Lego building could be the last hobby standing for this plastic amateur architect

When it comes to hobbies, I consider myself a kid who has yet to grow up. I am, however finding the older I get, the less interested I am in certain hobbies. As those interests wane, I vow to no longer spend my money on trivial things I used to buy.

The problem is the minute I see some cool-looking movie poster, a new hardcover comic book, or news that all The Beatles albums are being re-released and digitally remastered on compact disc; I tell myself I got to have it.

This year is not much different as with the case of Hasbro and their continuing success of the Star Wars license. Just when I think they've done all they can in creating new and old Star Wars figures from the six movies and their Clone Wars television series, they come out with something unexpected. This year, in honor of the 30th anniversary of “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), Hasbro is producing a revamped new Imperial Walker toy that can hold up to 20 action figures. That's more than previous versions, and it's due out in stores Aug. 1.

Despite these unexpected surprises, my long-time interest in Star Wars is waning. I will continue to buy the 12-inch Sideshow Collectibles figures produced every year, based on the movies and television series, as well as the smaller figures from Hasbro. However, unless I am planning to open up a "Star Wars Toy Museum" and charge admission, I have no intention of buying 10 or so curios to pose the 100-plus figures both companies will likely churn out so long as fans are willing to spend the money on such trivial merchandise.

There was a time when I briefly became interested in collecting jet planes from Gemini Jets but decided against it. For starters, the aviation hobby has been around for so long, I would have no idea where to begin. The other reason is the cost, some of which runs anywhere from $30 to over $100 per plane.

It would be a macabre-looking hobby anyway, as I would only buy the jets that crashed since the 1970s. I would make it my own little airline graveyard which would not be complete without an American Airlines DC-10, a Delta Airlines L-1011, the 9-11 planes, or a Concorde sitting among the assortment of doomed jetliners.

If there is one hobby I don't think I will lose an interest in, it's LEGO building. I still remember the very first LEGO set I got when I was in first grade. It was set 420, a police car that had only 19 pieces and came out in 1973. The reason I remember it so well is not because it was my first LEGO set from my parents, but because it was missing a part - a white "brick 1 x 2" piece. For those who take this building hobby seriously, they demand you call the bricks by their required names.

Despite my brief disappointment in missing that one piece, my brick building eventually grew as I received other LEGO sets over the years that included a fire house, a moon landing and a tow truck. Then the company, based in Billund, Denmark, came out with their space sets in the late 1970s and early '80s.

My favorite set of that era is still the Galaxy Explorer (set 497), which I wish the company would re-release. Thanks in part to the original Star Wars trilogy back then, I was building my own renditions of Tie Fighters, snowspeeders, and Imperial Walkers out of LEGOs. I even competed in a LEGO contest one year, thinking I would win. Unfortunately, what I built with less than 2,000 pieces was no match for what someone did within six hours' time, using 20,000 bricks to build a 747 or a merry-go-round. Yes, those expert builders, who were much older than I, won first, second and third place.

What I built then, kids are doing now as parents and fans of the original trilogy, and kids interested in the clone wars cartoon purchase LEGO toys and build their own Millennium Falcon and X-Wing fighters.

I won't deny the product has changed since I was a kid. Today, the LEGO brand gets most of its money out of movie franchises; hence the reason you see LEGO sets of Harry Potter, Batman, Indiana Jones, and Spider-man. If Star Trek takes off again, I would count on seeing LEGO sets of the starship Enterprise.

Thanks to the Internet, I can either download or purchase all the instructions for every LEGO set made since the company’s birth. I don't need to spend $5,000 on a new unopened retired 2,882 piece of the Statue of Liberty set from amazon.com. I can download the instructions and build my own.

God knows I have enough parts; seven 30-gallon storage bins of LEGOs to be exact sitting in the corner of my room, one on top of the other. OK, six. One has instruction booklets for all the Star Wars/non-Star Wars LEGO sets I've gotten since 1999.

The one thing that hasn't changed, with the LEGO products, is the need for one's imagination. I have plans to build something huge using all those plastic blocks one of these days. I am not telling you what it is. You'll have to wait until the year 2040 when I unveil my creation with pictures on the website, Brickshelf, if the LEGO-based Web site is still around, that is.

©3/11/10