Season’s of Spam 2024: Advents Galore Day 1

This has been a quiet year for the site… for some documented reasons for some that will probably be documented later on in this whole thing. But we’ve all been looking forward to doing the Advents, our yearly tradition that still happens to be a thing despite the fact that the internet is dead and it’s just bots talking to bots now. Beep boop.

Originally, we were going to mix it up this year but… things didn’t work out. Scalpers went hard in Dallas and the Star Wars Advent disappeared within a few days and never came back in stock, so Nick’s plan to do the Star Wars calendar fell through. We’re going to go with it just being the universe punishing him by making him do the Marvel Advent yet again. Something that just might finish him off this time.

We’re also going to do the newer tradition of going with non-LEGO calendars, because Advents are the new socks are the new ugly sweaters are the new yearly ornaments. Okay, that joke got away, but the point is that everything has an advent now.

Even Rocks.

That’s a hint, LEGO… bring back Rock Raiders. The world needs them now more than ever.

Ace: Star Wars Day 1 (and Disney)

You know, one good thing about being away from the hobby for so long is that everything is like new and fresh and (mostly) awesome. I don’t feel as critical as I used to be. Maybe that’s age and maturity coming through. Maybe it’s my current situation where I feel like having a positive attitude is really the only thing that keeps me going. More on that later I suppose. I mean, I feel like the old me would take a look at this Day 1 X-Wing and rip it a new one for the odd proportions everywhere but I’m actually digging it. So far, Star Wars is starting off with a banger

I happened to be fortunate enough to visit my local Costco to pick up some LEGO advent calendar sets and one of them was this Disney one. It seems to be trying to do two things at once: be an advent calendar and also use the daily builds as elements to a simple board game.

I feel like this has been done before, maybe with one of the Harry Potter calendars in a previous year. Let’s see how this shakes out at the end but for now, today’s offering is Moana.

That thing I said earlier about being away from the hobby giving a new perspective? Well, it also highlights just how ignorant I’ve become. I don’t know when LEGO decided to introduce a mini versions of a minidoll. Is it supposed to be a minidoll baby mold? I have no idea and to be honest I’m too lazy to look it up. But from the box art it looks like all of the Disney princesses we get in the calendar is in this style.

Hard to avoid spoilers with this kind of post so I’m sorry if I accidentally revealed something with those pictures. Oh, and it included what looks like a wrapped gift. Maybe we’ll get a tree build where we stick this under it. Or maybe it’s a pile of gifts for whoever wins the game. I’ll say a thumbs up for now, which will be standard for any day that gives us a princess. The other days I don’t have much hope for.

Eric: Harry Potter Day 1 (and Hot Sauces)

Something’s different, something’s the same. For once, I am not reviewing the LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar. Honestly, I’ve gotten a little tired of writing the same thing every year. So, I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay.

What’s the same, you ask? Well, I’m doing Hot Sauce again. 24 more hot sauces, randomly picked every day. Oh, except this year I’m putting the sauce on chicken wings, to up the ante.

Godspeed, myself.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

As is standard with most of these advent calendars, we kick off with a minifig. Or – a microfig? Whatever this Moana is; I’ve never seen a LEGO like her. She’s locked into this one pose: no arm movement, no waist movement, nothing. I also had a hell of the time trying to get the hair on the head, although that could’ve been thanks to the chicken wing grease on my fingers. The little “present” is as basic as basic gets, and really feels like filler.

The sauce – JAPAN WASABI HOT SAUCE – kicks things off on a more lowkey note than 2022. The heat lasts for maybe 5 seconds, and then you’re left with a pretty acidic sauce. I would hesitate to call it enjoyable, but it is at least better than the worst sauces from 2022.

LEGO Day 1: 3/5

HOT SAUCE Day 1: 2/5

Nick: Marvel Day 1 (and Rocks and Dice)

Last year I put down the rule that “should be holiday theme” for minifigures for them to be good. Right out of the gate, we have a big whataday? sort of thing, with just… Spider-Man. A generic Spiderman, with half of a… I guess web shooter? More that he clogged it up. Oh, and a pizza tile. Because when I think holidays, I think Pizza. Off to a wet fart of a miss with Marvel, so, you know, as expected.

Still better than Madame Web, I guess.

Of course, our latest tradition expansion is buying Advents just because we can. For me, this year… I went with rocks. Yeah, my Rock Raiders joke was more serving for that, and also those sets rule. We’ve got the National Geographic Gemstone Advent, and if there’s not some coal in here, they’re really missing a good joke. But I didn’t think that was going to be enough… so I’ve also got a Chessex Dice calendar, because the one from Baron of Dice was way too much for my tastes. I’m kind of hoping that it ends up marked down a lot after the holidays.

First up on the Rock Calendar is… Tiger’s Eye! A member of the quartz family that I’ve never seen as a round rock before. It’s a pretty rock to start with.

The first dice from my Chessex calendar is an orange-and-white d6, which is… fine, I guess. I use a bunch of d6 dice playing Games Workshop games, but I prefer pips over numbers for them. This wouldn’t be a choice I’d make for D&D either, since I prefer higher contrast between the numbers and actual die.

Weirdly, both of my “other” calendars came with a spot that said “open first” and was full of extra stuff. A d20 and plastic dice containers I typically just throw away, and a bunch of… stuff… for my rocks.

The rock calendar was also a pain to open up, but it does include a handy chart that I’m sure will be super useful in identifying everything.