Review: 75023 Star Wars Advent Calendar 2013

Ah, I love the holidays. The smell of freshly baked cookies. The sounds of classic Christmas music filling the air. The twinkling of ten million billion multi-coloured lights strewn about everywhere you look. The trampling of poor unfortunate shoppers in the way of that perfect gift and the smiles of the children as they eagerly await the arrival of the man in red. But wait! Who is that man in red this year you ask? Well, you’ll just have to wait until the 24th to find out because it’s time again for the Star Wars Advent Calendar!

2013 marks the third year of my spamtastic daily reviews of these tiny balls of potential awesomeness/nerd rage and I thought I’d try something a little different. At least until I get bored. This calendar coincides with the planned re-release of Attack of the Clones, this time in fabulously profitable 3D. Well, that release got scrapped, but the LEGO stops for no one. Unless it becomes unprofitable. Let’s get down to business shall we? It’s time I took these little plastic packets more seriously. After all, it HAS been three years, so…

(Singing) On cycle one of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

I was stoked to get this guy. I already had the original Y-wing, so I passed on the latest one, but I really wanted this little astromech for my collection. Who wouldn’t want a beat-boxing trashcan with an attitude as a gift. I really hope they start including one every year. They always make me smile. Off to a great start 2013!

(Singing) On cycle two of Life Day my first mate gave to me, an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Remember the flashy little ship Dooku makes his escape in at the end of AotC that you could only assume would be the slowest possible way to get to Coruscant, while spending the majority of the flight impersonating the Dilophosaurus from Jurassic Park? This is it. I like to think Dooku had purchased it years earlier, before he turned to the dark side and had planned on retiring and maybe doing a little sailing in his twilight years. A nice relaxing trek through the stars. The dishes on the side throw off the aesthetic, while simultaneously being my second favourite part behind the 1×4 curved double slope in reddish brown. These sets are nothing if not treasure troves of fiddly bits. Not bad.

(Singing) On cycle three of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a break-dancing pilot
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

As Obi-Wan said, “flying is for droids” and Count Dooku seemed to agree with that sentiment. This heavy footed fellow also comes in the Dual on Geonosis set with Dooku, who I honestly wish had actually been in this set to go with the sailer. There is something to be said for keeping the majority of these figures generic after the first years inclusion of the same old Chewy that had appeared in another dozen sets. Since I don’t have the Dual set, this is the only version of FA-4 I have and I do like him. He looks like a commando droid in a prom dress. He probably went stag.

(Singing) On cycle four of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Bounty hunters sure like riding in flashy vehicles. Zam was a shapehifter with a taste for fancy speeders and high explosives. I’d have to say the old Bounty Hunter Pursuit set was one of the most colourful Star Wars sets and I’m surprised it hasn’t been revisited in some form… other than this, I mean. Overall, it’s a little stretched out, but the use of the binoculars and rare green bars on the tail is pretty swift and I wish they’d used that concept on last years bongo. Four days in and things are going well. I’ll probably end up regretting saying that.

(Singing) On cycle five of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a pair of ruby slippers
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

If they had used red 1×1 bricks with studs on all four sides instead of bley this would have been a perfect score in my book, or if they had made it, y’know, orange. Using all red parts would have eliminated the need for the 1×1 tiles and given a slightly more rounded illusion, but I do like getting the tiny tiles. Either way, any trip in the way back machine to ESB is a win for me and this little patrol vehicle is pretty darn cute. I went to build something a while back and I needed a couple of those 1×1 red cones, discovered I had precisely none. You feel like you’re buried by bricks until you go looking for something specific and come up empty and surrounded by a few hundred thousand pieces you don’t need at the moment. The best thing about these micros to me is the fact that they are generally based more on their previous LEGO sets then the actual vehicles.

(Singing) On cycle six of Life Day my first mate gave to me, an angry Steward of Endor
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

One does not simply walk into Endor. You have to fly there in a stolen imperial shuttle and use an older security code to slip past the biggest (current) super weapon in the galaxy with a crack team of people crazy enough to volunteer for what was likely deemed a suicide mission until the command crew was chosen. Another new fig made by pulling the old switcheroo and that works for me as I can always use another sack of potential Ewok chow. He just looks so surly and familiar…

(Singing) On cycle seven of Life Day my first mate gave to me, three teeny blasters
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

And we were doing so well, but it had to happen right? The rack. At least our figs have the weapons that should just have been included with them. Incidentally, this marks the first year that my son has chosen the Star Wars advent calendar over the city one and when I got up this morning, he had no idea what it was supposed to be. I told him, he said “Ahhhhhh” and stuck it back in its window…

(Singing) On cycle eight of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

It was bound to happen, right? I mean, the entire Star Wars license has become one rehash after another if you don’t count the Clone Wars and that was bound to happen and will continue regardless of whatever new ideas come from the upcoming movies and series. Since this model is literally one stud different from the one in 2011 (they switched out the grey with white), I’ll just rehash what I said back then:

Building this one I figured it would end up like Day 9′s Imperial Shuttle, but it turned out to be another accurate micro scale creation. The shaping is great and I really like how they dealt with the dark red paint job running down the front slope and the double bubble cockpits. I can’t help but think that this micro is actually Wall-e dressed up in his Star Wars Halloween costume.

Truth.

(Singing) On cycle nine of Life Day my first mate gave to me, another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

I was hard on the mini RAS in the Coruscant Planet set, but now I’ll take some of that back. This calendar is going to be hard pressed to provide me with a worse model then this. I’m sure I’ll hear from those who love this or like it or are just off their medication for the holidays, but it’s just terrible. The fin is the biggest part on it and it should be the smallest feature other then the bridge area, which is represented as the same clip from last years Star Destroyer. Turned sideways. When it should just be a tiny tube.
I think we need a mulligan on this one.
Onwards and upwards!

(Singing) On cycle ten of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Same clone that appears singly in four other sets this year. So the collectors should have five by now and the consumers should be closing in on 500 or so. I wonder how many of these guys were copies of copies. There’s only so much genetic “material” a bounty hunter can provide and they kept producing clones long after Jango split. I often think of the episode of Clone Wars with the defective clone/janitor and figure that random sample must have become much more prevalent as the war went on and the batches began to drift.
Shame that they only come in surly mode. We’re going to have to see if we can help him out with some holiday cheer.

(Singing) On cycle eleven of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Some models are just plain adorable. Is this little guy one of them? Yes. Yes he is. The leg solution is clever, the cockpit works well and it has the big gun needed to live up to title “Enforcer”. I’m not sure why it has so much junk in the trunk or on the roof or whatever, but overall I still think it works.

You know, I bet this little guy is exactly what the doctor ordered to turn that grumpy clones frown upside down. Let’s see.

Ooooh, I think he likes it….

… nope, nevermind.

(Singing) On cycle twelve of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Overall, this is a very good approximation at this scale. I would’ve liked the blue to have been carried up into the cockpit area and had that be a little less jarringly pointed, but once you realise you can now pick up yesterday’s AT-TE and swoosh it around it becomes difficult to be too critical. I might add some levers under the wings to reach down and lock onto the AT-TE, though.

Now that growth on our beetle buddy’s back makes more sense, doesn’t it?

(Singing) On cycle thirteen of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

What hasn’t been said about Battle Droids? 2011 brought us a pilot, 2012 gave us security and this year, he likes to dance.
I think we all know where he’s heading for the holidays.

(Singing) On cycle fourteen of Life Day my first mate gave to me, one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Even the full sized LEGO sets couldn’t capture the shaping of this dart properly and the mini feels like they gave up before they started. It’s so pointy and so streamlined it’s just impossible to pull it off with a couple of brown plates, looking all studly and decidedly unsmooth. Too tall, too bulky, too bumpy, too bad. Given the inherent limitations, it mostly gets the point across. That’s the best I can do on this one.

(Singing) On cycle fifteen of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

If you’re a fan of the era, you just scored another bug for your battles. I do wish that it had been the winged variety, but that element is probably too expensive or there was worry they’d get bent in the tray. I’m guessing the former.

At the very least, this ugly bug makes a great PSA for kids to keep plastic bags away from their heads.

Warning: This Bag Is Not A Toy.

(Singing) On cycle sixteen of Life Day my first mate gave to me, two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

This one looks like a really well armed droid. Since any object in the SW universe can be made a sentient roboslave by slapping wheels, legs or a hover unit on it and making it talk, hiss, beep or fzzt, let’s call it a droid and move along.

(Singing) On cycle seventeen of Life Day my first mate gave to me, one shiny explosion,
two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Remember the big shiny J-type diplomatic barge that was supposed to ferry Senator Amidala to Coruscant at the beginning of Attack Of The Clones? No? Then you probably blinked and missed it. Chances are you remember the resulting explosion that started things rolling and if not, you may have blocked it all out. In any case, I quite like the design of this micro and it captures the chibi aesthetic extremely well. It may have been a forgettable ship, but it makes for a very nifty model with a very retro bomber-esque look to it.

(Singing) On cycle eighteen of Life Day my first mate gave to me, an Ewok chasing trooper,
one shiny explosion,
two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Remember that Endor Rebel we got way back on the 6th? Well he finally has a frenemy to do battle/go carolling with. This set is certainly a cheaper way to get your hands on this new Scout Trooper other than forking out $250 plus for the new Ultimate Endor Treehouse set. It’s a nice figure to be sure, but buyer beware:

Speeder Bike Not Included.

(Singing) On cycle nineteen of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a toothless soldier beetle,
an Ewok chasing trooper,
one shiny explosion,
two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

I never did get the separatist Shuttle set, but the first SW advent had Nute and I’m pretty sure I’ve got all the parts to build the ship, so all I’m really missing figure-wise is Onaconda Farr. I always liked his cousin Jamie better anyway. This is actually a pretty neat little micro, but the shuttle’s simple shape makes that so much easier. The tail fin is probably my favourite part because the designers seem to use less traditional building techniques more often when they’re building at this scale. The micro reverses the undersized landing gear from the actual set with hilariously and adorably oversized nubs. Overall, I’d call this one a win and I can always use more blue cheese. Even though, I really don’t like blue cheese.

(Singing) On cycle twenty of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a hyperdriveless delta,
a toothless soldier beetle,
an Ewok chasing trooper,
one shiny explosion,
two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor or Colonial Viper? The starfighter is the more obvious choice and I do think it’s a really good approximation at this tiny scale. I love getting these little neck brackets and the advent calendars have been a nice source of them. Too bad the Astromech wasn’t behind the cockpit on this ship because it certainly looks like it could be here. It would be sweet if they had included a hyperdrive docking ring as well though. Tomorrow perhaps?
Fingers crossed.

(Singing) On cycle twenty-one of Life Day my first mate gave to me, an asteroid evader,
a hyperdriveless delta,
a toothless soldier beetle,
an Ewok chasing trooper,
one shiny explosion,
two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

I love me some Slave I, but I prefer the version Boba had to buy back from Bernie Mac’s used car lot. Fun fact: Boba almost went with the Volkswagon Beetle as well. This is a straight up redo of the Slave I from 2011’s calendar in a Jango-fied colour scheme and why not really? It is after all the same ship. I love the thought of Boba escaping from the Sarlacc, but the thought of him piloting the sorry looking excuses he supposedly flew later does nothing for me. Slave I is another example of a bounty hunter riding in style. Same sweet little micro as 2011, but this time with a perfect excuse that isn’t laziness.

(Singing) On cycle twenty two of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a future Sarlacc snack,
an asteroid evader,
a hyperdriveless delta,
a toothless soldier beetle,
an Ewok chasing trooper,
one shiny explosion,
two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Can you believe this pint-sized future bounty hunter hasn’t appeared in a set since 2002? I can because that was the only set that actually made sense to have him in… until now. Being primarily an episode II grab bag, having baby Boba here really fits and his dad appearing in a set this year makes it pretty easy to get your hands on an updated set in the flesh. I like his mischievous/evil facial expression and the more innocent one on the flipside as well, updated Dastan-y hair and new printing. First Slave I and now young Boba, I think we all know where this heading… unless you’ve been opening these days without ever having looked at the box. I have to say that I preferred the exclusive we got along with the Santa fig last year more, but it’s hard to top a astro-snow-mech.

(Singing) On cycle twenty two of Life Day my first mate gave to me, a jet propelled toboggan,
a future Sarlacc snack,
an asteroid evader,
a hyperdriveless delta,
a toothless soldier beetle,
an Ewok chasing trooper,
one shiny explosion,
two racks and counting,
a creepy crawling brawler,
one big brown disappointment,
a disco crazy clanker,
a snazzy little space crane,
a Volkswalker Beetle,
a cranky Xerox copy,
another grey triangle,
a case of Déjà vu,
three teeny blasters,
an angry Steward of Endor,
a pair of ruby slippers,
a bounty hunter’s hot rod,
a break-dancing pilot,
an impractical escape ship
and a dancing droid beneath the Life Tree. (/Singing)

Due to a busy schedule leading up to Christmas, this is probably as close to building a sleigh for Nick’s community build as I’m going to get. Of course, this is a sled and no, being jet propelled doesn’t take the place of being pulled along by a faithful animal. Just ask Santa.

I snickered when I opened this one, but it’s still a neat idea to go along with this final four day arc. As for the build, what can I say? It’s a little brown sled. Just one day left to go. I wonder who it could be…

To be concluded…