Two Lego-obsessed friends from Newcastle are taking on the world's best "brick builders" in the sixth season of Lego Masters Australia.
Ben, 24, and Eric, 21, are one of four Australian teams of two competing against four international teams: one each from Denmark, Germany, France and the US.
The winning team will take home $100,000 and those all-important bragging rights. The four Australian teams will have the home ground advantage.
The Lego builds will be judged by Ryan "Brickman" McNaught, who will also mentor and guide the contestants. Hamish Blake is returning as host and will be joined by special guest Sophie Monk.
This season's challenges include Break the Ice, Lego Go Go Go Karts, Twisted Tales, Is it Fake? 2.0, Battle-Bot Wars, What's in Store, What's on the Box, New Olympic Sport, Land of the Giants, Batman celebrating 85 years, and Lily Pads.
The 2024 Brick Pit is the ultimate Lego dream room, with more than 4 million bricks available for the teams to use.
Ben and Eric bonded over their love of bricks while working at Lego Store Charlestown where Eric is the assistant manager. Ben, though, has just completed a teaching degree at university and will be taking up a teaching position outside of Newcastle.
The pair spend about 20 hours a week building and have a particular interest in smaller custom vignettes, taking apart official kits and turning them into something else entirely.
They have watched every episode of Lego Masters to date and say it "hasn't sunk in yet" that they are competitors on the show.
"It feels like we've just gone on school camp; we went away and no one knew about it and there's not much going on, but I guess in a couple of weeks' time that will all change," Ben said.
"We think that we're somewhat creative people but when you're suddenly in a room with a lot of other creative people and you're told 'be creative now', and you're trying to stand out, well, that was challenging."
"It was a lot of fun but at the same time really intimidating," Eric said. "All these international teams are so good at what they do, and Denmark is the home of Lego as well. It was a shock, really."
The appeal of Lego, for Ben, lies in its potential. Anything is possible.
"You can create anything you want and that's always been interesting to me," he said.
"Having one piece that can be used in several different ways is just amazing.
"Eric can have a piece and use it for the headlight of a car, and I can look at it and see a use for it somewhere else. The versatility and creativity is unmatched with Lego."
Eric uses as an example a child who visits his Charlestown store and chooses a particular Lego set, knowing there are so many other uses for the Lego pieces once the set is completed.
"That's why bricks tend to get thrown in a big container to be used over and over again," he said.
Eric credits his love of bricks with providing him a "safe space" throughout his childhood as well as a creative outlet into adulthood. Working with Lego and talking about it every day is a dream come true for him. Describing his building style as "natural but unpredictable", his best creations are inspired by his favourite franchises, such as Star Wars, Marvel and Indiana Jones.
"If you told eight-year-old me that not only would I have the opportunity to work at a Lego store, but also have the opportunity to build Lego on national television, I wouldn't have believed you," Ben said.
"Lego has really taken off over the past few years; I don't know if that's because of the show, or because Australia is getting more and more Lego stores.
"I've met some of my best friends through Lego, Eric included."
Newcastle brothers Joss and Henry Woodyard won the Lego Masters title in 2022 and a $100,050 grand prize for their monster versus crab Lego build.
