Lego Oscar Artist: Toy Statuettes Better Not Show Up on eBay

The mastermind behind Sunday night’s Lego Oscar hopes his precious creations landed in the right hands after the show because they’re “priceless limited-edition” collectibles and he won’t be making them again.

Nathan Sawaya told The Hollywood Reporter he was approached by the team behind The Lego Movie to create 20 Lego Oscars based on a design he previously made for co-director Phil Lord. Sawaya said he obliged and handed over the statuettes with no strings attached. They’re gone and he’s never getting them back.

The statuettes were supposed to be distributed to celebrities in the crowd, but after the show party photos began to appear on social media showing the statuettes being passed around like candy.

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What’s more rare than a real Oscar? A LEGO OSCAR. I would like to thank the Academy… #legooscar #lego #everythingisawesome #hellobeautiful

A photo posted by Charlie Williams (@charlesglynn) on Feb 23, 2015 at 10:07am PST

Sawaya understands that’s bound to happen with something as fun as a Lego Oscar, especially after the toy statuettes played such a central part of Sunday night’s broadcast, but he’s hoping for the best. “You can’t stop it,” Sawaya said. “You can’t prevent it.”

And even though Sawaya hopes the statuettes found their way to good homes, he wouldn’t be surprised if a couple ended up on eBay. “It would kind of be a weird honor.”

If one does surface online, don’t expect to get it for cheap. “These are priceless,” Sawaya said. “I’m not going to be churning out more of these. In fact, I’ve been asked hundreds of times — if not thousands — ‘How can I get one for myself?’ And I always say, ‘I’ll trade you one for a real Oscar.’ That’s the only thing that will make me want to make another.”