Culture Club

Having recently posted here that a couple of my articles had been published in Issue 4 of Bricks Magazine (those of you keeping an eye on the Gimme LEGO Facebook page will have seen that I also have a piece in Bricks Issue 5 as well) I can now report that I've also had a feature published in Issue 3 of Bricks Culture Magazine as well.

I have to confess to having some initial doubts about Bricks Culture Magazine. Specifically, I wondered whether there'd be enough suitable content to sustain the world's first "LEGO pop-culture magazine for adults", and indeed whether the Bricks Culture target market was big enough for the magazine to be a success. Some of my fears were allayed once I'd actually held a copy of Issue 1 in my hands and read it from cover to cover, though - I had to admit to editor Tim Johnson, a.k.a. Caperberry of New Elementary fame that I'd thoroughly enjoyed most of the content, not to mention being impressed with the overall quality and polish. It also appears that my scepticism about the target market was seriously wide of the mark - sales of Bricks Culture had apparently already substantially exceeded expectations even before the magazine was featured in the UK Channel 4 television documentary "The Secret World of LEGO", at which point the Bricks Culture website briefly crashed under the weight of enquiries....

Given how impressed I'd been with the mag, I was pleased when Tim approached me to ask whether I'd be interested in writing something to fill Brick Culture's "Sets to Search For" slot in Issue 3 (cover pic above), and I was happy to oblige. "Sets to Search For" is a regular Bricks Culture feature which focuses on sets which are, for various reasons, coveted and/or collectible; previous occupants of this slot have included Set 4000016 Billund Airport and Set 3723 LEGO Minifigure. After much deliberation I decided to write about a Star Wars offering, Set 10123 Cloud City. This set, which is primarily famed for its inclusion of a number of exclusive and valuable minifigures, is interesting on a number of levels, and I share a few thoughts about the set and its perceived value in my article (excerpt below).

In terms of the magazine as a whole, my contributor copy of Issue 3 arrived a couple of weeks ago and I've been gradually working my way through its 140 pages. My impression is that the high quality of content continues to be maintained, with a couple of highlights including a lengthy interview with the Surma brothers (excerpt below) whose work I've followed ever since I became aware of them last year, and a feature on Daniel August Krentz, designer of the iconic Set 375 better known as the Yellow Castle.

Bricks Culture, which is published quarterly, certainly isn't cheap at £9.99 per issue. It is however absolutely packed with thoughtful LEGO-related content the like of which you generally won't find elsewhere, and it's beautifully presented. You can order it here.