FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 3

The site hasn’t been the most active lately… 2023 has been a sledgehammer to the face of a few of us and it’s hard to get the time to keep up with everything. I can’t speak for everyone here, but the annual tradition of us opening all the calendars and being shocked at the iffy builds is something that we look forward to.

We’re doing it a bit different this year, or more specifically, Nick just couldn’t find all that much joy in just doing the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes. So he’s decided to do more than that one and compare them all a bit. Ace is going to do his normal review of it as well, and Eric will be covering Harry Potter yet again, for whatever the wizarding version of Groundhog Day is. And double the Star Wars!

We’re also bringing back our “random advent” calendar tradition, because it was fun last year. So tune in to see we go through and talk about. Maybe I’ll even bring in a special guest expert to talk about the one that I picked up…

Day three is here, and thus far, we have an interesting spread on the different calendars. City is running away on Nick’s three choices, while the Marvel Calendar sucks about as much as Marvel’s output in the last couple of years. Star Wars is splitting the middle

Star Wars: 2 Hits / 0 Misses
Harry Potter: 2 Hits / 0 Misses
City: 2 Hits / 0 Misses
Marvel: 0 Hits / 2 Misses
Bonus Star Wars: 1 Hits / 1 Misses

Star Wars Day 3 – Ace

If you can believe it, this is supposed to be Mando’s N-1. At first, I thought it was another spaceship I didn’t recognize. The instructions on the back of the flap has you build it from the rear 3/4 perspective making the back look like the front. “I don’t remember a three-pointed ship of any kind in Star Wars”. And then finally after putting it all together it clicked. The tail isn’t long enough obviously. It could have used a 1×1 round brick in there right under the cone. Of course this isn’t the most flattering angle. Here’s a better shot:

That’s more like it. Except that tail, man, still too short.

And if that wasn’t disappointing enough, today’s Lindt offering was this:

The second of the three Double Milk Teddy.

I’m not going rehash what I wrote yesterday. This thing is still terrible on the inside.

Harry Potter Day 3 – Eric

I’ve done this for five years, and based on that, Day 3 is a very important day. Day 1 usually gives us a minifig, Day 2 a random build, but Day 3 sets the tone. Are the builds going to be consistent in a theme? Or totally random?

Happily, it looks like we’re still running with the Hogsmeade theme. This is another candy stand from Honeydukes, but it’s different enough to stand out. There’s a little display stand, a dish, and a cash register.

Plus you can put them together to have a little vignette. Considering in the past these calendars have given me two nearly identical tables (I’ll never forget), seeing this much variation is a real promising sign.

The teas, on the otherhand, have been pretty mid so far. But today’s tea is called THREE GINGER, and that will certainly taste different, right?

Weirdly, it doesn’t taste different at *all. But my body noticed the ginger. I’ve been recovering from getting sick, and this cleared me right up. Tastes bad. Good effect.

Solid 3/5.

See ya tomorrow!

City Day 3 – Nick

Our first micro-build in the City calendar, and it’s a very solid and cute little Reindeer. You recognize it right away, and that’s a win.

Fun pointless trivia fact: Santa’s reindeer would all be female. Make reindeer have all shed their horns by mid-December (and most would have lost them before that). Female reindeer keep them much longer, likely more for protection. They’re also the only deer species where females grow and retain antlers.

Marvel Day 3 – Nick

The annual tradition of ugly sweaters slapped on a minifig is always going to be a hit with me. Spider-man, especially, would most certainly wear one. So we finally get our first hit of the calendar.

Why he’s carrying glass cutting gear is beyond me.

Bonus Star Wars Day 3 – Nick

Another micro build, this time much better in the Mando’s Naboo N-1 Starfighter. Bonus points for being a better quality build than the full-size mini set. I need to take pictures and review that piece of fragile garbage someday. A solid little hit, with my triad going 3-for-3.

Pokemon Day 3 – Nick & Family

The Pokemon calendar is up front that it has several “accessory” items, and that basically means cardboard cutouts. We get a Christmas Tree here… and I guess its fine. But this thing is gonna die in the hands of an 11-year-old and a 6-year-old.

Previous Days

• Seasons of Spam 2023 – Day 1
• Seasons of Spam 2023 – Day 2