The LEGO community exists on many different platforms and in a few different mediums: physical, digital and theoretical. (Theoretical!? Yep, ever just try to build in your head?) A relatively new avenue where LEGO enthusiasts and AFOLs share their love of the brick is on a live-streaming platform called Twitch. LEGO has also started using Twitch streamers as a promotional avenue, and several streamers now have RLFM status (that’s Recognized LEGO Fan Media—the media sites that get inside access to LEGO after a rigorous review process).

If you haven't heard of Twitch before, it’s a streaming platform predominantly used by video gamers. On the platform, they could stream the game of their choice and along with a webcam showing themselves playing the game in real-time. There is a menu and chat bar as well, so fellow viewers could chat with one another and with the gamer, too.

Over the years the platform has evolved to host a wide array of other things besides video games, from singers and songwriters performing for a live audience and taking requests, to streamers who will just chat about whatever anyone wants to talk about. There has also been a large maker space growing on Twitch, from general crafts to painting as well as LEGO building.

Over the last six years or so, LEGO builders have been slowly experimenting with the platform to share their passion with others and provide a fun safe environment in which to hang out. With the pandemic, the number of Twitch LEGO streamers only increased, not to mention many Instagrammers and YouTubers who simultaneously stream on all the platforms at once.

Starting to Stream

Like them, I decided to try my hand at streaming. (I've only been doing it for a couple of months now.) I originally thought I would only try it as a way to get me back into my LEGO studio. For the past few months, I had no energy left in the day after all my responsibilities to be creative. Between work, kids and life, I was finding myself very drained. But I thought if once or twice a week I had a set schedule, it might help bring me back to building for a few hours. Surprisingly, talking to an audience about my projects and building in front of them really kicked my passion to build and create back into gear, and I find myself building all the time again.

It did take some time getting things set up and coming up with a plan of what exactly I would do on the stream. It needed to be more than just watching me build a MOC or set. So I decided I would explain all of my design ideas, techniques I was trying out, and how I would use them to complete my MOC.

Now that I was set up and ready to stream (LegoKeithReed if you want to check it out), I had a hard time figuring out what category I would be listed under. But Twitch had predefined categories. Was I Art? Crafting and Materials? Just Chatting?

The problem with Twitch is having to search for streamers based on what they're doing. You have to pick general categories, then scroll through hundreds of streams until you see something that you want to watch. You can't just search LEGO. But if you know that most LEGO streamers tag their pages with “Brick Building” you would be able to find them much easier. The problem was as I was just starting out, I didn't know such a category existed! I naively almost thought I was pioneering something here. Boy was I wrong.

And this is where BrickNerd does its thing: To bring to light the people behind this exciting up-and-coming LEGO community and get to know their stories a bit more.

We weren't able to interview all the streamers that exist (…yet…), but when we sent out the call for streamers to let us know about their first-hand experiences on Twitch, we got an overwhelming response. Enough that this article will be split over two posts!

Here are a few LEGO Twitch streamers who have been doing this much longer than I have. Each has their own perspective, thier own voice, and each are worth checking out. I invited them to send an introduction or Q&A our way, and here are a few examples of the LEGO streaming community.

BrickinNick

I started streaming as BrickinNick in 2016, and when I had first discovered Twitch and the world of live-streaming, I was so excited to hear there were many creatives sharing their passions, but was shocked to find that no one was streaming LEGO building on Twitch. So I thought I’d give it a go and see if I could help build a community of streamers who build LEGO!

I do quite a bit of variety when it comes to LEGO building, whether it be building MOCs, doing things like Viewer Build Requests each week, or building new LEGO sets I like when they’re coming out! I’ve even run three seasons of my own live LEGO Building Competition called Battle of the Bricks!

One of my favorite things about streaming has been watching the BrickBuilding community on Twitch grow and connecting with them in so many ways, whether through raiding each other after each of our streams, or doing fun BrickBuilding Community events like building a giant Twitch logo at TwitchCon in 2017!

SetToBuild

Hi, I’m SetToBuild! I’ve been building with bricks for as long as I can remember. Some of my favorite themes are Castle and Star Wars, but I love just about everything from the 90s. My MOC subjects have included vignettes, spaceships, mechs, anime tributes, and Star Wars. While my oldest interactions with the AFOL community have been online, in 2011 I started attending meetings for my RLUG (the Sacramento Brick Builders) in Sacramento, California, and have served as their President and Ambassador. Recently I went to my first in-person LEGO convention, Bricks Cascade, and had a blast. Can’t wait for more!

Keith: How did you get into streaming LEGO?

StB: I already watched a lot of video games on Twitch and briefly streamed Minecraft on another account. In 2016, fresh out of design school, I now had some free time and creating LEGO content is something I had always wanted to do. I looked around Twitch and found a streamer named Silburned building LEGO sets and shortly after I found BrickinNick building MOCs. They were both incredibly fun to talk to and gave me many tips for starting my own stream. Discovery has always been a hurdle on Twitch, so BrickinNick and I founded the BrickBuilding Community to help LEGO fans and content creators connect. Before tags, Twitch had Communities that you had to petition for. We successfully convinced Twitch to create the BrickBuilding Community and set up the Discord about a year after. Back then there were just over 10 consistent LEGO streamers. Now, well over 100 BrickBuilders have come and gone!

Keith: Community building is really so amazing. What LEGO content do you stream?

StB: My content is about 50% MOCs and 50% set building. Many of the sets I build eventually get broken down for MOCs. It’s nice to build them on stream to check out the new techniques that LEGO model designers are using to incorporate into my work. All of my MOC builds are made without much preparation, so those streams are a detailed look into my creative process. We tend to stream in the evening, so the overall feel of the broadcast tends to be on the relaxing side. I have proudly been called the Bob Ross of LEGO multiple times.

Keith: I hope you have a tutorial building happy little trees! Since starting, what have been some of the best things you experienced about LEGO streaming?

StB: I love going to events like TwitchCon to meet people in person and work on large-scale LEGO projects with fellow LEGO creators. We’ve built a large Twitch logo, a TwitchCon mosaic, and small video game-themed builds to display at the show. Our first TwitchCon model broke on the way back to Twitch headquarters, so they invited BrickinNick, me, and some of our friends to San Francisco to have a party and rebuild the model! Streaming also gave me the best gift of all: a best friend to enjoy LEGO with forever! What more could I ask for?

RJandJ

We are a married couple (RJandJ, with RJ, musician and Juls, visual/graphic artist) who’ve been collecting LEGO for around ten years. We’re into watching Twitch, streamed various stuff individually, and then when COVID happened, the lock-down made us able to stream together.

We stream LEGO ASMR with live ambient piano accompaniment. We build and take apart sets and Dots designs, focusing on the incidental brick sounds. The best experiences in LEGO streaming have been the community - brick building in general and also Twitch. And we spent all of January building the Grand Piano on stream - it was amazing and we still do occasional recitals with it on stream. We are live every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at 2 pm US Central.

CrankyBricks

I’m Catherine (aka CrankyBricks) and I’m a lifelong LEGO fan from Scotland. As an architectural engineer by day, I design big buildings, and in my spare time I design small plastic buildings! Having built custom models in LEGO since childhood, I’m an active member of the UK AFOL scene, displaying at shows and engaging with the public. As a kid, I built towns, planes, or giant structures, often with my older brother. While studying architecture, I built models with other materials, but then got back more into LEGO under the appeal of the system as a kit of parts, and the joy of modern LEGO set designs. I’m passionate about STEM outreach (science, technology, engineering, and maths), so I always look for ways to encourage and educate both adults and children in the joys of design.

Keith: What got you involved in streaming LEGO?

CB: I’d been an AFOL and a Twitch viewer (of gaming, art, and music content) separately for years, but never found LEGO content on Twitch until I met fellow LEGO streamer Brickanista through other AFOL networks—she introduced me to the great array of BrickBuilders out there, and encouraged me to join them!

Keith: I’m glad you became part of the community! What types of LEGO content do you stream?

CB: At the moment it’s a real mixture - MOC building, set building, sorting, discussions, and the occasional game or non-LEGO thing. I’m in the middle of a big home move so not doing as much MOC building as I used to! I’m looking forward to getting back to it though as I love to share my creative process with a small community of AFOLs who support each other in the hobby and encourage each other to embrace their favorite aspects of it.

Keith: Since starting, what have been some of the best things you experienced about LEGO streaming?

CB: I love the challenge of creating custom designs within the LEGO system and using the bricks to express my ideas. The satisfaction of finding the perfect part or technique is real, and it’s twice as good to have a team cheering you on while you build or helping out with the tricky bits. The most fulfilling thing for me is to see community members sharing their own LEGO creations having been encouraged or inspired by what I do - that’s the ultimate success! Besides the wider community, the individual friendships built through Twitch have been life-changing, and it’s how I met my partner (in life, in crime, and in LEGO building) who I now collaborate with on streams, MOC-building projects and everything else!

Next week will bring you even more streamer introductions. To check out more of these builders, head on over to their Twitch channel pages to find the times and days that they will be streaming. You can also find the BrickBuilding community on Discord here as well.

What would you most like to see live streamed about LEGO? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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