Out of the Closet (My Wife Just Needs to Accept What I Am)

About fifteen years ago I received an unusual Christmas gift from my sister-in-law, Linda, a LEGO model of a B-Wing Fighter from the Star Wars movies. It was unusual because I had never considered building a LEGO model until that moment. Ever. It turns out, however, I enjoy the meticulousness of fitting the parts together and not really knowing how it all comes together until about midway through the build. Truth be told, I even played with the B-Wing for a while...and then I put the whole thing away in the closet.

Over the years I collected even more sets; the AT-AT Walker and Snow Speeder, Anakin's Fighter, a Y-Wing Fighter and others. All built once and put away. I put them away because I have children. Specifically, two boys, who if they had their way, would take the model apart and mix and or loose pieces forever.  By the way, Sam was never interested in LEGOs, so I was never worried about her.  When the boys were old enough we bought them their own sets but they still gravitated to my Star Wars sets accumulating in the closet. One thing I am obsessive about is keeping pieces and parts of games and toys together because once a key piece is missing then the whole toy is useless. 

For context, it also needs to stated that I am a huge Star Wars fan. I was ten years old in 1977, the year Star Wars came out. I owned a lot of the Kenner toys - and even have a few secreted away. I know all of the characters and have seen all the movies. I've read novels and comic books about that galaxy a long time ago, far, far away.  When I deployed in 2008 I took Star Wars sheets for my bed. I ran the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon.  Last summer I went to Disney's Galaxy's Edge and geeked out as much as the kids did upon seeing the Millennium Falcon.  You get the picture.  So while regular  LEGO models are okay fun, Star Wars LEGO models are a lot of fun.

This past Christmas we got a little crazy with LEGOs and Star Wars. We bought the kids a set and they bought me Slave I, Boba Fetts ship. By the way, they bought it the week before Boba Fett (and his ship) appeared in the Mandalorian.  The model was about 740+ pieces and took the better part of a day to build.  These models, especially the bigger ones, become scarce in stores. Most people balk at a $150 to $250 model.  

During the holiday season I came across a big LEGO set; the Tantive IV. The Tantive IV is the very first ship seen in the opening scene to the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope.  In that first five minutes we see Princess Leia, R2D2 and C-3PO, and Darth Vader. For a ten year old kid, this was life changing.  So to see the ship on the shelf I knew I wanted it.  The next day when I went back, just like that, it was gone.  The harder I searched for it the more frustrated I got. The LEGO website it was sold out. The LEGO store said it was discontinued...

...and then I found it on Walmart's website.  It wasn't cheap but then I am not known for treating myself to things very often; click here to complete your purchase <click>.

As I as building the set I realized it is time to pull all of the models out of the closet and put them on display. The kids know better then to go playing with them and bust them into pieces.  It was time to embrace the person I am. Down came the school pictures and wedding photo and up went, well, toys.  

Proof, that my wife married a big kid. 

Not just a big kid, a big nerdy kid.  

With Star Wars toys.