BEST and WORST City Advent Calendar

[The Cobra]

Database:

2005: EB Topic - BS gallery

2006: EB Topic - BS gallery

2007: EB Topic - BS gallery

2008: EB Topic - BS gallery

2009: EB Topic - BS gallery

My Opinions:

2005:

PROs: Street Worker has great tools. Chef has a REAL pizza! Good minifig selections, great pieces.

CONs: that lame level crossing thing, only one dog for Santa's sled (maybe he could borrow the Policeman's dog). A great "start".

2006:

PROs: Street Worker has great tools again, Doc minifig, Street cleaner's torso and tools, public phone booth (no cell phones in Leco City!), fireman's water blade, Santa's chimney.

CONs: that lame level crossing thing again.

2007:

PROs: I own one of these, dock's worker minifig, some good accessories to the train man, Christmas tree

CONs: that undersized radar thing.

2008:

PROs: I own one of these, female minifigs, 10 total minifigs, Ice cream, handcuffs for the thief, motorsled (or whatever it's called).

CONs: No Pizza but a made-up eatable.

2009:

PROs: I own one of these, Santa is back, a lumberjack (!), a kid minifig (making 9 total minifigs), fountain, streetlight w/Xmas decoration.

CONs: We already saw 90% of this throughout the years, and some were better (snowman faceoff anyone?)

Therefore, my list goes like this:

1) 2006

2) 2007-2008 tied

4) 2005

5) 2009

[BlueBard]

For me, the best one is without doubt the 2007 one. Is the most variated and with interesting and not so regular MFs and city elements For the opposite reasons, I think 2009's is the worst

BTW, nice idea, Cobra, to start a topic

[blueandwhite]

Perhaps I'm a bit odd, but I actually like the emphasis that the 2009 calendar places on the holiday season. I still think that the original is the best (if only for being first), but the others have all been decent. I'm not too fond of the 2008 calendar. 2008 also loses out to the infinitely more exciting Castle advent calendar making it my least favourite of the bunch. I would really like to see something a bit different though. I would love to see an advent calendar where you build a MOC over 2+ days (perhaps a small vehicle). A change in the formula would definitely be welcome.

[Klaus-Dieter]

That's a great and very interesting topic, The Cobra!

For me the best advent calendar is the

2009 advent calendar:

-so many civilian minifigs - even a boy! (but regrettably no woman! )

-winter scenes

-a lot of great additional stuff that hasn't come in the regular and exclusives City sets before (e. g. "market" stands, RC car race, lumberjack accessory, ...)

(The 2008 advent calendar is my second favourite one.)

For me the worst advent calendar is the

2007 advent calendar:

-no single civilian minifig

-not really exiting accessory

Klaus-Dieter

[The Cobra]

So, Christmas was two years days ago and AC content is no longer a surprise.

Wanna join the topic?

As for me (and I mentioned it in WhiteFang's review), I now own the 2009 set and kind of like it, but still think it's the worst one.

[Rick]

That's a great and very interesting topic, The Cobra!

For me the best advent calendar is the

2009 advent calendar:http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/style_images/town_trains/folder_editor_images/rte-align-left.png

-so many civilian minifigs - even a boy! (but regrettably no woman! )

-winter scenes

-a lot of great additional stuff that hasn't come in the regular and exclusives City sets before (e. g. "market" stands, RC car race, lumberjack accessory, ...)

(The 2008 advent calendar is my second favourite one.)

For me the worst advent calendar is the

2007 advent calendar:

-no single civilian minifig

-not really exiting accessory

Klaus-Dieter

This sums up my opinion pretty well. The 2006 advent calendar was the first one I bought, which was pretty good. The 2007 was a big disappointment, because it lacked original models. 2008 had some pretty good and original 'civilian' models, like the ice cream cart. 2009 combines this with nice winter scenes and very useful town accessories like the bench, fountain, light post, and traffic light.

[BlueBard]

So, Christmas was two years ago and AC content is no longer a surprise.

I think you mean two days ago

About the 2009 City Advent Calendar I now own it too (bought in Switzerland, btw, because in South Europe we don't have the right ) and I still think, like you, that even if it's a great purchase for any City theme lover is the worst we've had

[MetroiD]

From a City fan's point of view, buying the City Advent calendar at the end of the year should have been an obvious choice. Instead, this year I decided to buy the Pirates Calendar - and I'm glad I did that! Yes, I missed out on that cool mini-RC scene, but the mermaid and the sawfish are a more prized possession :)

While I love the fact that the 2009 City Calendar focused on the festive season, winter holidays, etc., I think it's a case of "more of the same", as BlueBard said - I really like the way that street lamp turned out, and the log-chopping scene also looks nice (even though it's nothing TOO special - or festive), but that's about it. Bearing in mind this calendar did try to bring us as many Christmas scenes as possible, I think it failed miserably at offering a remotely nice-looking snowman or Christmas tree - and there's quite a few bits of the Calendar that look like total "fillers", which were used as a last resort after the designers finally got bored.

My favourite City Calendar was the 2007 one. Not only because of some wonderful memories connected to it, but also because it had a diverse assortment of scenes and minifigs. Yes, the "radar" was awful, but the turntable is still a mighty useful piece that you can never have enough of :) Besides, the mini-Christmas tree was absolutely adorable!

[Ogre]

Perhaps I'm a bit odd, but I actually like the emphasis that the 2009 calendar places on the holiday season. I still think that the original is the best (if only for being first), but the others have all been decent. I'm not too fond of the 2008 calendar. 2008 also loses out to the infinitely more exciting Castle advent calendar making it my least favourite of the bunch. I would really like to see something a bit different though. I would love to see an advent calendar where you build a MOC over 2+ days (perhaps a small vehicle). A change in the formula would definitely be welcome.

You got your wish this year!

Too bad they kind of suck.