Category: LEGO

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 13 Hits / 3 Misses
• Disney: 13 Hits / 3 Misses
• Marvel: 4 Hits / 12 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 17 (and Disney)

Let me start off today by saying this: Oops! I must have had a major brainfart, confusingly pulling today’s build, Day 17, yesterday. I didn’t realize my mistake until I went to go look for today’s little compartment and discovered it had already been pulled. And then seeing yesterday’s door still sealed shut. Oops, and I’m sorry. And with that out of the way, let’s review yesterday’s build of The Ghost:

This just doesn’t work. The idea is there, but the micro scale makes it nearly impossible to create the gently sloped panels. The colored jumper tiles feel completely out of place and the two exposed studs along the top makes the model seem like it is unfinished. Not a fan and it’s an unfortunate miss.

The good news is that I didn’t mix up the Disney advent days. The bad news is that we get this tree build. It’s not great. The way the tree topper is built makes it really only viewable from one side but I guess that’s how every tree in every home is. There’s only one good side and then there’s the other side that gets completely neglected. What a disappointing pair of builds for today.

Eric: Disney Day 17 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

(I opened the wrong day here. Oops.)

I have not seen Encanto but even I, uneducated I, know what the Encanto house looks like. It’s a decently complicated build for this little advent calendar, what with the individual roofing tiles and the leaves everywhere. But you get a really solid build out of it. I’m a fan.

I am not a fan of today’s hot sauce – WASABI HOT SAUCE. It sure doesn’t taste like Wasabi, and it sure doesn’t taste like hot sauce. All it really did was make my chicken wing wet and worse.

LEGO Day 17: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 17: 0/5

Nick: Marvel Day 17 (and Rocks and Dice)

Wait, is the Marvel calendar giving us two good builds in a row? Did they fire the original guy and remind someones that kids are supposed to like this calendar? If I have a knock on this, it’s that there are two stockings when there should be three. Gwen gets left out, which feels kind of par for the course with LEGO stuff. It’s still a solid little build, especially given how terrible these little fireplaces usually are.

This has got to be the last in this set, right? Someone go and look at all the old ones and see if it adds up to seven because I can’t be bothered. Okay, I suppose I could go look at the images… and no, looks like we haven’t gotten the d8 yet.

We’re into our wisened old hero rock, turquoise… wait, no, according to the legend this is Turquenite. Which is a crappy knock off that’s just dyed howlite. Turns out that almost all of the “turquoise” on the market is fake junk. That being said, I would have expected an advent calendar for stones to, you know, not give us fake junk. Then again, this is a Nat Geo calendar, and if you know much about the modern NatGeo… fake is sort of par for the course.

So this isn’t even a Rock Raider. This is the MEGO line that will show up after the TV show gets big and Boulder Bros. hits the market.

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 12 Hits / 3 Misses
• Disney: 12 Hits / 3 Misses
• Marvel: 3 Hits / 12 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 16 (and Disney)

Oh my. This might just be my favorite holiday ugly sweater minifig to date. ROTJ Luke decided to go old school and wear a sweater with his homestead on Tatooine prominently displayed on the front complete with the twin suns and a moisture vaporator. When I pulled the bag out of its little compartment, I noticed the back of the sweater first:

What else could be depicted other than the Sandcrawler making a special delivery of droids? This prompted me to look at at the back of Leia’s torso from day 1. As a reminder here’s the front:

The assault on Hoth scene. And what else could be on the back except for:

The shield generators? Simply awesome. Now I wonder what was on the back of all the previous years’ minifigs.

More Tiana stuff? I guess so? We got Tiana yesterday so it makes sense we get her castle representation today. Plus the light green profile brick element is the same color as Tiana’s dress so that ties it in nicely. I thought matching your shirt to your kicks was one thing. Matching your castle to your dress is on a whole other level.

Eric: Disney Day 16 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

NOW we’re talking. Today’s sauce is TUNISIA EXTRA HOT HOT SAUCE, and it is…not extra hot, or even regular hot, but it is a little spicy. Relative to these sauces, though, that’s like eating a raw Carolina Reaper. And – bonus – it tasted pretty good, too.

The build is also fantastic! Tiana’s Palace, once again from the Princess and the Frog, and by far the most complicated build in this calendar so far. What a wonderful day.

LEGO Day 16: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 16: 5/5

Nick: Marvel Day 16 (and Rocks and Dice)

A little bit of coincidence in the Marvel and Disney calendars being perfect inversions of each other quality wise, but it’s not going to last. Okay, so it’s not a holiday theme, unless you’re me and then spend your entire holiday vacation at your desk being as unproductive as possible playing games and painting miniatures. Like most other days.

The chair here is rubbish, but the little computer is just fantastic in the stupidest ways possible. I love that the computer here is modeled on something so old that it’s likely older than both Gwen and Miles, or that they went so far on the tile (which I’m sure is from another set but I’m not looking it up) that it looks like a ugly Windows XP clone. Of course, only a monster sets their keyboard up on the right of the machine – or someone that’s left handed, maybe, but I repeat myself. I like the build a lot, so calling it a hit.

Okay, so we’re not going to complete a set and just give a completely random color d20? Okay then. It’s… fine. I’m not a big fan of black dice, but the pink and white pattern is cool. Blue on black doesn’t work at all, but they couldn’t use white either.

Someone left this cheese rock out a bit too long, and it’s started to go all sideways. I don’t see barfstone anywhere on the list, but I’m going to go with that. I think about half the rocks haven’t been easily identifiable, but this one is clearly of the genre “countertop material for someone with no taste.” I can’t even figure out how to jam this into a rock raiders theme, so clearly this is random thing thrown in with a bigger set to inflate part count and price.

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 11 Hits / 3 Misses
• Disney: 11 Hits / 3 Misses
• Marvel: 2 Hits / 12 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 15 (and Disney)

I’m torn about this one. It feels lazy right? Just getting a minifig is great sometimes. Maybe it’s the kind of minifig you get. I tend to give these a thumbs up and I’ll just hate on token Battle Droid inclusion all the live long year but still feels kind of lazy. I’m fairly certain it’s a member of the 501st just based on the coloring. Could be Captain Rex. I don’t know for certain because it’s not targeted to my age group. But I’ll acquiesce and tilt it to the positive. The first half of the calendar was going great but the past couple of days had me worried. This may be the beginning of a comeback.

Tiana? I never saw the movie but I do recognize the green dress and the fact that Tiana is still the only black Disney Princess to exist. Thumbs up.

Eric: Disney Day 15 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

I love The Princess and the Frog. It makes me a little sad to watch, knowing that it’s Disney’s last 2D animated film, and that what’s come out since has increasingly been bland. It’s so fun, and I was reminded of that just by seeing little tiny Tiana in the Advent Calendar. Great build, great memory, great movie.

What is LIME HOT SAUCE BRAZIL, you ask? It’s not spicy. In fact, it does not have any peppers in it at all, just some chili paste. And for that alone, for putting hot sauce that does not have peppers in it in a HOT SAUCE ADVENT CALENDAR, it sucks. Not the worst I’ve had this month, but still bad.

LEGO Day 15: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 15: 2/5

Nick: Marvel Day 15 (and Rocks and Dice)

Our second car and third micro-build… I’m going to be more lenient on this one than I am on the other car – mostly because Peter Parker as Spider-Man has a long and unglamorous history of shoehorning dumb vehicles into things. The Spider-Buggy is real and I believe. Only way to make this better would be to have turned the Spider-Buggy into a sleigh. But I guess they have bigger plans?

I’m going to make this a hit, mostly because it feels like it belongs. Something that none of the others have.

I think we’re close to having this particular set finished, but I can’t be bothered to go look. Nothing has changed on it, outside of the fact that the d4 is the most dangerous dice. This is basically a caltrop.

More food rocks – DO NOT EAT FOOD ROCKS – this one is clearly a dessert of some lovely dark chocolate and coconut mash, like those little candies that I don’t think they make anymore. There isn’t anything marginally close to this on the legend… but I think it’s Black Stripe Jasper? So maybe our ninja hero for Rock Raiders… every story needs a ninja hero, even though he’s mysterious and you don’t know which side he’s actually on.

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 11 Hits / 2 Misses
• Disney: 10 Hits / 3 Misses
• Marvel: 2 Hits / 11 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 14 (and Disney)

First words out of my mouth were “What the hell is this?!?!” I’ll just leave it at that.

First words out of my mouth were “What the hell is this?!?!” I’ll just leave it at that.

Okay, I kinda kid but for the Disney build, I honestly have no idea what it could be or what movie it could be from and I’m not going to cheat and see what Eric has to say below. Brave? Tangled? Frozen? It looks like it could easily come from just about any Disney Princess movie. This looks like it should have been the second day of a paired build and that we should have gotten the character today. I guess and I’m hoping we get the Princess tomorrow.

Eric: Disney Day 14 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

It’s a little fireplace, and since we’ve been doing Frozen the last four days, I just assumed this was related. Like maybe one of the numerous fireplaces featured in the movie. But then I found a frog, and so I’m not sure what this is. Maybe Encanto? I haven’t seen it. I also have not read Ace’s post above for fear of spoiling myself. 

Still, I like the frog. And I like the fireplace. Good build.

The hot sauce – JAMAICA MANGO HABANERO – is surprisingly good. A bit sweet, a bit spicy, and a refreshing change. 

Really solid day all around.

LEGO Day 14: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 14: 5/5

Nick: Marvel Day 14 (and Rocks and Dice)

Have you ever wondered what a clockwork version of Rhino looked like if he opted to wear a muscle tank instead of armor? The Marvel calendar has you covered. As a build, this is fine, but again, we’re here with a bunch of color choices that are just baffling. The red is jarring, but not anywhere near what the white in the middle is. Seriously, how hard would it be to make that part in gray and just give us gold hollow stud bricks? They have them, they’ve been in other builds in this calendar. Another color miss, even if the actual thing itself is… mostly fine.

Our Rock Raiders comic relief character, Pyrite, is all about jokes and being mistaken for someone else. More commonly called fool’s gold, it’s an interesting little mineral that’s both common and has fun, but not overly useful, properties. This one is unique in being so… jagged, when every other pyrite rock I’ve ever owned is more flat and crystal-like.

Today’s die is another entry in the ugly orange/white set. My complaints are still there, but we’re getting closer to having all of these. It’s fine, but these are going to be put into the loaner/give-away pile when the calendar is done.

Yes, I have enough dice where there’s a whole pile of sets that I give away to people if they forget theirs in a game. And no, I do not have enough dice.

 

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 11 Hits / 1 Misses
• Disney: 10 Hits / 2 Misses
• Marvel: 2 Hit / 10 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 13 (and Disney)

Kinda like yesterday’s model, I had no idea what this is. Well I kinda do. I remember seeing the LEGO set on store shelves, the cockpit is stable while the entire wing rotates around it kinda like the B-Wing but way less awesome. It was just a giant flying wing that rotates. That’s what I remember. I can’t remember the name or the source material. Clone Wars? I don’t know but I decided to put just a little bit of effort into this post and so I googled “Star Wars half circle ship” and after scrolling for a bit I find out it’s a “Jedi T-6 Shuttle”. Meh. Not impressed. I think the quarter plates were the wrong choice. While the rounded corner does hint at a half-circle shape, it’s not and the more I look at it the more it bothers me. I don’t think a rounded corner plate exists in a 3×3 so this is probably the best that could have been done. Still, I don’t like it.

Continuing our Frozen Advent Calendar journey, today we have a sleigh. I actually kind of like it and would argue that it’s enough to stand on its own. And I just love the hockey sticks for the skis. Winner winner chicken dinner!

Eric: Disney Day 13 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

Now’s as good a time as any to bring this up – the bags are all messed up on this calendar. This has never happened to me before, but I’m getting two bags in some days, or nothing at all in some days. It adds an extra level of mystery to this – will I even get a build at all?

This sled is…fine. It doesn’t really fit the Disney theme and feels like they pulled it from a Friends advent calendar. It is inoffensive at best.

I have matured and changed and I am no longer even mad that THAILAND SRIRACHA is yet another “hot” sauce that is not remotely spicy. It’s totally fine. And it’s fine that most of the sauces taste the same. It’s FINE!

LEGO Day 13: 4/5

HOT SAUCE Day 13: 5/5 (i guess)

Nick: Marvel Day 13 (and Rocks and Dice)

Why do I tolerate these terrible calendars every year? For the wonderful Christmas Sweater minifigs. They’re so simple and fun and… somehow, inexplicably, LEGO has still managed to half-ass it. I want to say this is a hit because, the upper half of it, is mostly fantastic. The headphones are a weird color (Mile’s are black or blue normally), but I assume that’s just the color they had on hand. A teenager is incapable of letting go of their phone or they’d suddenly and violently explode (I say this as the father of a pre-teen).

And then… we get light gray pants. I guess because it’s close to the dark gray that he wore in his school uniform? And not the black pants that he see him in in every other case. They didn’t even need to print them… it would have been fine to just go with simple black legs. I want to give this a hit, but those gray legs are just so bad and lazy I’d give it a half hit at best. And we round down here, so it becomes a reluctant miss.

The number of dice each day in this calendar is just odd… with most being a single die and some days being 3. If they’re going to complete any sets, there’s going to be some day that has a whole bag full of dice.

I’m pretty sure this is Green Aventurine, and again we’re back to our sage derby cheese rock. Do not eat cheese rocks.This is clearly going to be the power source that our Rock Raider heroes and the diabolical villains will be fighting over.

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 10 Hits / 1 Misses
• Disney: 9 Hits / 2 Misses
• Marvel: 1 Hit / 10 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 12 (and Disney)

Gonna be honest and say I had no idea what this is. At first glance, based on the shape I thought it was a Republic Attack Shuttle but the coloring is all wrong. But thanks to Google, this Reddit post, and this Wookiepedia page I’m pretty sure it’s a Theta-class shuttle. It’s first appearance was in the craptacular Episode III Revenge of the Sith which is probably why I don’t really recognize it. I say “craptacular” unfairly; I give prequels a lot of crap but I have to remind myself that at least they weren’t the sequels. The model is okay for what it is, assuming I got it right. And if I’m wrong I can’t blame anyone except myself.

Baby Sven is just fine. Makes me think that the 1×1 arched brick was specifically made for the tiny animals. This goes with yesterday’s Frozen theme. Maybe he’s the one that should be under the arch. I guess it’s okay by itself. Thumbs up.

Eric: Disney Day 12 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

You know, I’m just now appreciating how many animal companions are in Disney movies. This is Sven, the reindeer (I think?) from Frozen. He has been shrunk down and given giant eyes, which is a little different from how he looked in the movie. Still, it’s cute, and cuteness usually works on me.

The hot sauce I got today had a boastful name: EXTRA HOT HOT SAUCE. Was it extra hot? Well…kind of. Relative to the other sauces I’ve had so far, yes, absolutely. There was minor tingling on my tongue and I sniffed a few times. That seems to be as good as we can get this year.

LEGO Day 12: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 12: 3/5

Nick: Marvel Day 12 (and Rocks and Dice)

On the 12th day, we got a Christmas miracle, and the calendar finally, finally, gave us a holiday themed thing. It even went so far that it also made it Spider-man themed. It’s fine, and a mild hit even if it’s not the most inspired build. I don’t know that it needed a wreath, and if it did, maybe they could have made it green and not looking like someone just hung a toilet seat up there. But that’d also be on brand for the calendar.

Odd to be seeing a new color combo on the d20, and it’s an interesting little combo. The issue with it, like others, is that the color only works in contrast to one of the patterns… it’s not as great over the yellow but just fine over the black.

The Dalmation Jasper here is barking at me, and for the first time in awhile, it’s clear what rock this is. Obviously, this is the basis for Gravel, the trusty sidekick to our hero, and he will be a very good boy.

 

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 9 Hits / 1 Misses UPDATE
• Disney: 8 Hits / 2 Misses
• Marvel: 1 Hit / 9 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 11 (and Disney)

The Venator-class Star Destroyer looks pretty good. Probably one of the better things to come out of the prequels. Feels like it should be a bit longer but until LEGO makes a 1x1x5 slope, this is probably as good as it gets. Nothing else to really nitpick here as it captures the shape pretty well.

Elsa’s castle. Hard I think that space in the middle there is for the baby minidoll to actually stand in. Why else would it have that arch there? I’m a little slow to the party but honestly, I try and look at these things on a day to day basis. In my opinion, its bad product design to have one day be dependent on another. It’s probably passable as a singular build as a micro representation of the castle but just barely. I’ll begrudgingly give this one a thumbs up.

Eric: Disney Day 11 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

Another cool Frozen build! I love all the spikes on this, most of which are pieces that I have never seen before. That’s really exciting. I do feel like LEGO has a tendency these days to make specific pieces for every occasion, like this cake topping piece. That feels like stifling creativity by taking a shortcut, but that’s a rant for another time. I have nothing bad to say about this castle!

GARLIC HOT SAUCE is…garlicy. A lot more than Day 9’s sauce. Still bad, still not spicy, but definitely garlicy.

LEGO Day 11: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 11: 2/5

Nick: Marvel Day 11 (and Rocks and Dice)

Okay, after seeing what the Disney calendar gave yesterday with their little not garbage catapult, I’m starting to feel like the Marvel calendar is just what you get when you monkey paw “what if it was the Disney Calendar, but just Spider-Man” and then cheaped out and bought the resulting product on wish.

This is a failure on every single level you can imagine. The 1×1 gifts feel like they’re just leftover parts tossed in here (and you do get leftover bits to build extras if you want more of those crap things). Why can’t we have the nice big plate, and get the catapult part that’s sucked in every single set its ever been included? It’s not even fun to play with, because that catapult is designed for round bricks, not these square things, and they don’t sit in there square.

I would have rather seen just full gifts in here, like 2×2 boxes in previous years. We finally get a day of holiday theme, and this calendar, inexplicably, finds a way to still make it terrible. Big miss. Usually the Marvel calendar ends up at “about 50%” but it’s now dug a hole that I doubt it’s going to get out of by the end of the year.

Our blue/pink die is back, and we’re getting close to the full set. There’s no such thing as too many dice, and the quality issue of the d6 isn’t here. Not bad, still pretty, but wish the numbers were black instead of white.

More countertop material, and kind of at a loss as to where this fits with the key, since nothing is like this. There are ton of blue stones on there, but none in a bunch of mixed colors. So obviously this is the shape-shifter rock spy that pretends to be part of our Raider friends, but really is on the side of D.I.R.T., our villainous faction, seeking to ground all the rocks out there to… well, dirt.

 

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 8 Hits / 1 Misses
• Disney: 7 Hits / 2 Misses
• Marvel: 1 Hit / 8 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 10 (and Disney)

I never watched the Clone Wars cartoon so I don’t really have any feelings one way or another for Ahsoka. I did watch the Mandalorian where she had a small story arc. Haven’t gotten around to watching her standalone series yet but maybe this winter break I’ll sit down with the kids and binge it. So more or less this is basically a brand new character for me and I gotta say it’s really nice. The level of detail is just right on the torso and it’s nice to see the legs all printed up. The facial markings are also on point and true to source character. And the headpiece is just the perfect cherry on top. However, I take issue with the lightsaber blades. They are clear, or in LEGO AFOL terms, “trans clear”, which always seemed stupid to me because clear implies transparency. Ahsoka’s blade colors have gone through a a couple of iterations from green to blue to white. The minifigure we get today is sporting transparent blades, which tracks with her white blades from her live action series, and I hate them.

Lightsabers in the movies and small screen are always a solid color. You can’t see through them. Since day one though, LEGO has decided to make the toy counterpart from a transparent colors. My guess is so that any potential light coming through the transparent ABS could give it a glowing effect with mixed results. For those of us old enough to remember the LULS phase of minifigs (LULS: Light Up LightSabers), the addition of an LED light at the base created an effective glow effect at the cost of a minifigure that you couldn’t dismantle (and if the batteries died then forget it, no more glow effect and your LULS minfigure just became worthless). Other than the LULS phase, there hasn’t been any other practical reason to use translucent plastic for blades. But we are so used to seeing the transparent colors that at this point it would be considered sacrilege to switch to solid colors. Picturing a Darth Vader minifig with a solid red blade instead of a translucent red one is jarring but it’s only because we’ve only ever known it to be transparent. Translucent color blades worked well enough for years up until now. To keep things consistent, a translucent white blade is just this: transparent, so it makes sense that we get these clear blades, but I would argue that solid white would look a whole lot better. Clear blades have no hint of color and will be tinted by any color light that hits it. So depending on the color temperature of your room lighting, it can be whitish or even yellowish. Got some kind of colored indicator light nearby? That’s the color you’ll see, if even just a tiny ray of it warped by the blade. A solid white blade though? No chance it would be anything but white. Clear blades makes her lightsabers look like props that haven’t been turned on yet.

They should be white.

A snowgie (yes that is what they are called) see-saw, or catapult depending on how you’re feeling. It’s a thumbs up because by itself it is something that you can actually play with without depending on another day’s advent offering to have it make any sense.

But I do want to call out the fact that one side of the axle isn’t attached with a pin to a brick with an pin hole. Like, what the heck? It still works but it just doesn’t feel right. It feels like LEGO got lazy AND cheap.

Eric: Disney Day 10 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

I LOVE this build. The little seesaw, the little snow guy – both great! For as much as I dislike Frozen, this little snow fella melted my heart.

But not even his little smile could save me from today’s hot sauce: MANGO MILD. Genuinely the worst sauce I have ever had, hot or otherwise. It was not spicy at all, of course, and it tasted of sour lemons mixed with garlic. Absolutely disgusting. 

LEGO Day 10: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 10: 0/5

Nick: Marvel Day 10 (and Rocks and Dice)

In the comics, Gwen is the drummer of the band the Mary Janes, named after… well, you get it. Kind of obvious when her name is in the band. Of course, if she brought this particular garbage drum set, they’d be the worst band this side of Oasis (who sucks, has always sucked, and will always suck – I will die on that damn hill).

As an actual build, it’s kind of fine, a weird mix of actual drums and electric drums, rather than the full size toms. But it matched her colors, rather than the colors we saw in Spider-Verse or in the comics (which were blue or black). The main problem, though, is that there just aren’t enough things to make a good drum set. At the very least, she needs another hi-hat or cymbal to make this anything other than some garbage toy drum set you get at Walmart for the kids of someone you actually hate. No actual drummer is just playing with a single cymbal or hat, rather than both. And in everything we see with her, she’s using a full kit with a third tom, three cymbals, and a hi-hat.

This has been drummer’s corner* with Nick, and this thing is a miss because it just looks wrong. Not even bashing the lack of holiday theme here…

This die is… one that I’m sure I have several of that already match. So I guess and advantage d20 for another set? Absolute solid mix of color and contrast for it, which as I’ve said is the most important thing.

I think this is Red Stripe Jasper, which is obviously the basis of the architecture of our new Rock Raiders theme. Even their ships use this rock to build everything, because they are going to use Rocks and raid Rocks. It’s a fine little stone, but they only use this sparingly on the ship for counters in the galley. Gotta keep it classy.

* I know a weird amount about drums for someone who can barely do anything with them. I was a saxophone and tuba player… and player of five chords on a guitar. 

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 7 Hits / 1 Misses
• Disney: 7 Hits / 1 Miss
• Marvel: 1 Hit / 7 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 9 (and Disney)

As far as micro Falcon‘s go, this one is top notch. And we know this is the Original Trilogy Falcon because of the rounded radar dish instead of that rectangular one in the Worst Trilogy. Methinks the designer tried to make the best looking micro Millennium Falcon one can make regardless of piece count. This one is great.

It’s so nice, I took more than one pic! I wonder if a roller skate used on the top for the gunner station would have been too big / out of scale. The side hatches are forward by one stud but I think that was a compromise that had to be made in order to achieve the look and feel at this scale.

The bottom is disappointing in the same way that the mass majority of LEGO Star Wars ship models are disappointing in that the bottom is completely ignored.There isn’t enough female studs for a proper set of landing gear, nor does it use a round plate or dish like there is up on top. We’re not here to admire the bottom of the ship though but still!

The model is highly swooshable and looks great. So far this calendar is a banger!

Finally another princess game token. No sign of a rule book though. I mean the game isn’t hard to figure out. It’s your basic snakes and ladders game without the snakes and none of  thrilling gameplay. But is there a prize at the end? Does the winner get all the wrapped gifts? I don’t get it.

I’ll give this one a thumbs up because I’m sure there is some collector out there who just wants an easy to get the Disney princesses in baby minidoll form and this calendar is the way to do it.

 

Eric: Disney Day 9 (and Hot Sauces)

I am also doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

I was 16 when Frozen came out, which means I was genetically disposed to hate that movie. Upon reflection, it’s a pretty darn good movie, but Let It Go is so pervasive in my mind that I…can’t let it go. I also find these minidolls (or whatever they are) really offputting.

The hot sauce – RUSSIA GARLIC – is…really bad. The worst sauce I’ve had so far. It wasn’t hot, and only just barely tasted like garlic. At least the garlic sauces two years ago were overwhelmingly garlicy. If I was a vampire, I would be unphased.

LEGO Day 9: 1/5

HOT SAUCE Day 9: 1/5

Nick: Marvel Day 9 (and Rocks and Dice)

I love Ghost Spider aka Spider-Gwen aka Spider-Woman aka Alternate-Universe Gwen Stacy. It’s a neck-and-neck run on who my favorite addition to the comics has been in the past couple of decades between her and Ms. Marvel. I own every single issue of her comic runs and appearances, including the Spider-Verse issue where she first appeared.

Normally, it’d be great to get a figure of her, and it’s a pretty solid figure… if you only look at the head. The torso, though, is just so strange. Gwen wears a hoodie in her spider outfit, and there’s the hood, but the bottom is an oddly shaped leotard… thing. I’m sure she’s been in some other sets, but I don’t get a lot of LEGO and I really don’t get a lot of Marvel stuff, so even if this managed to have something holiday in it, I’d probably still call it a miss.

But not like the contents of the calendar have anything to do with the holidays.

 

Our pink and blue dice come back for another one… but it’s odd. The dye isn’t all that great in the dice, with a lot of it just being clear, and the typeset on the face of the dice is different from the other numbers. They’ll look better at the end, when I plan to gather them all up, but this one is weird.

Our rock calendar finally gets on board with the Marvel theme, giving us our first Infinity Stone. And it’s the Reality Stone (if we’re going MCU) or the Power Stone (if we’re going the comics) – and I’m a nerd for knowing that without looking them up. I’m hoping for more of the Reality stone, because this one kind of sucks, so –

– wait, this is a Red Jasper (I think), and we don’t want to sully our Rock Raiders with the taint of Marvel, so this is our main hero faction. Our hero, Buck Hardcheese, harnesses the power of the red stones to operate his giant power mech, and with his allies of the other color stones, the Rock Raiders work to save the universe, one cave at a time.

 

(ace): Not sure what happened to Day 8. I added my stuff, hit publish and then poof, nothing. Ugh. Sorry everyone for the delay. But here we go:

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.

The scores so far:

• Star Wars: 5 Hits / 2 Misses
• Disney: 6 Hits / 1 Miss
• Marvel: 1 Hit / 6 Misses

Ace: Star Wars Day 8 (and Disney)

Okay, this is actually a great model of Jabba’s Sail Barge. I had this whole piece written up yesterday singing its praises and lamenting on the height of the sails. Half a day later, coming back to this model and my feelings are the same. I think the designer nailed the shape of it and I still think the sails sit too high above the deck. Despite that I am still giving this model a solid thumbs up.

Just by the fork alone, I think this is from The Little Mermaid. It’s been decades since I’ve seen the movie but I do remember Ariel combing her hair with a fork. The grey bust next to it, I assume it appeared in the movie. I am mostly interested in the blank dark grey minifig head though. Whether I’m right on the source or not, it doesn’t really make this day’s build any better. It’s still highly dependent on another’s day build for context because by itself it’s a whole lot of nothing. 👎

Eric: Disney Day 8 (and Hot Sauces)

I am doing the LEGO Disney Advent Calendar this year. I am not in the target demographic for this advent calendar, and that is okay. I am also eating a hot wing every day, tossed in one of 24 random hot sauces. Enjoy my pain.

WATCH ME EAT AND BUILD THIS ON TIKTOK

Back to The Little Mermaid today, with a bust of Eric, which is also my name, and which is also the exact same bust featured in this Little Mermaid Story Book set. What does this mean? I am not sure, but it’s worth pointing out.

It’s a really basic build and for that, I’m not a huge fan, but again, my name is Eric, so I have to give it some points.

Today’s hot sauce – HABANERO RED HOT SAUCE – returns us to the trend of very acidic, not spicy hot sauce. There’s not a lot to say about this. I am disappointed, but my disappointment is becoming the norm.

LEGO Day 8: 5/5

HOT SAUCE Day 8: 3/5

Nick: Marvel Day 8 (and Rocks and Dice)

I’m so conflicted with this thing. It’s a fine little micro build of… something. But Miles Morales doesn’t even have a driver’s license, and this is clearly styled in his colors. We know he’s coming, since the box gave it away, but I just don’t get it.

Spider-themed “vehicles” are a meme from the 70s cartoon, but neither are really associated with the heroes. Who are, you know, webslingers that are well known for their travel through the air between buildings. Where are you even going to be able to set off a little dragster in New York? So, a fine little thing in isolation, but it still feels like it’s in the wrong calendar. Maybe I’m being harsh, but going to call this a miss. The Marvel calendar is making an early start for worst Advent ever done.

Back to the orange and white ugly set with it’s gold numbers, giving us the d10 this time. We’ve gotten 3 of the 7 we need for a full polyhedral set, with 16 days to go. They’re going to have to start putting in multiple dice if they want us to get full sets here.

I should make a pitch to Netflix to do a popular spin-off of Is It Cake? titled is it cheese? My son absolutely loves that show, and you know, this looks less like Green Dot Jasper it is and more like a Sage Derby. Which is an absolutely fantastic cheese, if you’ve never had it.

Note to self… do not eat the cheese rock.