I've always known I was a "Geek". And I have embraced it. But I didn't realize how much of a geek I was till just today. I was out shopping for somethings for a personal project at a large retail box store that shall remain nameless. While there I had plenty to time to kill so I thought I would walk around and do some Christmas shopping research. What toys or crafts would be a cool gift for my "Padawan" (My oldest daughter Terry). Now that last sentence should tell you something right there. My kid's nickname is Padawan, like the young Jedi in Star Wars. But to continue, I walked aimlessly from aisle to isle waiting to hear from a friend about the items I needed for my project. When I came upon the toy aisles.

Now I have always loved looking at the toys. Seeing what kids now get to play with compared to when I was little. And by some measure, they have some really cool stuff! But technology has advanced so much, it's only logical that would be the case. But as I strolled, I came to tom toys for young boys. Beyblade, Iron Man and Marvel Comics action figures, etc. When I got to the Star Wars action figures and vehicles, I of course had to check them out! Han Solo, Luke Slywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan. All my old friends were here. And even some of the not so well know ones, like Major Bren Derlin. Who's he you ask? He's the young officer that instructs the rebel pilots to get to there stations before the Battle of Hoth in the Empire Strikes Back. For you trivia folks, he was played by John Ratzenberger, better known as Cliff Clavin from the TV show Cheers.

Then, there they were! It was almost as if the spirit of Walt Disney himself had guided me to this place. TRON Legacy action figures and vehicles. WOW! The last time I saw a toy from TRON, the original movie, I was maybe 9 or 10? And the original ones were super hard to find back then! And when I managed to find one, it was Flynn. And I really wanted TRON. Even though he really wasn't THAT much of a major character in the movie, in my opinion, but hey, let's not quibble.

But there they were. TRON Legacy. I had to check them out. Flynn's Lightcycle, Sam Flynn's Lightcycle, CLU, Sam Flynn action figure. Oh man! Was I jacked! I pressed buttons for the demos on all the stuff and tried to suppress my excitement. Here I was, a grown man checking out toys! Not to play with, but collecting! These would be awesome to have on a shelf on display. Have fellow geeks over and discuss the finer points of how to classify a Recognizer. Is it a plane? And flying tank? But I have no shame in telling you all this. No, I am proud to be a geek.

But then it was time to move on. And as I did, I thought about where would I put these cool collectibles if I had the room? My girlfriend Kim would kill me if I bought any of these. And we have a rule, no buying things like that for ourselves during the Christmas season. Just in case we got something like that as a gift. And that got me thinking. A few nights earlier, she said she got me a gift that she knew I would love! And she knows how much of a geek I am. And we are planning on seeing TRON Legacy together. So it got me thinking if she got me something like that. Hmm. I would love TRON Legacy for Christmas. Maybe there's time left to write to Santa?

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