Advent 2012

2012 was the first year LEGO made a Friends Advent Calendar, joining City and Star Wars for three calendars total. As usual, each post was originally a separate blog entry, starting with Day 1, and continuing with a daily post about that day’s advent models. However, to clean up the site, I’ve condensed all those daily posts to a single post per year. Here’s the 2012 edition.

Every year LEGO puts out at least one Advent calendar, each one typically folowing a particular theme. This year for the first time (that I know of) we have three Advent calendars: Star Wars (9509), City (4428), and Friends (3316). In case you’re not familiar with Advent calendars, they are a traditional way of celebrating the month of December in Christian families – each day in December up to Christmas Eve, you open up one box from the calendar and get some kind of treat. When I was a kid these were just paper calendars with pictures behind each door. With LEGO it makes the concept a lot more interesting since you get a toy to build and play with.

I didn’t start blogging these until December 4th… a busy weekend with only three hours of sleep Friday and Saturday had put me behind, so the first four entries went up together, and I tried to stay on top of them each day after that. Unlike some bloggers, I feel it’s important to actually open each day’s set and build it on the day it belongs to.

When I opened up Day 1 in each of the calendars I found a little plastic bag of LEGO parts and a little paper page. Each calendar has a paper page with the legal warnings about choking on small parts and pictures of other sets in that theme. When you open the door for each day, there’s a small picture of the set you are to build on the back side of the door, and you pull out the little plastic bag and build it. There’s no step by step instructions though, so it can be a little more difficult to build the more intricate models than a typical LEGO set that spoon feeds the build to you in individual steps. They’re never all that hard though.

The big surprise I got however came when I opened the Friends calendar for Day #1, and found the wrong parts! I opened a couple of other doors at random and found the same thing. Eventually I figured out that my set was built wrong. I don’t know if they’re all this way or if I just got one that was defective, but the tray that contains all the stuff to build was put in backward. I opened up the box, pulled out the plastic tray with 24 bins in it, turned it around, and put it back in, and then not only Day #1 but the other doors I had opened were now correct.

Day 1

Anyhow, I built the three models, and here they are – a micro scale space ship for the Star Wars calendar, a minidoll in the Friends calendar, and a firefighter minifig (with an extra helmet and bullhorn) in the City calendar.

The spaceship is the only thing that is at all challenging to build, of course, and the parts assortment is pretty ordinary, so there’s not much to write about.

Day 2

The second door in each of our LEGO Advent Calendar sets gives us Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars set, a pink sled in the Friends set, and a chainsaw with log in the City set.

The chainsaw is a clever build, using two pistols (or gas pumps, or fire hose handles, if you like) and a 1×1 brick with studs on four sides. The sled is pretty simple, but it includes “Panel 1 x 2 x 1 with Rounded Corners and Central Divider” in pink! And the less said about Jar Jar the better.

Day 3

Day three in the Advent calendars brings us a Christmas tree, a decorative lamp with an ornamental sprig of green, and some kind of Gungan catapult thingy.

I had to double-check the boxes to confirm that the Friends set gives us the lamp, and the City set gives us the tree. The oval shield in trans-purple with the printing on it in the Star Wars set is a really neat part. I really like the streetlamp design, but the tree is a pretty common design – every year there’s one very much like this in the Advent calendar set(s).

Day 4

Day 4 caught me up, though I didn’t get it posted until after midnight… technically Day 5 by then.

In Friends, we get skis and ski poles, which makes sense. Star Wars brings us a micro Star Destroyer, okay. But in City we have …. stairs? And a magic wand? What is this for?

Day 5

Since it was after midnight when I posted Day 4, I’m going to put up Day 5 now too…

In Day 4, we got a staircase with a magic wand in City, so now of course a brick wall with an axe hanging from it is the obvious next step… Obviously. I suppose these are all related in some way to firefighting? The yellow thing could be a fire extinguisher, and firemen use axes, and brick walls are fire-resistant…

I don’t know what the brown thing is in Star Wars… some kind of land-based vehicle I assume. I don’t really know much about Star Wars outside of the original three movies, and I don’t think this was from those.

The Friends set has a lovely little snowman – finally something that makes sense.

 

Day 6

Here we have three figures for Day 6 of the LEGO Advent calendars. Star Wars gives us a battle droid, Friends gives us a girl with a Christmas sweater, and City gives us a kid throwing snowballs with a safety helmet.

 

Day 7

Day 7 brings us two very detailed models in City and Star Wars, and a great accessory pack in Friends.

Especially compared to Day 6’s small parts count, this is a pretty big haul. The Naboo space ship has 16 parts plus the 3 extras, and the little remote control fire truck and remote control has 17 parts and 4 extras. The space ship in particular is a pretty detailed build, and involves some really clever SNOT techniques. I especially liked the use of the two clips behind the cockpit to hold the tail in place.

Day 8

For the eighth day of Advent we get three nice little models.

The Star Wars spaceship is one I don’t recognize, but I like those curved parts on the wings. The Friends set is a little table and stool, with a 2×2 round brick and 2×2 square tile in lime green and a pink mug. The most elaborate is the City model, a little wall with skis and poles, which matches the wall we saw in Day 5.

Day 9

For the first time we get models in the three Advent calendars that I can use to compose a little scene:

The Star Wars calendar yielded a Hoth rebel trooper (I think), and we have some kind of repairman in City, and Friends gives us cupcakes and milk for them to share. Aww.

Day 10

Today’s Advent Calendars give us two parts FAIL and one part WIN. In order of decreasing win we have an AT-AT, a hand truck of tires, and a sled trailer that can be towed behind the snowmobile/sled we found in Day 2.

The AT-AT walker in the Star Wars set is absolutely adorable, isn’t it? Awww. And I like the telescopes in light grey, which I don’t think I’ve seen before.

But the other calendars have problems. First in City we have a hand truck for schlepping four tires. But only three tires actually fit on it, so you have to make two trips (at least the diagram on the box shows that correctly). But the problem is that the hand truck barely holds the tires as shown. The stack of three tires is very precarious, and falls over easily.

However, the big fail is in Friends. I’m missing a part!! As you can see above there is a white 1×4 plate missing. I fished out a plate from an earlier day’s entry to build it properly, and you can see the fixed one here:

But isn’t that AT-AT so cuuuuuute?? So far I’m liking the Star Wars calendar best overall, how about you?

Day 11

Today, we get a Christmas gift, a quad bike (belonging to the fire department?), and an Ion Cannon from Star Wars.

The pink and white box from Friends is a pretty lame model, and the little pawprint round tile can’t be mounted in the center on the provided jumper plate. But if they’d given us a regular 1×2 plate, it would be. The round tile has more ways of being attached to LEGO studs than most 2×2 parts, and in this instance you can see that I’ve attached the stud not in the “corners” of the round tile, where notches for studs are clearly visible, but in the center of the side of the part. (The instructions in the box were not clear about exactly how to attach it, since it showed the tile hovering above the pink and white box.)

The quad bike is a cute little design, and clearly the wheels from Day 10 were meant for this little vehicle:

The Star Wars model is a little unexciting, though I suppose the black 3 stud diameter radar dish is a nice part to have.

Day 12

For 12/12/12 we get two minifigs and a puppy.

LEGO always includes extras of small parts, but it’s rare to find two extras as we find with the guy’s goggles. Aside from that, I don’t have much to say about Day 12’s models. I like the minifig parts though; they’re all useful. And the puppy is adorable!

Day 13

We’re now just past half way to 24, and here’s what I found under flap #13 of the three LEGO Advent Calendars.

For Friends, we have a little stool and a water bowl for Day 12’s puppy. Yawn.

City gives us a desk with a computer and keyboard – printed parts, which is nice. But other than that, pretty unexciting.

Star Wars gives us a droid, I think I recognize it from one of the original movies but I don’t remember what it’s called or which movie. Anyway, it’s a simple boxy shape without any particularly interesting parts.

So overall, Day 13 is a bit disappointing.

Day 14

Day 14 of the LEGO Advent Calendars gives us three pretty simple and unexciting models.

Star Wars has some kind of weapons station, which strangely enough has a light sabre mounted by its blade??? Also there’s an extra blade (trans-red 4L bar), but it’s shown in the instructions so I don’t think it counts as an extra part.

City has a box and two fires. Okaaay.

Friends has a little dog bed and bone. I guess the brackets in dark teal are kind of nice to have.

Overall I’m struck by the variety in complexity in these models. Some days we get some pretty complicated and awesome little models, especially in Star Wars, and other days, like this one, it seems like they’re kind of phoning it in…

Day 15

The 15th entries in each of the three LEGO Advent Calendars give us another vehicle for the Friends snowmobile/sled train, another wall of firefighting equipment for City, and a Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back) Imperial Snowtrooper.

The Snowtrooper has a printed face and you can see through the eyeholes to.. his forehead? Fail.

Day 16

For the 16th day we get a very cool Star Wars spaceship, a little girl with snowballs for City, and in Friends, a bucket and broom with … more snowballs?

The ship is nicely made and very swooshable, again Star Wars wins hands-down.

The City figure has a nice torso pattern that I don’t think I’ve seen before.

I’m not quite sure why one would want a bucket and broom for snowballs, but at least we have more ammo for the girl from City.

Day 17

The 17th day in the Advent Calendars gives us three little models

The mailbox from Friends is cute, but not exactly a complicated model. More pink cheese, yay.

In City we get a snowball catapult, with much bigger ammo than Day 16’s snowball-throwing minifigure. Press the red button!

And in Star Wars we get a cute little vehicle, not sure what it is but FBTB tells me it’s a “flash speeder.” I like the green, it helps me to restock my supplies after building Kermit.

 

Day 18

We’re 3/4 of the way through Advent, and Day 18 gives us a wrapped gift, a Star Wars rebel trooper, and a dog with fire hydrant.

None of these are challenging builds to say the least, but I like the pairing of the dog and fire hydrant. I wonder what’s in the wrapped box?

And again we get double bonus visors. Can you name some uses for those other than snapping them on a helmet?

Day 19

Day 19 of the LEGO 2012 Advent Calendars.

For City, we get a fireman. For Star Wars we get a microscale Trade Federation Shuttle. But where’s the Friends model, I hear you cry? Look closely in the fireman’s left hand – a handbag. Just one part. Really, LEGO? One part???

But we get tons of extra fire hats and coffee mugs. Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed that minifigs drink a lot of coffee? Seems like every set nowadays has one … every truck driver and heavy equipment operator in LEGOLAND is apparently sipping coffee all day long. I think LEGO may be working their set designers too hard, they need more sleep…

Day 20

For Day 20 of the Advent calendars, we get a cool (and very detailed) Star Wars microscale spaceship, but the other two calendars are a little bland.

The ship is General Grievous’s Starfighter, from the prequel movies, so blah, but it’s a nice little piece of LEGO construction and SNOT (Studs Not On Top) design. For City we get a wheelbarrow with an extra wheel hub, for cleaning up the mess created by all those snowball fights, and for Friends we have a Shrubbery.

Day 21

Day 21 of the LEGO Advent Calendars brings us a Star Wars Super Battle Droid (meh) and some traffic cones and a sign for City, and finally Friends comes through with a detailed model!

The Super Battle Droid is a lot more detailed than LEGO’s regular Battle Droid model, but it feels like cheap plastic from China like a lot of non-LEGO toys, and the parts don’t seem to be very useful.

City gives us two traffic cones with blue lights on them, and a yellow warning sign. In case you’re wondering how the warning sign is attached, it has a clip in the back and it’s attached to the dark grey claw – you can see the extra claw lying with the other extra parts. Not a bad way to attach the sign, though it’s kind of low to the ground.

But the best model this time comes from Friends, and there’s no pink or purple or teal or anything! How odd! It’s a nice simple little fireplace with a mantle decorated for the holidays. How sweet.

Also, happy Mayan New Year everybody! It’s already December 22 in parts of the world, and we’re all still here….

Day 22

Today is the penpenultimate day in the Advent Calendar, and we have a bumper crop of bonus parts!

The Friends set gives us a nice little tree, and though I checked carefully there’s no use for the 2×2 round plates or those extra red dots in the model!

Star Wars gives us another microscale ship, with the expected extra cheese slopes and half pin.

In City, we get what seems to be a sleigh trailer with no fewer than three extra robot arms! I welcome this, because these are a neat part that we don’t see often – the battle droid arms with the 90 degree rotation between the two ends, and straight elbow.

Day 23

The next-to-last day in our Advent calendar gives us some gift boxes and a snowdroid!

The light blue and white box is from Friends; the other two are from City. But the best part of Day 23 is the droid – look closely at the printing, he has carrots on his chest and eyes made out of coal! And of course, the top hat to finish it all off. Adorable.

Day 24

Last day of the LEGO Advent Calendars!

Star Wars and City both give us what we have come to expect from LEGO Advent Calendars – Santa Claus minifigs. Santa Maul is a cute idea, though I don’t think we can count on him for some really good toys for the good girls and boys… and for the bad ones, recruiting for the Dark Side? Either way, lose-lose. But the Santa Suit is great, just swap the heads and you’re good to go. In City we have a plain unprinted red suit for Santa, so I’d combine the two and get a great Santa. But what is up with this item from Friends? A cosmetics table… with a wig stand? Are we supposed to believe the teenagers of Heartlake City are wearing wigs? Perhaps one of them is a cancer survivor? That’s a cheerful thought for Christmas. Sorry, I call Christmas Fail on this one.

This gallery shows all the images from Advent 2012: