CARLSBAD -- A Carlsbad teenager who vowed that he hadn't picked up a little plastic building block in eight years wowed the judges during a two-day competition to select new master builders at the Legoland California amusement park.

Eighteen-year-old Samuel Swiger -- the youngest of the competitors -- walked away Thursday afternoon with a $10-an-hour, full-time job as his prize. He was one of four people selected for entry-level, or "associate" builder, jobs at Legoland.

"I didn't want to make a normal thing," Swiger said as he told the judges why he had built a three-dimensional recreation of an Egyptian god during the final two hours of the competition.

Five other people, including a man from Indiana who has a Web site showcasing his latest plastic Lego building block creations, won full-time jobs as "master builders" with a pay that starts at $12 to $15 an hour, Legoland park spokeswoman Beth Downing said.

The new master builders will create large, specialty pieces for a new Legoland amusement park that's scheduled to open in Malaysia in 2013. The new associate builders will copy existing Lego designs and do gluing work, among other things, Downing said.

The park received about 150 applications for the jobs, and narrowed that to 18 finalists by Thursday morning.

The troubled state of the nation's economy was clearly on some applicants' minds. Several of the finalists, including a man who had worked on a robotics project, said they were unemployed and looking for work.

Successful Legoland applicants had to do all the typical job interview stuff, plus they had to demonstrate their ability to build things with tiny plastic bricks under pressure. Their final event was a timed, two-hour competition in front of the judges, the news media, and dozens of Legoland visitors.

After the final whistle sounded, Carlsbad resident Erik Vanderhagen looked a little relieved.

"I didn't expect this," he said, adding that he had expected a simple job interview when he filled out his application. "Even if I don't get the job, this has been a lot of fun."

Vanderhagen, who built a dancing crocodile in the final timed competition, didn't win a job, but a personal trainer from Seattle who flew down for the competition did.

"I love building Legos and I thought I had a chance," said Joel Baker of Seattle as he waited for the final results.

Meanwhile, fellow master builder job winner Mark Larson of Indiana was already collecting fans. Several Legoland visitors wrote down his Web site address, saying they wanted to view his other creations.

There are 24 Legoland model builders, and 10 of them work at the Carlsbad park, Legoland officials said. This is the first competitive hiring of master builders at the park in several years, Downing said.

"It's just something we do whenever we need builders," she said.

The new master builders are: Joel Baker of Seattle; Brian Heins of Poway; Amanda Jouan of Chula Vista; Mark Larson of Beverly Shores, Ind.; and Ryan Wood of Gardena.

The new associate builders are: Dana Bradsema of San Diego; Eric Christie of Hemet; Bryan Decker of San Diego; and Samuel Swiger of Carlsbad.