Advent 2022

Another year’s Advent has come around. Last year I decided not to do LEGO Advent, but I’m going to give it another go this time around with just 3 of the 5 possible Advent calendars. I’m doing the Guardians of the Galaxy, Friends, and City calendars. This year I also started making YouTube videos about each day’s builds. 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 2022 edition.

Day 1

Here’s my YouTube video for Day 1. In it I express some concerns about the packaging, especially the Guardians of the Galaxy set, and building the models.

Also if you like the pocket knife I used to open the sets, it is the Roxon S501 Folding Pocket Knife and Scissors 2 in 1.

And here’s what we get… Star Lord for Guardians of the Galaxy, with two guns and some badass rocket shoes. The torso is printed front adn back, and the head has two faces to choose from.

The Friends entry is a minidoll, sorry I don’t know their names. But it’s nice to see some racial variety in these.

And for City we get a miniature airplane or helicopter, not sure which. It’s probably a police vehicle, given the color scheme.

Day 2

Here’s Day 2’s little video, where I open and build each of the three models:

And here are the models themselves:

Day 3

I made a little YouTube video about this set:

The Guardians of the Galaxy model is a Kyln Hoverbot, or Prison Drone from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Thanks to Jay’s Brick Blog for helping me figure this out. It doesn’t help that the instructions image in the box flap has you build it upside down (assuming Jay has it right, which he usually does).

In Friends we get a popcorn stand, using the LEGO ice cream as the popcorn. I love the 1×1 printed brick for the popcorn cup.

The City model is a mailbox, which goes well with the kid from Day 2 who had a letter to send to Santa.

I took all the parts from the first 3 days’ worth of these sets and designed an original creation. I came up with the Cassette Tape Rewind Bot: insert a tape into the slot in his front and he will rewind it for you, then open the door and the tape comes out! No need to hunt down a wooden pencil.

Day 4

I made a little YouTube video showing them being built and the MOC (puppy) that I built out of the parts so far.

The Friends model is a mystery to me. I thought at first it was a target for archery or something, but after building it and seeing how it spins freely I think it’s some kind of wheel of fortune? I don’t think of that as being very Christmassy, but maybe it is in Denmark?

City gives us a nice little piano with an adorable kitten on top!

The Guardians of the Galaxy model is a pretty bland model, a staple of Star Wars Advent calendars, a tool rack. Includes a hammer and sickle wrench and a bundle of TNT.

The MOC I built using the parts thus far is this little puppy. I don’t like dogs much, but they are so much easier to build than cats for some reason.

Day 5

Day 5 gives us:

Here’s Day 5’s YouTube video, including the MOC (turkey) made from the parts we got so far.

Day 5’s Friends model is truly confusing. I decided it’s an alpaca with a rainbow tail… but I guess it’s a unicorn, with the cheese slope instead of a horn? Or maybe it’s a piñata?

The City model is more obvious – a microscale train, with the ability to hinge thanks to the rounded piece in the second car.

Rocket Raccoon makes his appearance on Day 5 in the Guardians of the Galaxy calendar.

Day 5’s MOC (“My Own Creation”) using the parts from all 3 calendars through Day 5 is a turkey. Gobble gobble! I am particularly proud of the feet, which are the guns from GOTG day 1.

Here are the instructions to build the Turkey if you want to build one.

Day 6

We’re already 25% through the Advent season, can you believe it??

Here is the YouTube video about these models:

Today’s Friends model is a small child mini-minidoll. How cute is she???

The City model looks to me to be a hotel bellhop holding a cookie (room service?). Yum.

And for Guardians of the Galaxy we get a box. With some stuff.

Since Day 6’s models didn’t offer a lot of new parts, I decided not to build a new MOC this time.

Day 7

Day 7 ran a day late and ended up posting on the 8th.

Here’s my video of them:

A closer look at the City model, a Christmas market booth selling cookies:

and Friends is a similar booth, selling hot dogs:

Guardians of the Galaxy is a very big gun instead:

The original model I came up with from the parts thus far is a biplane:

Day 8

Here is Day 8’s YouTube video:

Friends and City give us two more Christmas market booths… in Friends, we get a booth selling a hot beverage with some kind of warming appliance in the center. Maybe it’s a chocolate fountain?

for City, it’s a big-ass cake:

Guardians of the Galaxy gives us something vaguely related at least to the food theme, a big turkey:

Here is my own model for the day, based on the parts so far, a sailbaot.

Day 9

Today’s models veer away from the Christmas market theme.

I made a YouTube video about Day 9’s models.

Here is the City model, a cute birdhouse on a stick with an adorable birbd.

Guardians of the Galaxy’s model is a Nebula minifigure in an ugly Christmas sweater featuring herself and Thanos on the back in a heart. (Thanks to Jay’s Brick Blog for filling in for my failed memory.)

Here are all three models together.

My original model with the parts so far (days 1-9 from the three calendars) is this blue and white kitty cat.

Meow!

Day 10

Once again the models veer away from the Christmas market theme.

Here’s the YouTube video in which I talk at greater length about the models and the parts used.

Friends gives us a little snowman:

The City model is a woman (with a really cool print on the torso, legs, and sassy face on the head) with a broom:

Guardians of the Galaxy gives us a Laser Drill Spaceship (at least according to Jay’s Brick Blog, and he’s never wrong).

With the parts we’ve received thus far, I built this model of a wind-up toy robot:

Just 2 weeks left until Christmas – are you done with your shopping?

Day 11

Today we get…

Here’s my video about these models:

Today’s Friends model is a very, very small ice rink.

In City, we get what I think may be an ice reconditioning vehicle? But it’s not a very good one.

The Guardians of the Galaxy models are a mining pod and an escape pod.

With the parts gained thus far, I was excited to finally get some wheels, so I made a dragster.

If you want to build the dragster here are the directions:

Day 12

We are halfway there! Today’s models:

Here is the video for this day’s models:

Advent returns to the Christmas market theme:

City continues the ice skating theme:

and Guardians of the Galaxy goes with a table with some stuff:

My model for Day 12 is a jet powered ice cruiser with lots of windows.

Day 13

Today’s models:

Here is Day 13’s video:

Our Friends model is a karaoke setup – microphone and speaker.

City gives us … a chicken with an egg and some stars? Not sure what this is supposed to be.

The Guardians of the Galaxy model is Mantis with a blue electric guitar.

And I built a cute bunny in a flat sculpture style.

[Updated: added instructions]

Day 14

Today gives us:

Here’s a little video I made about these models:

The Friends model is another mini-minidoll:

In City, we also get a new figure, a girl with a lamp:

Guardians of the Galaxy gives us a The Guardian’s Ship:

And I built a bulldozer using the pieces obtained thus far:

Here are instructions for the bulldozer, if you care to try building it:

Day 15

Today’s models:

Here’s Day 15’s video – watch (and like & subscribe & ring the bell) if you want to support my nascent YouTube channel!

Our Friends model (yes, that’s right, Friends) contains a snowball (snowdisc?) shooter and some targets to hit:

The City model looks like a scarecrow, clearly intended also to be hit by the flying snowballs:

And Guardians of the Galaxy has this giant candy cane, which I think could also be used as a target:

With the parts from the models 1-15 in all three calendars thus far, I came up with a sleigh and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! First the sleigh, which is alternating red & white, using parts from Day 15’s models:

Here’s a better look at Rudolph:

And here is everything all together with a hitch that I also made connecting them.

Here is a side view, where you can see how there is a brown 1×2 plate which has to be removed to put the hitch on.

Here are the instructions to build the models:

Day 16

Behind Day 16’s doors we find:

Here is Day 16’s video:

Friends returns to the Christmas market with a penguin (or maybe magpie?) vendor:

City gives us a tic-tac-toe (naughts and crosses) game, in the style of a giant chess set in a park:

Guardians of the Galaxy

With the parts obtained so far from these Advent calendars, I built this owl:

[Updated Dec 18th] Here are instructions for the owl:

Day 17

Just one week left y’all! Today the calendars have in store for us:

I made a video of Day 17’s models:

Friends gives us just one piece, a cute reindeer baby:

Here’s the City model, a Christmas tree:

Guardians of the Galaxy continues with the snowball fight target practice theme, with an armored snowman:

I took all the parts obtained thus far and built this little scene, of a kitten stuck in a tree. I’ve been waiting for more green pieces to build this ever since the kitten came along, and decided that the ones from the Christmas tree would do the trick:

[Updated December 18th] Here are instructions for the kitten in a tree model:

Day 18

A power outage at my home delayed Day 18 — it ended up posted together with Day 19 below. While I was offline, if you needed an Advent calendar fix you could check out The Brothers Brick or Jay’s Brick Blog. Jay’s not doing City, but both of them are also doing Star Wars and Harry Potter, which I decided to skip this year.

The power had been off since 4:30am on Sunday morning, and I missed the chance to watch the World Cup Final unspoilered, juggling a generator and batteries instead. By 2:30am Monday morning the utility was still pushing back the restoration time by 2-3 hours each time they hit it; originally they said 6pm. A migraine was coming on, my fingers smelled like gasoline, and I was not having a great time. But I am very grateful for the friend who loaned me the generator and who also brought their waffle iron and made waffles on my back steps!! Thank you Xander!

Day 19

Day 19 ended up posted alongside Day 18 after midnight on the 20th, thanks to the power outage above. I tried to get back on pace for the remaining 5 days.

I made a combined day 18 & 19 video:

And here are the Friends models for both days. First in Day 18 we build a sleigh we can hitch up to the reindeer we got on Day 17.

In Day 19 we get what looks to me like a hurdle for the reindeer to jump over, along with a wrapped gift and a hay bale.

Here are the City models. For day 18 we get a rocking horse and a model rocket.

And Day 19 gives us a grocery clerk with an apple.

And lastly, here are the Guardians of the Galaxy models. Day 18 is their spaceship with its distinctive downward-pointing orange nose.

I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot.

My MOC for Day 19 is a turtle. It’s a small model but it does feature some of the parts we just got in Day 19’s sets.

Here are the turtle’s instructions:

Day 20

Here’s the video I made for Day 20:

Friends gives us a Christmas tree.

Day 20’s City model is a campfire, or maybe Yule log. But the marshmallows on sticks suggest campfire.

in Guardians of the Galaxy we get some foliage that goes on Groot’s back, turning him into a Christmas tree.

With the parts I’ve got thus far, I built a flower model.

[Updated Dec 21st] Here are instructions to build the flower:

Day 21

3 weeks in! 3 more days to go! Here’s what we get:

Here is the video with all of the models:

Friends gives us our 8th and final European Christmas market stall:

City gives us a lamppost:

…and I dunno what this is going to be, from Guardians of the Galaxy:

This time I built not just one, but 10 separate models! A bunch more European Christmas market stalls to complement the ones LEGO gave us:

Fruit

Leeks

Hats

Roller Skates

Ice Skates

Scarves

Mimosas

Tools

Musical Instruments

Mixtapes

See all the photos of the Christmas Market stalls (8 from the calendars and my 10 MOCs, including a rear view of each) in the gallery below, or watch the video on YouTube.

[Updated Dec 24th] Here are instructions for these ten models:

Day 22

As I write this it’s actually the 23rd. I’ve had some health issues this week, but am feeling better now. Here’s the Day 22 models from the LEGO Guardians of the Galaxy, Friends, and City Advent Calendars:

I made this video about them:

Friends model is a horse and some hay wrapped for Christmas.

City gives us a camera on a stick and a light.

Guardians of the Galaxy adds wings to Day 22’s cockpit piece.

And I built this pretty complicated little colorful locomotive.

[Updated December 26th] Here are instructions for the “Candy Train” locomotive:

Day 23

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! Opening the penultimate doors:

Build video – sorry this time there’s no custom model.

Friends

City

City towed by Day 22’s horse

Guardians of the Galaxy part 3 of the rocket sleigh

Day 24

Merry Christmas! It’s Xmas Eve and for our last models we get 3 figures:

This gallery shows all the images from Advent 2022: