Photos: Going for the Lego gold

Los Angeles actor Mikhail Blokh contemplates which brick to add next during the first-round skill test Thursday at the Master Model Builder finals in Carlsbad, Calif. Blokh said the plastic bricks were his "fantasy place" as a child.

On Tuesday, the finalists will square off in a two-hour "build-off" in which each will be tasked with building a model based on something they think would fit in well at the theme park.

Sarah Hall, a finalist in Legoland California's Master Model Builder competition, poses with her bin of bricks. Hall is a 23-year-old insurance claim processor from Louisville, Ky.

Jason Poland, a recent college graduate from Houston, shows off his model after the first-round skill test. Poland also draws cartoons in his spare time.

Hall was one of eight members in the group of Master Model Builder competition finalists who had to build a face in a first-round skill test.

Gugick shows off his model of a face during the Master Model Builder competition at Legoland California.

After finishing his model of a face, Blokh poses for a picture.

Master Model Builder competition finalist Gary McIntire poses with the model of a parrot that won him a spot in the finals after the regional event in Phoenix on March 17. McIntire, a 25-year-old construction professional from Highland, Utah, has been a Lego addict since age 4.