awe and inspired by what people are able to do with this brick we all love.
TBB: Who is a builder that’s inspired you in your work with LEGO? Either in technique/craftsmanship, or in broadening your understanding of what’s possible with LEGO in other ways?
EB: I’m inspired by so many great builders. I began my online LEGO journey doing minifigure photography inspired by accounts like @Hanasansiro, @rennerbricks and @konschmidt to name a few. Dana (@virginiabricks) is who inspired me originally to start doing mosaics. She’s just brilliant.
I’ve grown in my ability to build architectural structures with inspiration from the likes of @brick_artisan19 and @wooootles. @steinmanzachary is one of my overall favorites. All of the builders in my LEGO Masters family. I could go on all day.
TBB: How do you balance collecting new LEGO sets with making your own creations? Do you have a favorite recent LEGO set, and why that one?
EB: As time has progressed, like lots of AFOLs, I have stepped back from buying sets due to prices and the impossibility of keeping up with releases, but like all AFOLS there are some must have sets that come along. A few of my recent favorites are the Gameboy because of the simple nostalgia – I’m a kid of the 80s and 90s – and the Mona Lisa for its awesome frame and classic feel. My favorite set of all time is the 1991 Blacktron Alpha Centauri Outpost set# 6988-1. As a kid it was the biggest set my parents ever bought me and Blacktron became my favorite theme ever because of it. My white whale set is the 2011 Maersk Container Train set# 10219-1. One day it will be mine! For the most part though, I prefer to buy bulk LEGO either from Bricklink, thrift stores, and Brick Buy Brick and focus on my MOCs. I’m very big on originality and try hard to do my own thing.
TBB: Are there any builds or events coming up that you would like to bring attention to?
EB: We started this year with the bang of the BrickByBrick exhibit and I’m going to take about a week off to let my fingers rest, but I have some upcoming build events with the Spokane county Library and also hosting monthly free build days for kids with my church. As far as builds to come, I plan on finishing up a office/condo style building started last year along with a music box moc. I have created a line of Lego cars, a few of which I have shared but I’m upgrading, improving and reintroducing in the near future as well.
TBB: Thanks so much for your time, and congratulations on the MAC exhibit!
EB: Thank you so much for reaching out and giving me the opportunity to talk about my build. I’m a huge fan of Brother Brick, so this is beyond cool to me. Have a great day!
The post From LEGO Masters to building local landmarks – Eddie Godden gives back with bricks [Interview] appeared first on The Brothers Brick.
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