I vividly remember sitting in the theater watching the second part of The Hobbit and seeing Peter Jackson’s cinematic version of the hidden stairs to Erebor for the first time. His stairs were so much cooler than what I had imagined reading the book and I instantly knew I wanted to build them out of LEGO. It took a couple of years, but I finally got around to it.

What finally motivated me you? The Middle Earth LEGO Olympics on MOCpages! For those of you who haven’t heard of this contest, it’s an annual challenge that puts builders in head-to-head, single-elimination rounds to find an ultimate champion. The first round (the qualifier) runs through April 3rd, so there’s still plenty of time for you to build a Hobbit-themed entry of your own!