Think I’m referring to the last few hours before “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” opens in theaters nationwide? Although I am exponentially excited about that, no, I am not talking about trying to make it through the last hours before my husband and I leave for the theater. I’m talking about another big event that occurs this month – Christmas! But before I get into the meat of this post, do you mind if I preface it with a few facts about myself?
A) Years ago, I was the assistant editor and chief contributor to the now defunct, beautiful “Miniatures Showcase”. One of my chief duties was writing the regular how-to feature that was included in the magazine. My aim always was to make the directions explicit and well-understood. Being a self-professed aficionado of kit building, I believed [and still do, by the way 😉 ] I had a good handle on what it takes to put together a kit – of any kind. One’s ease and success to do so is determined by how well the directions are put together [and ingenuity when the directions are poorly outlined]. You should hear my groans when I cannot make heads or tails out of the directions. You should see the smile that crosses my face and hear the sighs of satisfaction when I actually come across well thought out, well explained directions!
B) I love putting Legos together! I haven’t done that too often over the past couple of years – mostly because I have been so darn busy. Rushing through a Lego kit is not my idea of fun. No matter how intricate, or relatively simple a kit is, I like to savor joining every brick to its neighbor. It’s almost Zen-like! 🙂 Too, I think the folks over at Lego put together some of the best instruction manuals out there! It is so easy to follow the step-by-step directions – and they’re offered via pictures only. No words at all!
C) I profess to have a pretty darn good imagination! Yes, by my own admission, I believe this to be true. [It must be. I tell my family this often enough! 😉 ] .
Last year, I purchased the Lego Star Wars Advent calendar, as I do most years – with the intention of opening each of the perforated doors for the mini surprises that awaited me each day, for 24 days. I brought it home, put it aside, and never looked at it again. Like I mentioned, I’ve been pretty darn busy [when will life slow down? 😉 ]
As I pulled out this year’s holiday decorations, I came across the 2015 calendar, and I decided to give myself a treat this year. As December 2016 dawned, I decided I would open each secret door adorned with a number, and would put together the 24 surprises hidden behind those doors. I could afford myself a few brief moments to myself each day. [Gone are the days when I’d share the experience with my girls, taking turns to put the very mini, mystery Star Wars Legos together. Oh well.]
This is not my first foray into the World of Lego Star Wars Advent Calendars so I knew there would be moments when I’d look at the picture on the backside of each door – pictures, for those of you who never have delved into the World of Lego Advent Calendars that will leave me scratching my head and wonder: what’s supposed to go where??? Gone are the large, amply spaced manual pages that accompany the regular Lego kits. Instead, one must discern the correct assemblage of each individual mystery item from a 1-3/4 inch by 1-3/4 inch square. [I’ve even had to break out my reading glasses on more than one occasion to emerge successful. 😉 ] But who doesn’t enjoy a good challenge? 🙂
What I love most about putting Star Wars Legos together [next to the opportunity to lose myself in a detailed project 🙂 ] is the ingenuity the Lego masters employ to represent some facet of Star Wars. The challenge is even more acute on a miniature level – and when I say “miniature”, I do not mean on the scale of Lego’s smaller building kits you find on store shelves. No, I mean mini miniature! Take Door # 1’s and Door # 2’s creations. I put each of them together, fitting each brick in its proper place. When done, I mused what each of the creations was supposed to be. I thought Day # 1’s mini Star Wars assembly was some sort of armored, terrain vehicle, maybe from one of the Prequels[?], but I couldn’t place it. Day 2’s? I couldn’t even venture a guess. When I showed them to my husband – an accountant who admits he doesn’t always have the best imagination – he quickly offered: “That’s Jabba’s sail barge, and the other is the Sarlaac.” Once he identified each, a light went on in my brain, and I could see it. Who has the keen imagination? 😉
I’m 15 days into revealing what is hidden behind each door, and, as usual, I am enjoying myself – immensely. Have I been stumped? Quite frankly, yes. Especially in the last couple of days. Just yesterday, when I was trying to put together what I figured must be a droid of some sort, I was completely dumbfounded as to how to attach the head to the droid’s body. I’m not even sure I did it correctly – but the way I fashioned it, the head stayed in place. [Can you hear me laughing now?] And today’s construct was, I believe, some sort of cannon, and all I can say is that I think I put it together correctly. [I’m still laughing – hard – at myself right now. ha ha] Constructing some of these mini Legos is not for the faint of heart! lol [I certainly relish those days when there is a three- or four-piece character to snap together. One-two-three, I’m done for the day! 🙂 ] Through all the baffIing moments, through all the laughter, I can’t wait to see what is hiding behind those last nine doors! [This is a chance for me to practice a bit of patience. 😉 ]
Officially, I am working on Kit # 75097, and having a blast. It certainly reminds me of how much I love putting together Legos – and wish I had more time to do so. When I was doing some Christmas shopping the other day, I happened down the Lego aisle [imagine that – an entire aisle devoted to one company’s goods! We’re also lucky enough to have a Lego Store at one of our area malls!], and saw some of my favorite kits for which I have yearned still available for purchase as well as some of the vanguards to tie into tonight’s “Rogue One”. Visions of sugarplums might be dancing around in your head, but in mine? Constructing a Star Wars Lego kit on a much larger scale come the new year!
Until then, I will concentrate on the task at hand – putting together these mini miniature Star Wars Legos from last year’s Advent Calendar. And, I’ll “see you” at the theater sometime this weekend. I have tickets to “Rogue One” for tonight, tomorrow night and next Monday, the 19th. There’s a good chance we’ll run into each other … even if only in my imagination. 🙂
I invite you to leave a comment in one of the boxes below. Or feel free to drop me a note at melindaw@coffeewithkenobi.com. Either way, I’d love to hear from you – about Star Wars Legos or any other subject. I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Joyous 2017!
MTFBWY 🙂
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