Brick Journal
Issue 4 Volume 2; edited by Joe Meno
TwoMorrows
Back in the happy, prosperous ’50s a child could choose between Tinker Toys, Erector Sets, Lincoln Logs, and Lego. Lego was the newcomer – plastic instead of wood, Euro-clean design instead of the more frontier/industrial alternatives, and producing a satisfying snap when assembled. Nowadays, Lego construction is becoming a worldwide obsession and a specialty trade magazine is long overdue. Brick Journal features slick photographs, interesting interviews, profiles of the obsessed and the occasional ad for support materials and other Lego magazines.
The interviews tend to fawn, although the patience needed to assemble a 12th century gothic cathedral, a 6-foot high Sears Tower, the Beijing Olympic Village, or the mitochondrial DNA from a wooly mammoth is beyond me. Like all specialty magazines, there’s a certain amount of jargon, and a handy decoder appears prominently in the first few pages. You’ll be happily informed that POOP is “Pieces (made up) Of Other Pieces” and NLSO means “Non-Lego Significant Other.” Yes, Virginia, there is married life beyond sex.
I live near a Lego store and visit occasionally for the combination of childhood fun and amazing sculptors. Without a shop near you, this glossy is worth a flip through – where else will you get a report of BrickFair 2008 or technical details on how to mold your own custom Mini-Figs? Don’t laugh – if you’ve read this far I’ll bet you have a closet full of comics in plastic bags or a terabyte hard drive full of MP3s. We’re all obsessive, but the Lego guys and gals have a more colorful obsession than most.
Twomorrows: http://www.twomorrows.com
