Brick Fanatics is under new management
Posted by CapnRex101,
Some of our readers may be familiar with Brick Fanatics, a LEGO fan website based in the UK which has been run by Richard Hayes and a large team of contributors for the last few years, providing LEGO news coverage and occasional reviews of a wide range of LEGO products.
Rob Paton of Blocks magazine has contacted us this morning with the news that Brick Fanatics is now under new management and has asked us to post the following press release which was written by Richard before his departure...
Regulars will know that Brick Fanatics has gone from being a personal blog called Bricks and Books to one of the largest LEGO fan sites in the UK and beyond. For the past few years this site has been at the forefront of the LEGO news scene. In that time our presence on social media has grown, with the site now boasting over 10,500 followers on Twitter! We've also seen contributors come and go but one thing that's remained has been the dedication of the site to be one of the first to bring you any LEGO news. However, nothing lasts for ever.
For the past few months I've been in talks regarding passing on the website. This site hasn't gotten where it is without a lot of man hours being put in. That is now something I struggle to do on a daily basis now. As the site has grown, my own athletics career has taken off, to the point I'm now a sponsored athlete and have already taken part in races to represent my country. I'm now training full time and my passion for running outweighs my passion for LEGO. The passion I once got seeing new set images is no longer there, whilst this year I have been very critical of a lot of products released by LEGO. This is why I felt it was in the best interest to find new owners who are bigger LEGO fans then me, to take over and inject fresh blood and passion into the site.
Those people are Rob Paton and Tim Doel, who have agreed to take on Brick Fanatics through their company, Tiro Media Ltd. Rob's name will sound familiar as he is also the Editor of Blocks magazine. So you know he knows his LEGO. They are bringing in Graham Hancock to be the day to day editor of the site. Graham is Deputy Editor at Blocks and also runs his own personal LEGO site All About Bricks. The majority of the current contributors will also stay on board as the site transitions.
I feel the site is in very good hands with these guys and it's in the best interest of the site to make it even better going forward. I want to clarify that, while both Rob and Graham have connections to Blocks, this site will remain a separate entity, just like it was while I wrote for the magazine. I would like to now pass over the announcement to Rob & Graham.
Rob: ‘We are delighted to be taking on the responsibility of running Brick Fanatics, to continue and build upon the great work that Richard has put in over the years. Tiro Media Ltd is myself, Rob Paton, and my business partner and friend, Tim Doel. Our company specialises in websites and online content and we are excited by the potential that a LEGO website such as Brick Fanatics can offer readers. Having followed the site since its very early days, it is an honour to be given this opportunity by Richard to be a part of its future. Thank you Richard.
‘We are pleased to confirm that Graham Hancock will be the site’s Editor. Having worked with him for over a year on Blocks magazine, I know and trust that Brick Fanatics’ editorial direction for the future is strong.’
Graham, Editor: ‘It’s an absolute pleasure to be taking on this role at Brick Fanatics – I can’t wait for readers to see some of the great content we’ll be sharing in the coming weeks and months. Our team of Brick Fanatics will continue to keep our loyal readers up to date on everything going on in the world of LEGO.’
The new future starts from today, July 1, and I will still be around behind the scenes helping the new owners get used to the site etc. I would like to thank LEGO, especially Kim T, No Starch Press, Norton PR, Warner Bros UK, Danny L from Firestar Toys, Minifigs.me, The Minifigure Store and United Bricks. All these companies have helped make the site and will continue to do so with the new owners. I would also like to thank everyone who has helped to contribute to the site over the years - Ash, Chris, Barry, Luc, Keith, Tristan, Nicola, Sarah, Séb and Adam. This site is as good as it is because these people gave up their free time to contribute. And finally thank you to you the fans - without you guys visiting the site, I would not be writing this now and I hope you continue to do so under the new owners.
Richard
The Brickset team would like to wish Rob and Graham well with this new endeavour and look forward to seeing how the website develops.
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3 comments on this article
Well, they are UK site, and doing content only for UK, so it's not for me.
Never head of it until now. Better take a look at it.
Perhaps they might take this as an opportunity to improve their quality control. The writing is a shambles, to be honest. Basic spelling and grammar seems to be beyond all their contributors. I've visited the site enough times to know that it's not just occasional lapses; they simply don't bother with any sort of proof-reading.