The people
The host and the two people who actually judge the bricks
LEGO Masters keeps a clean split between the person running the room and the people judging the builds. That split matters, because the host sets the tone and the judges set the standard, and if you build yourself it is the judges you should be listening to. Here is who they are and, more usefully, what they are actually looking for.
This page is text only by design. We do not run photographs of real people, so what follows is about their work and their eye rather than their faces.
The host: Will Arnett, through season 5
Will Arnett hosts the first five FOX seasons and serves as an executive producer across that run. His job is not to judge the building. He is there to run the clock, work the teams, and keep the tone light, and his LEGO history with the animated films makes him a natural fit for the brand. A new host, Nick Cannon, has been announced for the unaired sixth season, but through every completed season it is Arnett at the front.
For a builder the host is essentially weather. He shapes how the season feels, not what wins it. The standard the builds are held to comes entirely from the two people on the judging panel.
The judges: two LEGO Group designers
The build judging is done by two LEGO Group designers billed as the Brickmasters. Amy Corbett is a Scottish senior design manager and product lead at the LEGO Group, with a Master of Engineering in Product Design Engineering from the University of Glasgow, who has worked across lines including LEGO Friends, LEGO Disney, and LEGO DOTS. Jamie Berard is a senior design manager and creative lead who came up through the adult fan community before joining the company, and who has worked on the LEGO Ideas and LEGO Architecture lines.
That is worth dwelling on, because it tells you what the judging values. These are people who design production sets for a living. They are not judging spectacle so much as craft: is the technique sound, does the model read from a distance, is the parts use clever or wasteful, would this survive being a real product. It is a professional designer's eye, which is exactly the eye we try to borrow when we score sets on the bench.
What the Brickmasters actually look for
Across the seasons the same criteria come up again and again. Clean technique over brute force. A clear focal point instead of a cluttered baseplate. Colour used as information, not decoration. Parts used in surprising ways, the trick builders call using a piece in a way its designer never intended. And structural honesty, a model that holds together because of how it is built, not because someone is holding it. Learn to watch for those five things and you are effectively judging along with them, which is the single most useful habit a serious builder can pick up from the show.
Common questions
- Who are the judges on LEGO Masters?
- The FOX version is judged by two LEGO Group designers billed as the Brickmasters, Amy Corbett and Jamie Berard. Both design production LEGO sets for a living, which is why the judging leans toward craft and reproducible technique rather than pure spectacle.
- Is Will Arnett a judge on LEGO Masters?
- No. Will Arnett is the host and an executive producer across the first five seasons, but he does not judge the builds. That is done by the two Brickmasters. A new host, Nick Cannon, has been announced for the unaired sixth season.
- What do the LEGO Masters judges look for?
- Consistently: clean technique, a clear focal point, colour used to convey meaning, surprising parts use, and structural honesty. It is a professional set designer's eye, which is why the show doubles as a free masterclass for home builders.
Sets that scratch the same itch
The five things the Brickmasters look for are the same axes we grade every set on, so if you want to see that eye applied to a boxed set, our reviews are the place.