The Millennium Falcon’s Missing Link

Millennium Falcon ‘Star Wars’ Lego set PHOTO FROM TANNYA JOAQUIN

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … I loved Star Wars. I remember my sister and I would argue over who would get to be Luke Skywalker. Eventually, one of us would back down and get “stuck” being Han Solo. Interestingly, neither of us wanted to be Princess Leia.

But, I digress. The Star Wars series brings back so many memories.

I only can imagine what the eagerly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be like when it hits theaters this year. You could say the force awakened at our house recently, but it was not with us.

You see, I intentionally have been avoiding a Christmas present my parents gave to my son. It’s a great gift, but it’s intimidating.

It’s the mothership of all Legos, the Millennium Falcon Star Wars Lego set — all 1,254 pieces.

Yes, she’s a beauty. But she’s a beast to build. The set description pretty much sums up why: “Straight from the Death Star escape scene of Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, the Millennium Falcon features stunning details, including hull plates that open to reveal a detailed interior, twin flick missiles, rotating quad laser cannons and a detachable cockpit cover.”

Yes, she has all the bells and whistles! I didn’t even want to open the box until I mentally prepared myself.

OK, 1,254 pieces. I can do this. Recommended age 9-14. All right, seeing as I’m an adult, how hard could it be?

I finally got up the courage to do it. (OK, it was a rainy day and my son begged me to build his Lego toy, but I digress.) The thud of so many bags filled with odd-sized Legos required a mini pep talk. Then seeing the instructions made me brace for the challenge. Yes, not one, but two thick manuals showing me how to build the Millennium Falcon.

Well, she’s not going to build herself, so I start the process, with the assistance of my son. It’s going pretty well until I realize some rotating pieces have flipped, and we’re attaching Legos on the wrong side. OK, minor hiccup, but it requires backtracking.

Undeterred, we resume the painstaking process. I’m on a mission and quickly get back to the point where we messed up before.

I was starting to build confidence with each piece as the foundation of this central Star Wars figure began to take shape. It felt good, and I could picture how happy my son would be when it was done.

Then, we hit an unexpected snag: A key piece was missing. How could this be?

I looked everywhere but I could not find it, so I did what I always do.

I Googled it. I got my laptop and typed in “Missing Lego Star Wars Millenium Falcon piece.”

Apparently, it’s fairly common for new Lego sets to be missing pieces because there’s an entire customer-service section devoted to it. Unfortunately, our Lego masterpiece will be in limbo until the part comes.

If only I could pull off a Jedi mind trick.

tjoaquin@hawaiinewsnow.com