Star Wars: LEGO

I've been a fan of LEGO ever since I was a child. It is, arguably, the greatest toy ever invented. Well, now I have two young children of my own and I am determined to get them hooked

So far, we've been buying them DUPLO, the bigger, easier to manipulate and harder to swallow, LEGO aimed at the toddler market and they both absolutely love it

Buying DUPLO for the kiddies has re-kindled my love affair with the little plastic bricks, so much so that I have recently started buying LEGO Star Wars sets, ostensibly in readiness for when my little angels are ready to graduate to 'the BIG stuff', but in reality it's for me to play with!

It never ceases to amaze me how, as soon as you start to dip your toe in the water of another toy soldier hobby offshoot [for that is what I think we've got here] you soon find yourself exposed to a new universe of almost limitless possibilities

Two or three sets in, I found myself toying with the idea [no pun intended] of creating some stat cards, adapting a set of wargames rules, and figuring out how to play miniature skirmish battles with the models. Not for a moment did I allow myself to think that I'd be the first person to think of doing this, but as soon as I started surfing the net for research purposes I found myself catapulted into a strange new world of custom minifigures, combat accessories and tabletop LEGO gaming!

This is the first post in a series I will be continually adding to as my embryonic collection of Star Wars LEGO combatants grows

I thought I'd end this post with a link to a fabulous website I came across, and to a tribute on the Home page paid to its founder. The man's name is Dan Jezek and the website he founded is BrickLink, essentially a one-stop shop for anyone keen to get their hands on anything LEGO, parts, sets, minifigures, accessories, you name it, more usually than not at prices far keener than you could expect to find elsewhere. In a word, it's eBay for LEGO, and so much more besides. Coincidentally, the day Dan passed away four years ago also happens to be my birthday

Cheers, Dan, for being the driving force behind such a marvellous site

Keep on Building!