I Got to Talk with LEGO MASTERS Finalists Tyler & Amy

I was recently given the opportunity to speak with LEGO Masters finalists Tyler & Amy. They’re a newlywed couple that are charming to watch and who have done extremely well in the challenges. The judges almost always love the way they create scenes and stories out of LEGO. Plus, they built an incredibly strong bridge that one time. We talked about filming the show, their favorite parts, their unborn child, and some advice for anyone looking to participate in the unannounced second season.

Tommy: Tyler and Amy, how are you guys doing today?

Tyler: We're doing fantastic. How are you?

Tommy: I'm doing fine. Getting a little stir crazy with the current situation and everything, but overall still alive.

Tyler: That's good and understandable.

Tommy: LEGO Masters has been an incredible show to watch. I've greatly enjoyed it. I have nieces and nephews who are loving it. You guys are my favorite team of the three finalists, so I'm really excited about that. And I wanted to know, how did it feel to be one of the three finalists teams in LEGO Masters?

Tyler: For me, one of the things that I told Amy going into this is that I would be very disappointed if I didn't get to participate in all the challenges. That's the thing that I was most excited about about the whole show is just getting to compete and try these different challenges and have unlimited bricks to basically do that with. So I would have been very disappointed if I'd gone home without getting to participate in all of them. You know, being in the finals, I get to do them all regardless of if we win or not. I get to compete in all the challenges and I get to have my wife by my side. So super exciting.

Tommy: And how did you feel, Amy?

Amy: Yeah, it was really incredible to make it to the finals. It has felt like a long journey because all the way from the summer when casting reached out to us, to making it on the show, to making it through challenge after challenge all the way to the finals. So it was quite an emotional thing to get to that top of the mountain and to be able to compete in the final rounds.

Tommy: Okay. And in the same vein, you mentioned that in summer casting reached out to you. What was it like when they reached out to you and said, "Hey, we want you to be on LEGO Masters?"

Tyler: A lot of my friends had been telling me, Oh, you need to apply for this, you need to apply for this. And when they started to reach out, then I was like, "maybe I should take this a little more seriously," but I couldn't find anybody that was willing to go out there with me for potentially seven weeks. And I didn't want to leave my wife for seven weeks. So, we ended up pairing up as the newlywed team, and it was just a whirlwind experience going through that whole casting process of climbing the different rungs of this weird ladder and finally getting the call that, "Hey, you're going to be on TV show."

Amy: Yeah, when casting reached out to Tyler because he's the one with the online presence, and I'm of course new to them. I mean, the thing for him was not wanting to leave me, which was very sweet, not wanting to leave for potentially seven weeks and casting suggested, "Oh, well you can take your wife on the show." And he was like, "Whoa, hey, that's the best of both worlds." And he told me one night over dinner, I was like, "ha ha, good joke." But then I realized, Oh, this is serious. And the rest is history

Tommy: You, you two are so adorable on the show, by the way. I don't know if you know that, but you two are so adorable. You two are so much fun to watch. It was seven weeks you said that you were out filming?

Tyler: That's how long the show filmed for, yes.

Tommy: Okay. So, how was it framed? It took over seven weeks. There are 10 episodes. So was it like you filmed for a day and then took a couple of days off or how exactly did filming work for the show?

Tyler: We were allowed to take weekends off, but all of the weekdays we were there quite a long time. Oh, those are some long days. And the general schedule is, it would take roughly three days to film an episode.

Tommy: Oh wow. So it takes a few days to film each episode. Okay. I was wondering, I'm like, "these are like 12 hour builds. When are they eating? When are they sleeping?"

Amy: Yeah, 12 hours. 15 hours. Longer. Well, it was an exhausting schedule, even split over the last few days because then there were interviews and other aspects. Not just the 15 hours, or whatever the challenge was. You had to film intros and outros and things like that.

Tommy: Speaking of the interviews, were there specific points in the filming for each episode where they would pull you guys out to do the talking heads about the piece? Was it always like halfway through the build or was it all after the challenge was completed and was it hard to go back and talk in , the present tense, but in the past, if that makes sense?

Tyler: Yeah. So, I think that's the general format for most of those shows that do the talking head interviews is that those are always filmed after the fact. I think. So, that is the way we get it on the show. It took a little while to get used to putting yourself back into present tense and being able to talk from that present tense moment.

Amy: What I found to be a challenge is those hours you're on the clock are so intense, you're so focused, you're trying to use every moment efficiently and effectively. You don't always remember thinking back what was going on. They're asking you questions, trying to recall what you were thinking or your process. It was sometimes just a blur after the fact.

Tommy: I can only imagine how hard that must be. I have a hard enough time as it is remembering what I did an hour ago and I don't have the stress of all the cameras and lights and you know, potentially winning $100,000 on my mind. So I can only only imagine how hard it was for you guys. Going back to the actual competition part of the show though what was your favorite challenge? Not your favorite build that you did, but what was your favorite challenge?

Amy: My favorite challenge was definitely the storybook challenge when they brought all of the kids onto the set. That was episode seven, I believe. At that point, I was just feeling a little worn out. All of the challenges so far, we had made it through quite a bit and it had taken a lot out of us creatively. So to see those kids on the set, I'm a piano teacher, I work with kids, it really rejuvenated me. That was just like a breath of fresh air and a good release of the tension.

Tommy: Oh good. And what about you Tyler?

Tyler: Yeah, that was one of my favorites. I think the one that I liked the most was the space smash challenge, which was episode two. There were all the different methods of destruction. We had to build these creations with the ultimate result being that they were going to get destroyed and that destruction had to enhance our story or continue to tell the story that we were trying to tell. I thought that was a very, very unique challenge, and I loved the way our build turned out for that one and I just loved the challenge and the process of that one.

Tommy: That was a very unique challenge as you said. I greatly enjoyed that one and I really loved your guys' build in that. If I remember right, that was also you guys won that one.

Tyler: You remember very well.

Tommy: How did it feel to win that one?

Amy: That was a big confidence boost for me personally. During the first challenge, we struggled a little bit getting our feet underneath us. We're learning the brick pit for the first time, we're running back and forth in this crazy format of timed building, not being able to build near the brick, but taking the bricks back to the table. We're working through how to work as a team. This is still all new to me. I was feeling overwhelmed, but then going into the second episode and being able to really start to get into a groove, work together well and come out with something we were really proud of was just encouraging.

Tommy: And then what was, would you guys say that your favorite builds from the competition? Are the ones that match your favorite challenges or did you have different builds that you, that you liked more?

Tyler: You're talking about other contestants?

Tommy: No, so you talked about how you enjoyed the challenge of the space smash, but was that your favorite build or final product as well or was it maybe the battle on Hoth or maybe the storybook one or the movie genre one?

Tyler: It's hard to pick a favorite just because we really enjoy all of our builds. Usually when people ask me this question of like, "what's your favorite thing you've ever built?" Usually it's whatever the most recent thing is that I've completed. I guess the top top builds in my opinion that I liked from the show were the space smash build, the story book build, super baby from the movie challenge. I really liked the droid that we created for the star Wars challenge and then our final build in the final episode. I really liked that one too.

Amy: Yeah. We put so many hours in each one. You get attached to all of them. So, some were definitely probably a little stronger than others, but I just loved everything in the end pretty much.

Tommy: All the builds are incredible, but Tyler, you kind of raised the question, did you have any favorite builds that your competitors made? You were going up against some extremely talented builders out there. Were there any that you just saw and just thought, "that is one of the most amazing things that I've seen."

Tyler: Yeah, some of the really incredible builds. The first one being Aaron & Christian's Ferris wheel from the first challenge was something that was built very fast and a Ferris wheel is something that we had considered building for our ride and decided against it because we figured most people would do it. I was just blown away by how well Aaron was able to build that Ferris wheel. I think it was way better than anything that I would have built if I actually tried to go for it. So I'm glad I, that we didn't try and build a Ferris wheel. I also really liked Sam & Jessica's approach to the cut in half challenge where they had this mermaid that's gushing out of this fire hydrant and all the sea life around it. I thought that was a really unique and creative approach to the challenge. I'm trying to think of other builds.

Tommy: What about you, Amy? What builds stood out to you?

Amy: I should've written down a list of all the challenges cause I'm struggling to remember all the challenges and who built what. Yeah, I don't know if I can pull that answer out of my head more than I would sprint to Tyler about the Ferris wheel. We were both very impressed by Aaron & Christian's Ferris wheel.

Tyler: Oh, and another one would be Aaron and Christian's dragon for the movie genre challenge. We loved that dragon. Before going on the show, I know that Aaron had an affinity for creating dragons and that was just a phenomenal dragon that he built. I also really liked Sam & Jessica's build from the storybook challenge with their trash can and the elephant with candy cane legs. We were directly across from them during that challenge and it was so fun to watch that build coming together. Both them and us were looking at each other's builds the whole time and just laughing hysterically at what the other team was creating. The two of us had a lot a lot of fun with that challenge because you're just laughing at the absurdity of what each other were building.

Amy: Yeah. That's what I would mention next, Sam & Jessica's storybook challenge. As the challenges progressed, we found ourselves having some similarities with Sam & Jessica just as far as thinking outside of the box and just loving creating these sculpted characters. So, their elephants with candy cane legs, yeah I couldn't stop giggling at.

Tommy: That was really fun to see. Now at home, this is more geared towards Tyler since I know that he's more into LEGO, but are you the kind of people who go out and buy the LEGO sets and then you build themas the instructions say and all that? Or do you just go out and buy the tub of bricks and just build whatever pops into your mind? Or are you kind of like, "Eh, I'll do a little bit of both?"

Tyler: I certainly enjoy building sets, but I really hardly ever buy sets. I far more enjoy building my own creations, and just the creativity that's there with the variety of pieces that LEGO has, so when I buy LEGO, I'm buying by the piece that I need. So I will go and buy a one by two slope in purple if that's what I need in order to complete the creation.

Amy: Tyler really has no need of more LEGO. He's got a room move of systematically sorted and organized LEGO just what he needs for all his creations.

Tyler: I may slightly disagree with that comment about not needing any more LEGO, but wait around to see that as it is.

Amy: Your LEGO room is like a LEGO Wonderland.

Tommy: Well I understand on the show you announced that you're pregnant. Are you still pregnant? Has the baby come?

Amy: Yeah, so baby is growing nicely. I am 26 weeks along almost 27. Due date is July 10th and we did find out it's going to be a baby boy. So we have had a lot of fun the last month or so looking through baby books and coming up with names and we're really excited about telling our baby, one day, the story of LEGO Masters and how we found out about him while we were in the process of filming. Just a lot of fun memories and to share with him one day

Tyler: And we'll be slightly disappointed if his first word isn't LEGO.

Tommy: Well, congratulations to you two on that. We're pretty excited for you guys on that front. Now this means though that, Amy, you said that you feel like Tyler has enough LEGO, but does Tyler have enough LEGO for him and the new kid? I mean...

Amy: That's a good question

Tyler: I think this kid's going to be well supplied with LEGO

Amy: And I think, I'm hoping he'll take after Tyler as far as just that endless creativity and maybe he'll start with a few sets, but we'd both love to see him branching into all of his own creations.

Tommy: My last question is, I'm assuming that LEGO Masters is getting a second season. I haven't seen anything official saying that it is getting a second season, so I'm just assuming it's getting one because it's a fantastic show and too fun to watch and I just refuse to live in a world where it's only one season long. What advice do you guys have as LEGO Master finalists to people interested in competing next season?

Tyler: I guess the biggest thing that we've found helpful, that we really utilized a lot, is making sure that we spend time planning in the very beginning before we start putting together pieces. You know, if it takes you an hour to plan, spend that time in order to create that concept and idea and make sure that both of the teammates have a clear understanding of what's being built, how long each portion is going to be built, what's the breakdown of the entire model, and just having that plan set in stone ahead of time is very, very, very helpful.

Amy: Yeah. Sometimes we'd see teams jumping very quickly into their idea. And you know, it might have only been five minutes, but the challenge started and they were running to get bricks and sometimes that could hurt a team in the long run.

Tommy: Okay. Well, thank you so much for your time today. I hope you guys stay safe and stay well in these weird times and I know you guys have already filmed it, but good luck in the finals.

Amy: Yeah. Thanks for your time talking with us.

Tyler: Thanks so much.