I know, I shouldn’t just spring those kinds of surprises on people until I’ve had a chance to prepare them a little. But let’s face it, there may be three of you reading this right now who didn’t already know that. I realize I am leaving myself wide-open to the mockings that will follow, just as surely as rain follows a car wash. I can’t expect to get out unscathed if I have 4 shelves of Star Wars Lego in my office, now can I (I don’t count the very top shelf with the Star Destroyer).
I still remember getting my first Lego set, a space ship (naturally). We were visiting my Aunt Vada and her family, somehow I was allowed to get a toy (can’t remember if I had saved up or if it was a treat), and it was all downhill from there. I remember stripping it down and reassembling it repeatedly. It must be a testament to my fascination with Lego that I didn’t lose any of the pieces. I could probably still build that model from memory, and believe me, I have the parts. Ever since then, I’ve been a lot easier to shop for.
And then along came Star Wars Lego. Where was this when I was growing up? Seriously, I could never get anything to look like an X-Wing and I just didn’t have the parts I needed to make a TIE fighter. Fortunately, I got over that childhood trauma and have been slowly growing my collection. And now thanks to the wonders of eBay and bricklink.com, I have the tools to modify my existing models and to create new ones. This has opened up a whole new world for me. If this were a Disney movie, this would be the point where everyone would be singing along to a completely impromptu-yet-perfectly-choreographed musical number.
I started out just tweaking my ships (taking out the spring-loaded missiles, adding improved functionality, removing dumb features) and then branched out into building new from scratch. My first original creation was Darth Vader’s Sith starfighter, patterned after the Hasbro model. Then I made a red TIE interceptor which, according to the Expanded Universe, was used by the Emperor’s Royal Guards. I built Obiwan’s red starfighter from Episode III. I have photos of all my sets on Facebook if you're really curious. Yes, I’m that much of a geek. Other parents post photos of their children. Not me.
My current project is to finish modifying Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced into a more movie-friendly version. The original kit was all blue and black, so I’m replacing the blue with grey pieces and made the rear of the ship longer. The parts I need to complete my masterpiece are on their way from Michigan right now.
I still remember getting my first Lego set, a space ship (naturally). We were visiting my Aunt Vada and her family, somehow I was allowed to get a toy (can’t remember if I had saved up or if it was a treat), and it was all downhill from there. I remember stripping it down and reassembling it repeatedly. It must be a testament to my fascination with Lego that I didn’t lose any of the pieces. I could probably still build that model from memory, and believe me, I have the parts. Ever since then, I’ve been a lot easier to shop for.
And then along came Star Wars Lego. Where was this when I was growing up? Seriously, I could never get anything to look like an X-Wing and I just didn’t have the parts I needed to make a TIE fighter. Fortunately, I got over that childhood trauma and have been slowly growing my collection. And now thanks to the wonders of eBay and bricklink.com, I have the tools to modify my existing models and to create new ones. This has opened up a whole new world for me. If this were a Disney movie, this would be the point where everyone would be singing along to a completely impromptu-yet-perfectly-choreographed musical number.
I started out just tweaking my ships (taking out the spring-loaded missiles, adding improved functionality, removing dumb features) and then branched out into building new from scratch. My first original creation was Darth Vader’s Sith starfighter, patterned after the Hasbro model. Then I made a red TIE interceptor which, according to the Expanded Universe, was used by the Emperor’s Royal Guards. I built Obiwan’s red starfighter from Episode III. I have photos of all my sets on Facebook if you're really curious. Yes, I’m that much of a geek. Other parents post photos of their children. Not me.
My current project is to finish modifying Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced into a more movie-friendly version. The original kit was all blue and black, so I’m replacing the blue with grey pieces and made the rear of the ship longer. The parts I need to complete my masterpiece are on their way from Michigan right now.
This is how it looked before I started tinkering. See how much blue they used?? Crazy. And it had a flip-top hatch that made it difficult to get Darth Vader in and out.
This is my progress so far. Now the whole cockpit opens, which is much easier. I brought the front out a little, almost have all the blue replaced, the back is longer like it should be. Once I get the rest of the parts, all the greys will match, for those who were worried about that.
Anyhow, I'm not laboring under any dilusion that anyone is still reading. I expect I lost most of you when you realized this whole thing really was about Lego. Part of me just wanted to see if I could do a whole entry just on Lego. Dawn will be so proud of me :)
