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…
Against all odds, Marvel managed not to suck and Nick’s triad of calendars were all solid entries.
Star Wars: 2 Hits / 1 Misses
Harry Potter: 3 Hits / 0 Misses
City: 3 Hits / 0 Misses
Marvel: 1 Hits / 2 Misses
Bonus Star Wars: 2 Hits / 1 Misses
Star Wars Day 4 – Ace
A Christmas-themed pit droid. It’s okay but I’m giving it a thumbs down for a specific reason. Some of the connections were not great. In particular the claw bar that holds the inverted blue tap was especially not good. There was very little clutch power and the tap was able to slide forwards and backwards a little too easily. That led to the droid’s head being unintentionally tilted because it was so loose. There was a build earlier that had similar clutch issues that made me pause and take note. It was Day 2’s weird unfamiliar-to-me ship. The elements that attached to the vertical studs on the bracket pieces felt like they could fall off with the slightest. It was such an issue that my one son that chose the Star Wars calendar this year also complained about it.
And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you have the 1×1 plates with the vertical clips that are used for the feet of the droid. The amount of effort to get them attached to the pneumatic t-bar was a very stark contrast to the head and neck assembly. I think if the tap was remolded so the body was a proper bar thickness, these issues would go away. LEGO has remolded elements in the past. Maybe one day the tap will be redone as well. But I’ve never liked attaching anything to that tap element that wasn’t the hole side for a stud, or the handle for a minifig hand.
Now this is what I’m talking about: a chocolate truffle ball for Day 4.
Here it is in its natural state, trying its best at a Death Star impersonation.
There is something magical about the soft chocolate ganache center. It has a completely different melting point temperature-wise than the outer shell. This gives it a smoother texture in your mouth that is offset by the firmer outer shell. The inside of your mouth ends up being coated with a chocolate taste all around but disappears just as quickly as it came. The truffle balls come in a variety of flavors and the one you get today is the basic milk chocolate. I love the truffle balls and the back of the box doesn’t indicate how many you get. There’s only one pictured, but if I counted correctly there are 20 chocolates on the back and 24 days in the calendar. Hopefully, there’ll be some more balls in my future.
Harry Potter Day 4 – Eric
You know, not every day can be a winner.
With eight pieces, it’s taking me longer to write this sentence than it took to built this. Although I should point out – it is a new 2×2 print.
But it still sucks.
Hopefully today’s tea is better. It’s called JOY. Short, simple, and vague. Apparently a Pukka staple.
I will say – best tea so far. There’s hints of orange and lemon in this one that really spiced up the taste more than just “resembling plant-tasting water”. I really like tea with a lot of flavor, and I’m hopeful we’re heading in that direction.
A solid 4/5.
Onto Day 5!
City Day 4 – Nick
Winter does not mean holiday, but at least it happens in the season. Hockey is more known for their New Years’ Day game (played outside, typically)… Christmas is more of the NBA’s day for games. Still, this is a solid minifigure, and previously, hockey players had only been included in the Collectible Minifigure line as far as I’m aware. Plus, they included all the stuff for him in the one pack.
Which reminds me, only 21 more days until we get the final (cry) season of Letterkenny on Hulu. So I’m going to imagine this is actually Jonesy when I say it’s (marginally) a hit.
Marvel Day 4 – Nick
Are you *bleep* kidding me?
Miss. This isn’t even worth making fun of. I’m tempted to take away yesterday’s hit because of this.
Bonus Star Wars Day 4 – Nick
Take note, garbage Marvel calendar. This is how you make something “holiday” themed. Even without the green, it’s different enough from a standard little pit droid build that I recognize it’s different. Solid, solid hit.
Pokemon Day 4 – Nick & Family
After yesterday’s tree made of trees, we get another tree-adjacent in Turtwig. My daughter, upon seeing him, immediately started to recite the Pokedex entry and talk about how its a starter in Diamond and Pearl (which… she never played the original but has been playing the Switch remakes).
Previous Days
