LEGO Masters' Tim and Zach Talk Biggest Surprises, Being a Father Son Team, and More

As we get closer to the final episode of LEGO Masters, we thought we'd take a look back at how we got to these final three and the amazing builders we met along the way. Let's head back to LEGO Masters episode 3, which featured a challenge that would reward creativity but also stability with the Earthquake Challenge. Contestants had to build a super tall structure that carried its own story and could withstand a seismic shake that increased with every dial turn. While the judges loved the many cats that populated the building, Tim and Zach didn't make it through to the next round. ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to Tim all about the experience, the build itself, and getting to enjoy this experience with his son.

First, we wanted to know if anything surprised him about the LEGO Masters experience, and for Tim, it was just how everyone got along and how close they became over the course of the show.

"I would say that probably the one thing that did surprise me in regards to the reality TV shows, in regards to that, we've all watched shows where it's a little bickering, there's a little alliance going on, and we kind of look at it and we're like, ah, I don't know if I really want to be a part of that because it doesn't seem healthy. It doesn't seem positive in some ways, because it creates drama. So the surprise, the thing that I'm most grateful for is how tight we are as contestants," Tim said. "Every one of us supported each other. We encouraged each other. We had a lot of fun bantering, like fun banter kind of thing, genuine, true banter. It wasn't undercutting or backbiting or anything like that. I can say truly from this point I am pleasantly surprised and very, very thankful. In fact, we still are very close. We're all meeting up for different shows and different fairs and brick rodeos and all these other kinds of, whenever we can get together, we want to get together. That's the cool thing. We got a brand new family."

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(Photo: FOX)

Tim and Zach obviously know a lot about each other being Father and Son, but that doesn't mean they didn't learn new things about each other while working together, and that's not all they learned either.

"Yeah. So the one thing that I can say, we actually did some math and the population of the United States versus how many contestants LEGO Masters are on the show itself, we are one in 7.5 million people. So that's the chances of being able to get on Lego Masters. That's kind of the numbers that we think we have. We're not a hundred percent sure, but that's what we think they are. So anyway, so that's the first thing," Tim said.

"Second thing is that the cool thing about a father-son relationship, and if you're a dad or if you're a parent, you kind of understand this just naturally. If you're a son, you kind of understand it too. You go through certain phases, right? So as a baby, there's a phase, a toddler, then middle-school, then high school. It goes through these different phases and your interaction with your parents' changes as you mature. Same situation here, Zach is 18 graduating from high school. He's now stepping into manhood, becoming an adult, ready to live his life, spread his wings, and go crazy. I was, it was a really, truly an honor to be able to watch him take the lead on some of the challenges and be able to say and have the confidence to be able to say, no dad, we don't need to go that way, we need to go this way," Tim said.

"Now, as a dad, I'm just like, wait a minute. I'm the dad, go ahead and put my dad hat on. I'm going to tell you what it is. No, I had to kind of take a back seat at times, which was a struggle internally, but it was a good, healthy thing because it allowed us to transition from the father-son to more of an equal friendship," Tim said. "We are in this project together. Let's respect each other's talents and let's build the best possible build we can with the time, the parameters, the rules, and the pieces."

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(Photo: FOX)

One of the cool things about LEGO and working with these larger-than-life builds is how it provides an opportunity to do something you love with family and friends, and it's something I hope to enjoy with my daughter at some point down the line. For Tim, building LEGO together also provided opportunities for life lessons along the way.

"Let me, can I say something on that part of it, because this is my experience," Tim said. "So basically we'd go and we'd talk and we'd teach and we'd do these things. In fact, we've got a talk this Sunday that we're doing it. It's all about being intentional as a parent. Find what they like, what they connect with, and even if you don't like it, you can start bringing in your own little twists and turns to certain things. That's how we connect because while we're doing LEGO, we're just talking about nothing, and all of a sudden, Zach brings up a very serious question about life, about how do I handle this situation? How do I handle this relationship?"

"And suddenly we're in a life teaching moment simply because we're connecting on a level that he's already interested in. And that's how you connect with your kids, is do something that they love," Tim said. "Suddenly these serious issues come up and they then just come out and you want to be able to talk about it. Now you can teach your child how to be a good person, how to live in society, life skills that schools aren't going to teach you."

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(Photo: FOX)

As for this particular build, while they didn't end up moving to the next round, they wouldn't have changed much in the way of their actual design, just maybe a bit of the speed of their process.

"So I would just continue and I would basically do the exact same thing," Tim said. "Now hindsight's 2020. Of course, there are going to be some things that are going to be able to change. We would've changed a couple of elements very, very quickly, rather than try to struggle with where we were trying to build and things weren't quite fitting. We would have changed quicker because we have more knowledge and we would know exactly which way to go. I did know. And it showed this in the show. Jamie said that's your weak point. I'm like, yeah, I know it, but I ain't got time to fix it. It's like, I got to go. Because I got to put the rest of the bricks up. I got to get it up to four feet. I a hundred percent agree with you, Jamie. I thank you. But I can't change it. I don't have enough time. I'm sorry. I can't do it."

Tim and Zach also created an amazing build for the Hero Shot Challenge, and it was one of Tim's favorites. It also allowed Tim and Zach to get out of their comfort zones and specialties a bit.

"Another interesting thing is Zach and I flipped. Usually, I'm the creative, and that build, I ended up taking on the tech part of it because I knew a little bit about the gas and how to control the gas. But obviously, I'm not an expert, that shows. But yeah. So that's where we flipped and Zach had the creative on that, and we just had so much fun with that build and then we had the slime and everything else. That was a really, really fun build. We loved that build," Tim said.

You can watch what they come up with on next week's all-new episode of LEGO Masters, which airs on FOX at 8 PM EST, and as always you can talk all things LEGO Masters with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

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