What began as a childhood hobby turned into something much bigger for Oregon native Alex Sahli.
Sahli, a junior studying computer science at Cal Poly, has been building LEGO sets his entire life. His first set belonged to his mom, originally purchased in 1981.
“[It’s] what got me hooked,” Sahli told NBC affiliate KGW.
He’s assembled everything from the DeLorean from “Back to the Future” to the Titanic to the Saturn 5 rocket.
One of his most recent assemblies didn’t come with instructions.
That’s because the Italian Riviera-inspired playset was something Sahli designed and submitted to LEGO.
Italian Riviera LEGO set. Designed by Alex Sahli. (LEGO Group)
In anticipation for a trip he had planned to Italy’s Cinque Terre, Sahli began creating the LEGO set in 2022 based on his research of the region.
Once finished to his liking, the Italian Riviera village model was sent in to LEGO designers for consideration and received the necessary 10,000 votes to be approved for production.
Sahli was surprised the 3,251-piece set was such a hit. He thought it was a cool idea but was “worried they wouldn’t approve it.”
The LEGO design team helped Sahli perfect the final product to include the regions famous vibrant house colors and to feature a small figure of Sahli holding a camera — another one of his hobbies.
The set includes a figure of Sahli holding a camera (LEGO Group)
Three years after submitting his original designs online, Sahli’s LEGO creation is finally being sold in stores and online worldwide for $299.99.