Are you crazy about Advent Calendars?

[Dorayaki]

Well... I have to admit that I've never bought one of them , and I'm afraid to show my prejudice without having a physical example in my hand. If there's something incorrect, please inform me.

In my experience, I do enjoy seeing Adent Calendars in toy stores during the winter holidays, but usually I'm not interested in their general content, perhaps it's due to that Advent Calendars are not popular in my own region/culture, or maybe it's just that I'm not good at making good use of small parts. Each block has to be independent so there are rare larger buildings like the station from 7753. We can see the designers have tried a lot, but it's still hard to make every small building as "seasonal" as large sets like Winter Village. The boxes also feature very beautiful paintings, and provide a cardboard paper to allow you play the buildings and figures on them, though I'm not a fan of box collecting.

Minifigures/dolls are usually the stars in regular sets, but in advent calendars they're not always sometimes. Santa Claus usually plays the star in City sets, the others are some representives of popluar City careers, while the rest are occasional citizens. Though some of them come with accessories like scarf, in my view the figs are not that "seasonal".

In the newer Friends series. there are only two minidolls included with winter clothes (which regular sets haven't used so far) and a Santa girl suit, but it's a pity there's no male Santa Claus minidoll. Star Wars goes strong recently, especially with some notable characters "cosplaying".

It's really a shame that TLC doesn't consider to introduce more themes for calendars now, even if there were the remarkable Pirate and Castle calendars. Not to think about other dream licenses (Marvel AC?), a calendar based on a current action theme like Chima or TLM would be amazing.

I'm curious about how others think about the advent calendars? Are they the mustbuys for most AFOLs or more for KFOLs?

Edited March 11, 2014 by Dorayaki

[Boettner Builds]

I've seen them, picked them up with my own two hands, then set them down. I've seen some good stuff done with what's inside, but overall they don't interest me.

[Lego dad]

We got started with advent calendars by way of playmobil. It was something fun for the kids to open and we used several years to build up a scene for the mantel. Having come out of the dark ages and kids being into legoes we started getting their advent calendars. In general I find them lacking in good display items for our mantel. And for the price it seems to leave us believing something is missing based on what you get. Plus they seem to be repetitive, at least.the city and especially the friends calendar.

I imagine we will get the Star Wars one this year because I'm a big darth vader fan. But unless we something very different it might be the last year. The winter village sets seems a much better way to go, and I might make my own advent calendar to keep the tradition alive.

[Vee]

I don't even know exactly what they are. Something for you to build a micro-something each day, I think. Sounds very uninteresting to me.

[Blondie-Wan]

I don't even know exactly what they are. Something for you to build a micro-something each day, I think.

Yes, that's pretty much exactly it, at least with regards to LEGO ones (there are others, of course). See here.

Sounds very uninteresting to me.

Different things appeal to different people, of course. Advent calendars are a Christmas season tradition for many people, whether religious or not, but not for everyone. The LEGO ones provide the experience of getting a small LEGO gift each day in the advent period, and some people find that enjoyable. That daily experience is the real point of the LEGO advent calendars, and if you're not into that they're not going to appeal to you.

[Vee]

Oh, so the "advent" word comes from the Christmas season! I didn't know this word and always read it and thought of something like "advanced" and would think "why call advanced something that is the opposite of advanced", after all, it is for very simple builds, isn't it?

And they are only sold before Christmas? How many days of the month do they cover?

[OLDNUT]

Advent is a liturgical season observed in many Western churches as a time before Christmas. It starts four Sundays before December 25. So it can begin in November. LEGO advent sets are 24 small builds so is it is used to count down the days before December 25 starting on December 1.

[Dorayaki]

We got started with advent calendars by way of playmobil. It was something fun for the kids to open and we used several years to build up a scene for the mantel. Having come out of the dark ages and kids being into legoes we started getting their advent calendars. In general I find them lacking in good display items for our mantel. And for the price it seems to leave us believing something is missing based on what you get. Plus they seem to be repetitive, at least.the city and especially the friends calendar.

I imagine we will get the Star Wars one this year because I'm a big darth vader fan. But unless we something very different it might be the last year. The winter village sets seems a much better way to go, and I might make my own advent calendar to keep the tradition alive.

Advent is a liturgical season observed in many Western churches as a time before Christmas. It starts four Sundays before December 25. So it can begin in November. LEGO advent sets are 24 small builds so is it is used to count down the days before December 25 starting on December 1.

Thax for information. It's like the demand of families with religious tranditions which don't appear in Asia. I wonder if the daily buildings can be more "combinable", that means they can put together or use in other regular sets in order to market to non-religious families or customizers. Or as said now Winter Village series look more like a competitive seasonal product.

I agree that the City and Friends are also kind of repetitive now. I hope they can make good use of their subthemes instead of just some generic combinations every year. This year the Arctic team series looks like a neat idea for Advent Calendar

Edited March 13, 2014 by Dorayaki

[iamwhoiam]

I got the City Advent Calendar in 2012, then realized that besides the minifigures, the rest of the pieces didn't have much use for me.

So now I don't really get them anymore.

[Galaxy Explorer]

I used to love the CITY calendars, but I lost interest a few years ago. Ironically, the main reason was that they just got too "holiday-ish" for me. The calendars were a great source for little things to populate your town with. I loved the yellow ATM that was in the 2006 one, and I remember little BBQ grills, ice cream carts and really cool train-themed accessories that don't seem to be included anymore. It was almost like getting a really big supplemental parts pack for CITY fans. Now I feel there is a stronger emphasis on the holiday season, which I really don't need for my layout. Plus I get enough holiday fill with all of the polybags and Winter Village sets.

The other reason I've kind of backed off on these is the price increase, especially the Star Wars ones. I believe I paid $20 or so for the first CITY one in 2005, but it seemed like they really jumped up in price quickly, kind of like what happened to the roadplates. And to see the Star Wars ones all the way up to $50 at TRU was sickening. I was lucky enough to get the first two SW ones for $20 each, which made it worth it to me, but otherwise I would have passed. I never saw last year's calendar on sale, so I missed that one.

I will always be interested to see what the new calendars have to offer, but I'll need more value or incentive for a purchase. Sales work, too!

[Blondie-Wan]

Thax for information. It's like the demand of families with religious tranditions which don't appear in Asia.

It originated as a religious tradition, but like much else about Christmas it's no longer a solely religious tradition, but a secular one as well. I'm non-religious myself, for example, but I've enjoyed advent calendars over several holiday seasons (and not even just LEGO calendars, but also ones filled with chocolate or whatever).

I wonder if the daily buildings can be more "combinable", that means they can put together or use in other regular sets in order to market to non-religious families or customizers. Or as said now Winter Village series look more like a competitive seasonal product.

Well, of course all LEGO elements are ultimately combinable, but some things in the calendars lend themselves to re-use more easily than others. Some of them have been great means of supplementing one's collection of a given theme (City, Star Wars, Friends, Pirates, Castle, whatever), while others have been less so (and some individual days in a given calendar might have more appealing things than others).

[Hrw-Amen]

My wife likes the friends ones to have something small each day. I have got a couple of CITY ones but they seem quite repetative and the bits are all quite common, afterall even the mini figures are, how many firemen or policemen can one CITY have?

[Deathleech]

I have no interest in them. My biggest issue is they seem extremely redundant and boring each year. I would LOVE for Lego to rotate other themes in and out every year, but I understand why they stick to City, Star Wars, and Friends (their cash cows). If I had children they might be something fun to give them before Christmas, but as is they really don't appeal to me at all.

[Blondie-Wan]

I have no interest in them. My biggest issue is they seem extremely redundant and boring each year. I would LOVE for Lego to rotate other themes in and out every year, but I understand why they stick to City, Star Wars, and Friends (their cash cows). If I had children they might be something fun to give them before Christmas, but as is they really don't appeal to me at all.

That's actually what they did until just a couple years ago - they've had a LEGO City calendar each year since 2005, and another calendar from some other theme since 2007, but it wasn't until 2012 that they repeated a non-City theme from a previous year (unless you count Kingdoms as a repeat of Castle, and even those were at least non-consecutive), and that was also the first year they added a third calendar to the mix, arriving at what's now the apparent standard selection:

2005 - City

2006 - City

2007 - City & Belville

2008 - City & Castle

2009 - City & Pirates

2010 - City & Kingdoms

2011 - City & Star Wars

2012 - City, Star Wars & Friends

2013 - City, Star Wars & Friends

[Heppeng]

My biggest issue is they seem extremely redundant and boring each year.

I suppose that may depend on what other lego you have - the main reason I bought this years city calender was because it was perfect for adding to the interior of my Grand Emporium, which now has a crowded top floor with a Christmas theme, as well as a few extras for the second floor. I found a good use for everything apart from perhaps the little racing kart, but I think I could use that too if I tried hard enough.

And it was a lot of fun having a nice little quick build each day to share with my daughter, so there was good quality time in it too!!

[mlynb1992]

My family purchases the advent calendar for Christmas every year, but we make all of them at once and use them as decorations around the house throughout the Christmas season!

[lord raphael]

In 2007 Lego did make a castle Advent calendar.

[AFOLguy1970]

I suppose that may depend on what other lego you have - the main reason I bought this years city calender was because it was perfect for adding to the interior of my Grand Emporium, which now has a crowded top floor with a Christmas theme, as well as a few extras for the second floor. I found a good use for everything apart from perhaps the little racing kart, but I think I could use that too if I tried hard enough.

And it was a lot of fun having a nice little quick build each day to share with my daughter, so there was good quality time in it too!!

We bought two City Advent Calendars and one Star Wars Advent Calendar this year. I also used some of the toys and the little boy to add to the Grand Emporium. The dalmation, firefighter, and grill were sent to the Fire Brigade. The table and food setup went to the Bag End set. The Christmas tree, presents, snowman, sled, and Santa are in a plastic bag awaiting display for next Christmas. Whether or not I will get the next one is up in the air as I really do not need repeat police, firefighter, burglar, Christmas tree, and Santa. The kids will probably get one each for the experience of having one in December.

[HawkLord]

I have the three SW ones and as a SW collector I mostly bought them to have some cool little ships, some unique minifigures (like the Santa versions), and a couple army-builder types. The price is definitely not so great, but I can see there's a bit more packaging involved than a normal box set, with all the little compartment boxes and whatnot.

[escortmad79]

I quite like them, they can be a good source of parts (Although quite an expensive way of getting them)

2010 I got the 7952 Kingdoms advent calender

2011 I didn't get one

2012 I got the 3316 Friends advent calendar

2013 I got the 60024 City Advent Calendar & 5023 Star Wars Advent Calendar

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

I love the Advent Calendars. It's a quick source for minifigures, particularly army builders in the case of the Star Wars ones. I *do* recommend looking for the ACs on clearance after the holidays. That didn't work out this year, since the calendars all dropped by $10 in price and they sold out by early December. (I'd never seen that before--there were PLENTY of ACs the two years before.)

[B-Lister]

I would be if they made ones for themes I liked and/or released 'em in the US (ie the '09 Pirates calendar)

[Vindicare]

I'm not too fond of them. I'd be more likely to buy a Superheroes one regardless of its contents(being pieces/mini builds)depending on which figures. I bought the Kingdoms one a few years ago, it was alright, the builds were of little use to me.

[Dorayaki]

I used to love the CITY calendars, but I lost interest a few years ago. Ironically, the main reason was that they just got too "holiday-ish" for me. The calendars were a great source for little things to populate your town with. I loved the yellow ATM that was in the 2006 one, and I remember little BBQ grills, ice cream carts and really cool train-themed accessories that don't seem to be included anymore. It was almost like getting a really big supplemental parts pack for CITY fans. Now I feel there is a stronger emphasis on the holiday season, which I really don't need for my layout. Plus I get enough holiday fill with all of the polybags and Winter Village sets.

Well I'm willing to see holiday-ish things more than a City minifigure&accessory pack, and they might be more compatible with the current Winter Village rather than City/Friends sets. But stll I wish every calendar can have own specific theme in order to make cunsomers buy them every year.

[Blondie-Wan]

I would be if they made ones for themes I liked and/or released 'em in the US (ie the '09 Pirates calendar)

I, too, wish the Pirates one had been released in the US. At least everything released since then (all the calendars from 2010 on) have been released here, though.