Still haven’t found that perfect gift for your favorite Simple Trick and Nonsense blogger? Might I suggest a one-of-a-kind eight-foot replica of a Republic attack cruiser (as seen in Revenge of the Sith) made entirely out of Legos?

This astounding model was created with some 35,000 Lego bricks by a “Lego Master Builder” — what a job title, eh? — named Erik Varszegi. It has appeared at a number of large geek-gatherings, including Star Wars Celebration III and the legendary San Diego Comic-Con, and it’s currently up for auction on eBay. Last time I checked, the bid price was a mere $24,006.99. All of the money from the final bid will go to Habitat for Humanity’s hurricane relief project, so come on, make a gesture of friendship to yours truly and contribute to a good cause. Maybe I’ll even let you come over and admire it sometime…

All kidding aside, this thing fascinates me. I am simply astounded by the accuracy of this model; I had no idea you could build something so “realistic” out of Legos. Everything I ever attempted to build with them as a kid inevitably ended up as a cube, or a rectangular obelisk or something, so I can’t help but be impressed by any Lego sculpture that actually looks like something.

In case you didn’t know, you can click on the photo above to see a larger version. You might also want to check out this interview with Varszegi, which includes lots more photos along with the details of how this model was constructed. It’s almost as complex as the special-effects miniatures built for the original trilogy!