Building the world, one block at a time

One of the first toys I remember playing with when I was a little girl was Lego. The ubiquitous stud and tube bricks were some of the first creative pieces I had growing up and I remember making castles, gas stations, even little houses with little picket fences and gray ponies. Lego was as much a part of my childhood as Mr. Potato Head, Care Bears and G.I. Joe. I loved my Lego sets and I kept them well into my teens and even up to now. These days, I usually only buy theme Lego like Harry Potter Lego and Star Wars Lego (which I adore!) and even Batman Lego; either way, Lego is still a part of my life and I’m sure it will be for years to come.

So when I was invited to the final judging for Rustans’ Lego Homebuilding Competition in honor of Lego’s 50th anniversary, I was psyched to see what the kids had come up with for their entries. The competition — entitled “Lego Celebrates 50 Years of Creativity and Fun” actually began in all Rustan’s branches last April 1 and was concluded last Saturday. Kids of every age put together their Lego blocks and pieces to come up with an original masterpiece that was unlike anything ever seen before. At the finals, six entries were chosen and the one winner was selected. The most amazing part is the winner gets the chance to go to Legoland in Denmark to compete in a global building event. How’s that for incentive?

When I arrived at the Children’s and Toy section of Rustan’s where the competition was taking place, I was blown away by the amazing creations on display. Anna Go took me through the display area relating how incredibly talented the competitors are. “These kids were unbelievable,” she shared. “They really got into the competition and created entries that were unique and had a message.” Indeed, that was an integral part of the competition. Not only were the kids requested to submit their Lego creations but they had to couple them with an essay on why they chose to create what they did and what their inspiration had been. This made the creations not only amazing but inspiring as well.

While the kids read their essays and the judges — including Lio Mangubat of K-Zone, Ricardo Romulo of the Royal Danish Consul, Michael Go of KLM, avid Lego collector Jay Casio and Lucas Tantoco of Rustan’s (another avid Lego fan) — listened and observed, I walked around and got a good look at all the Lego creations. I have to admit I was thoroughly impressed.

The first entry was by Ted Ang, age 10, who submitted a piece called “The Hub.” His creation was, in his own words, “A collection of lots of transportation.” It was a little Lego city by the water with construction sites and even real-looking waves and a crane that really worked. Number two was by Julio Gariga, age 10, entitled “Help Save the Environment, Help Save Gas.” It was of a motorcycle loading gas at a gas station. He claims he was inspired to do this because “gas prices are high and our ozone layer is suffering.”

The third entry was by Jose Narciso, age seven, who put together an impressive-looking medieval castle complete with knights, dragons and wizards. When asked why he chose this theme the happy young boy eagerly replied that he “likes castles.” Entry number four was by Marquez Ng Uy, age 11, who built his own version of “The Great Wall of China.” In his creation he depicted how it must have looked while workers were building the Great Wall. It was really cute — there were even some workers taking a break and talking over the plans.

The fifth creation was, by far, the most attention-grabbing, based on its size alone. It was an impressively large little city built by John Bryant Cragun, age 11, called “World Unity and Progress.” I really enjoyed looking at all the little pieces of his creation because there was just so much to look at. “This was really fun to make,” Cragun shared. “My whole family pitched in to help put it together and I think the theme was appropriate — it’s all about unity which is important.” His creation even featured a huge Eiffel Tower as well as hotels with real working disco lights (for the mini disco inside!). 

And finally, the sixth entry was by Joshua Panganiban, age 10, who built his own version of “Lego City.” In Joshua’s creation he built a Lego city the way he imagined it would look — a melting pot of various ideas and people. If I’m not mistaken I even saw Indiana Jones hanging out at Lego City and if you looked closely enough you could see the Dark Knight watching over everyone. It was really very inventive.

In the end, I have to commend all the kids. All their work was creative, well thought-out and obviously a product of their very hard work. Everyone was thoroughly impressed with the level of determination and dedication each competitor showed. Each competitor brought home prizes from Lego and Rustan’s, but in the end, Ted Ang took home the prestigious first place prize and the trip to Denmark for the global competition on Oct. 10-12, for his entry “The Hub.” I think we were as excited as he was to be going to Legoland (something I’ve always wanted to do!).

Indeed, watching the competition and seeing all the new and amazing things from Lego was definitely a really good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We even got to play with a big box full of Lego pieces while waiting for the winner to be announced and Nino and I had a little competition of our own. His Lego racing car/smuggling plane versus my Lego Christmas tree and towel rack. Jury’s still out on that!