Tag: Seasons of Spam 2023

FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 14
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 Nick picked up…

Star Wars: 7 Hits / 6 Misses
Harry Potter: 8 Hits / 5 Misses
City: 9 Hits / 4 Misses
Marvel: 5 Hits / 8 Misses
Bonus Star Wars: 8 Hits / 5 Misses

Star Wars Day 14 – Ace

Endor Leia looking pretty spiffy. I find it interesting that in addition to holiday cookies, the set designer saw fit to include a gun too. Two of them to boot! For you know, when those Ewoks get out of hand and she has to dual wield her way out of a teddy bear village.

She has an alternate face printing. Looking back, it makes more sense now to pair the accessories with the expression. Cookies = happy, guns = angry.

Today’s chocolate offering was also a bit of a duality. I find it a bit odd that we are getting two different chocolates in one day. Other days with multiple offerings, they were of the same type.

Here we get a “Lindt Mini Milk Chocolate Reindeer”.

Which, of course, was hollow.

The other was a “Lindt Mini Solid Milk Chocolate Ball”.

It was just like the mini solid balls but slightly bigger.

Not sure why they were both included in one. Maybe the tray came out larger than expected so rather than try and include a bigger chocolate, they decided to just add an extra one. In the end, we the consumer are the real winners here. The solid ball offset the hollow reindeer making today a rather neutral one, but the fact that we got two tips the scales to the thumbs up side.

Harry Potter Day 14 – Eric

Now this is nice! It’s just a pretty simple little table, but like the displays earlier in the calendar, it captures a lot in a very small amount of space. Plus, I’m a sucker for these LEGO candles.

Today’s tea kinda came out of nowhere: LICORICE & CINNAMON. I’m not the biggest fan of licorice, and thankfully the taste wasn’t too overwhelming, but it’s definitely more of a dessert kind of tea than something I’d drink every day.

2/5

City Day 14 – Nick

Today is the day of 1×1 round tile biscuits*, apparently. We get a fairly standard minifig in the City calendar, but dressed up in seasonally appropriate garb. Very simple and straight-forward, and nice in the fact that it’d look fine in a seasonal setup or just any fall/winter display. The addition of the phone is a good touch as well, so good solid hit.

Marvel Day 14 – Nick

I mean this is just leftover stuff that could have easily been elsewhere. If you look at the box art, Okoye is wearing the ice skating gear, something that… feels a bit out of character? She feels like a scarf and snowball fight kind of gal (snowballs out of a catapult of some sort, but still). It’s all just so paltry as well, and the most half-assed gift we’re ever likely to get in any advent. This is a real egg, Marvel.

Bonus Star Wars Day 14 – Nick

Okay, Star Wars, this is Marvel-level of “phoning it in.” I mean, yes, I always appreciate getting a Leia figure in any set. Bonus points for it being an Endor version of Leia, also known as arguably tied for the best with Cloud City (that’s the best looking, this is most butt-kicking). But throwing on one cookie doesn’t make this Holiday… and including a blaster really makes it look like she’s just baiting Ewok’s for sport. Extremely marginal miss, mostly because they could have done just a teeny bit more to make it a little bit more holiday.

* biscuit is a slang term for a hockey puck, as well as British people those things they try to pass off as cookies, so I’m going with it to unify all the 1×1 round tiles

Pokemon Day 14 – Nick & Family

Back to cardboard, and we get a better one than the last few entries. Honestly, this one makes a solid little play piece for plenty of toys, be it Pokemon or LEGO. My son claimed this one and moved it for use with his Mario figures. Bowser has been hanging out in it all the time.

Which is strange, since he’s on his Kart and in Hot Wheels form.

Previous Days
December 14, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 13
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…

Star Wars: 6 Hits / 6 Misses
Harry Potter: 7 Hits / 5 Misses
City: 8 Hits / 4 Misses
Marvel: 5 Hits / 7 Misses
Bonus Star Wars: 7 Hits / 5 Misses

Star Wars Day 13 – Ace

Shuttle Tydirium! I really dig this model but it has somewhat of a big flaw. It can’t really stand on its wingtips else it’ll tip forward. I shot the above photo with it leaning back against the cloth backdrop.

Best you can do is the puppy-sprawled-out-on-a-cool-tile-floor-on-a-hot-summer-day pose.

Otherwise you can go wings up. The angle isn’t quite right but given the size, scope, and limited parts selection, I don’t know if the angled wings could have been achieved. Despite that, it’s pretty swooshable and a great model. I love the chonky nose.

Lindt’s day 13 chocolate offering is another pair of balls, a repeat of day 5. At least they’re solid unlike yesterday’s hollowass elf. One thing about Lindt’s solid milk chocolate offerings that stand out is that it doesn’t end up being gritty. There is a smoothness from the milk that really give it a silky texture once the temperature hits that melting point in your mouth.

Harry Potter Day 13 – Eric

Dumbledore!

Wait a second.

So I just looked at Bricklink to see if this is a new figure, and it turns out this isn’t Dumbledore at all. At least, not Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts guy. This is apparently his brother, Aberforth.

They look literally identical, so I have no idea who figured this one out. Cool if true, though.

Today’s tea is called RADIANCE. Pretty good. Although, I will say, having had 13 different teas in 13 days, I am genuinely unable to tell the difference between most of them at this point.

Still, it tastes nice. So a 4/5. Why not?

Onto tomorrow!

City Day 13 – Nick

Today’s calendar is brought to you by our sponsor, SecretLab! Discover multi-award winning Secretlab gaming chairs, engineered for comfort and ergonomics during long hours of work or gaming. If you’ve watched a YouTube video or listened to a podcast in the last five years or so, their sponsorships are unavoidable… their expensive and slick chairs are all over the place.

I may or may not be sitting in a Titan XL right now, only confirming the fact that these are being made at me. I didn’t opt for green, I’m a muted sort of guy, so mine is just black cloth (my desk is also by them). It was a great experience opening and building, and they have replaceable armrests, one of the things I’ve always been bugged about in cheaper chairs.

Normally, spanning builds across multiple days bothers me, but we get a decent little thematic thing here that would be a polybag in its own right. Is it a holiday theme? No, not really, but it was a fun thing that just works and was very fun to build. That’s also something in these calendars.

Marvel Day 13 – Nick

Okoye, with a spear. Nothing done to really make her holiday. Though on the box she’s pictured with stuff from other days. I have nothing against the figure, but I’ve dinged the other days for just dropping in a minifig and calling it good. Also, vaguely colonialist vibes going on here and just assuming that Wakanda celebrates some western holiday… but that feels like a very Avengers thing to do. Miss based on the very flexible and made up “standards” I’ve been applying.

Bonus Star Wars Day 13 – Nick

The venerable Imperial Shuttle. A solid little microbuild… that is impossible to balance or stand up. It looks fine, but my complaint is that you can’t do much with it.

Also, folding up the wings doesn’t really work, since they don’t have the almost iconic little dip that the shuttle usually had. It’s still a good representation, so I’d call it a hit, but it’s not perfect like the Hailfire was.

Pokemon Day 13 – Nick & Family

My daughter, who as I’ve mentioned, is a little bit obsessed with Pokemon, says this is the salted creme version of Alcremie, or the Salted Creme holding a strawberry swirl version of said Pokemon, because there are apparently several dozen, or hundred, evolutions of this particular Pokemon. I’m gonna be honest, even though I enjoy Pokemon, I don’t enjoy anything as much as this eleven year old enjoys it and I just sort of go to the white room when she starts going on about it.

And if you get that reference, you know one of the shows that’s on my year in review list that’s coming up 😉

Previous Days
December 13, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 12
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…

Star Wars: 5 Hits / 6 Misses
City: 7 Hits / 4 Misses
Harry Potter: 7 Hits / 4 Misses
Marvel: 5 Hits / 6 Misses
Star Wars: 6 Hits / 5 Misses

Star Wars Day 12 – Ace

Reindeer gonk droid? I dig it. It’s way better than any car or suv on the road with the window attachments and the puffy red nose over the emblem. Feels like it needs a top plate to cover the four studs. The section with with the headlight bricks comes off too easily otherwise but still, I’ll score this one a thumbs up. And would it be dumb to have a red stud for the nose to signify Rudolph? I think not.

A “Lindt Mini Milk Chocolate Elf”.

With no other ingredient listed in the name, you know what that means don’t you?

Hollow be thy name. In the mouth it felt pretty substantial though but still not enough to wash away the disappointment.

Harry Potter Day 12 – Eric

I guess they can’t all be winners. But this is awful. It’s a fountain, and that’s about all I can say about it. LEGO gives me a low-effort build, I’m gonna write a low-effort post.

Today’s tea is worth giving a little effort, though: LEMON, GINGER, & MANUKA HONEY. It’s pretty good! I could drink this every evening. A solid 4/5.

Onto tomorrow!

City Day 12 – Nick

Okay, look. I know they’re making this at me now. I’m starting to fear that LEGO is stalking me or something. Okay, there are some discrepancies. My mouse only has purple lights on it, it’s not fully purple. My computer is on the right of my desk, not the left. My desk is also metal, not wood (motorized and can be made to stand… not that I use that often). Coffee cup… that’s accurate. And it’s red today, but they neglected to print the little white lines on it. They combined the monitors and my MacBooks into one thing, but you know, brick economy.

Clearly we have a theme going here, where this advent calendar was targeted directly at me, but they changed it just enough to avoid a lawsuit. So I’ll give them a hit for that. But I’m watching you.

Marvel Day 12 – Nick

After yesterday’s great fireplace, we’re on to the crap we get every year, and it’s still crap. We don’t need it, it still sucks, and no one wants to remember the mechanic parts of Iron Man 3, you miss of a day.

Bonus Star Wars Day 12 – Nick

Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now GONK away! GONK away! GONK away all!

Pokemon Day 12 – Nick & Family

We get the best starter from a non-Gen 1 game (fight me) to have 3 evolutions that don’t suck, even if this is the weakest of the 3 when Scorbunny was in their angsty teenage years before settling into a life of semipro football club play. Unfortunately, mine broke almost immediately trying to take it out of it’s little plastic package, with one of the neck things breaking off. Still, a nice figure, even if not holiday themed.

Previous Days
December 12, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 11
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…

Star Wars: 5 Hits / 5 Misses
City: 6 Hits / 4 Misses
Harry Potter: 7 Hits / 3 Misses
Marvel: 4 Hits / 6 Misses
Star Wars: 5 Hits / 5 Misses

Star Wars Day 11 – Ace

I think this is a blue AAT. And if it is, it fails. It’s just not AAT enough. And if it isn’t, it still fails for looking like an AAT. I’m not sure how it could be improved upon but that’s really not my job. Someone actually designed this. I do like how it feels a bit chonky even at this scale but after yesterday’s banger of a model, today feels like a bit of a let down.

I literally gasped when I opened today’s Lindt advent day. This here is a “Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffle Moon”. The first four words are the exact same words in used to describe their truffle balls. Except this one is in moon form. Will we have the same experience as the truffle ball except more? And moonier?

No moon details to be found. But the Lindt name is there.

I had no idea there was an air gap. But that’s okay, you couldn’t even tell once you started eating. And yes, this was exactly what I was hoping it was going to be. Silky smooth ganache melting in your mouth with a milk chocolate shell. It was like having two truffle balls at the same time. I’d buy a jar of these if they had such a thing.

Harry Potter Day 11 – Eric

We’ve gotten the terrible Christmas tree out of the way. Onto greener pastures:

Okay, I spoke too soon. This is nothing. I mean…it’s something. It’s an owl and a mailbox. But it’s not a good something. I’m unimpressed.

I’m also unimpressed by today’s tea. Another matcha: GINSENG MATCHA GREEN. For some reason, it’s not hitting as strongly as Day 9’s matcha. Just sort of…nothing.

3/5.

Rough day.

City Day 11 – Nick

This is both the most and least holiday thing ever. I mean, it feels like this is being made at me in a way… the hair color is off (and there’s too much of it), the stomach isn’t nearly big enough, and there is a lack of facial hair…

But when I opened this, I had a hoodie and jeans on, wearing a novelty T-shirt, and there were two pairs of headphones and three game controllers within five feet of me. Though my PS5 controller (which this would most closely match, kind of) is white. The one connected to my PC, anyway. The one connected to my PS5, which is mostly just an expensive dust collector in my living room, is… I think also white. I don’t remember, I haven’t powered it on in probably a year.

This figure is how I’ve spent many a Christmas, and how my kids will likely spend theirs as well. I know I’m breaking my “not really holiday” rule, but hey, the world is doomed anyway, because the game industry is absolute * bleep * and kids want virtual currency and subscriptions instead of new games. We’ve lost the war, unfortunately, and the worst people control the game industry.

This figure is cool though, and I think I need to turn this into my personal minifig now.

Marvel Day 11 – Nick

Okay, you know, I bagged on the City calendar yesterday for its fireplace… but this feels like a whole different beast. It’s actually a cohesive build that doesn’t feel slapped together. It’s satisfying and enclosed. The addition of Mjolnir is just icing as well that ties together the Marvel aspect and gives a little Holiday hearth and home feel.

Though… are they suddenly deciding they want to tie things together? What’s with the handles on the side of this. It doesn’t even really show that on the package in any real way that there’s an over-arching build… wait, did the gift wrapping thing have those?

Huh, sure did. Didn’t notice it at the time, because they do so little to make it feel like these days are connected.

Bonus Star Wars Day 11 – Nick

The Star Wars Calendar has just been knocking it out of the park with the micro builds, going for the Clone Wars-era AAT, complete with Dark Blue. The proportions are a bit off, but honestly not sure there are parts that’d work out without making it too big.

Pokemon Day 11 – Nick & Family

We had been getting two days of Pokemon before going to the cardboard, but only got one before we’re right back to it. This is at least a bit more holiday, but has the same issue of being small. This feels almost like one of those cutouts that we parents use to torture our kids and get pictures of them rolling their eyes with a cutout of a famous character (or, alternatively, people on Tiktok abuse in an effort to go viral).

Previous Days
December 11, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 10
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…

Star Wars: 4 Hits / 5 Misses
City: 6 Hits / 3 Misses
Harry Potter: 7 Hits / 2 Misses
Marvel: 4 Hits / 5 Misses
Star Wars: 4 Hits / 5 Misses

Star Wars Day 10 – Ace

Okay, this thing wins the entire month, hands down. A Hailfire Droid! It is so gorram charming at this scale, words escape me. But this emoji sums it up: 😍

And if that wasn’t enough of an advent banger, I got this in the Lindt calendar today:

Another truffle ball! Same as before, so I’ll link Day 4 here if you want my impression.

Doing its best Death Star impression.

I used a knife to cut it this time to get a profile. I learned two things by doing this: 1) there’s an air bubble and this is probably true for all of the truffle balls, and 2) the Death Star dimple is actually the plug and an entirely separate chocolate piece. You can kinda see the plug between the two halves, My guess is they make two hemispheres with one of those hemispheres having a hole. They melt the two together to form a ball. Inject the chocolate truffle ganache through the hole, and the plug it with the dimple and then melt it into place. Neat!

Harry Potter Day 10 – Eric

If there’s one thing I can count on from these calendars, it’s a crappy Christmas tree.

Never fails.

But, I was surprised when I looked back at the other years and learned: the tree design is different. Every year. Props to LEGO’s committment to modifying it. It still sucks every year though.

Although 2023 definitely takes the cake as the worst.

Today’s tea – WINTER WARMER – came at the right time. Not 3 minutes before I got the bag, I said “I’m really cold.”

What are the odds?

The tea itself is…fine. It’s full of spices and tastes like orange, but it’s not really blowing me away. I’m a bigger fan of the warmth than anything, and I can get that with any tea.

3/5.

Next day!

City Day 10 – Nick

Fireplaces are to the City calendars what signs must be to the Harry Potter calendars, because we get one every year and they consistently get worse each time. Or, you know, what the Marvel calendars are. I mean, I question the value of exhausting your fireplace directly into the room right above the top of the fire bowl, and also don’t know why you’d put wood pillars where the fire is.

It’s just not a good build, and we’ve gotten parts in this calendar that could have made it better. Sure, some decent parts, but not enough of them to make this anything but a miss.

Marvel Day 10 – Nick

A jetpack. Wow. I’m so excited for this. I’m totally not going to forget it’s a thing and never put it on a any of the minifigures in the set. It’s the perfect accessory for them, all of the figures included are well known for their use of Jet packs, and used them multiple times in the TV shows and films.

Ugh. Miss.

Bonus Star Wars Day 10 – Nick

Okay, wow. I’m not the biggest fan of mini and micro builds in general, but wow, this is the absolute perfect way to do one of them. Immediately recognizable, and it hits all the tones. The missile pods, the angle of the wheels, the front gun. Even the little light eye, represented perfectly.

Honestly, it’s better than the minifig versions of the set, which have been kinda terrible. Big, big hit, and like Ace, I’d say this is absolutely the star of the calendar so far.

Pokemon Day 10 – Nick & Family

Char! Char! My favorite of the starters (I’m basic, I admit it), and he has a snowball. What’s not to love about this guy? Opening this immediately kicked off a fight over who got him between my son and daughter, and the compromise was that whoever got Charmander means they don’t get to get the other holiday picks (which we assume are going to be Pikachu and Bulbasaur).

My daughter ended up with him, my son ended up getting Squirtle, since he has a plush Squirtle that he’s had since he was two. My eye is on Bulbasaur, to match the plush I have up on my shelf…

Previous Days
December 10, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 9
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…

Star Wars: 4 Hits / 4 Misses
City: 5 Hits / 3 Misses
Harry Potter: 6 Hits / 2 Misses
Marvel: 4 Hits / 4 Misses
Star Wars: 4 Hits / 4 Misses

Star Wars Day 9 – Ace

This is not a mistake. Your eyes are not deceiving you. When I should have gotten a STAP I instead got a duplicate of Day 6. Machine malfunction I assume as it went down the assembly line. Day 6 is right above Day 9:

SSee? You just can’t trust robots. I would have much rather gotten the STAP. It gives yesterday’s Battle Droid some legitimacy. I guess two clones is okay too. I’m sure if this happened to someone else they would have been thrilled. If you want the skinny on the Day 9’s real offering check out Nick’s calendar day below. I’m gonna give this one a thumbs down because I didn’t get what I was supposed to get.

A third Double Milk Teddy. Same as before, so I’ll link Day 3’s impression here.

The back of the box shows three, but we’ve already established that the back of the box doesn’t give us the complete picture of the calendar’s offerings. I sincerely hope this is the last though.

A man can only take so much white chocolate.

Harry Potter Day 9 – Eric

If it’s not a horrible wooden sign, the odds are good.

Oh, even better odds! It’s Hermionie! Once again, I’m a huge fan of the hat / hair combo. It adds so much character. I was raised in the age of LEGO when you either had hat or hair. I can’t remember when LEGO started switching it up, but the more, the merrier.

Just like Ron, this is the fourth Hermionie, and, once again, just like Ron, 2020 and 2023 are really fighting for the prize.

Today’s tea is not a normal matcha green. This is SUPREME MATCHA GREEN. Let’s give it a taste.

Wow. I think matcha might be my new favorite kind of tea. It’s sweet without being overpowering, and it has the minty aftertaste.

Go get yourself this one. An easy 5/5.

Onto tomorrow!

City Day 9 – Nick

Before I get to this figure, and the one little gap I leave in a build just to bother a few specific people (you know who you are)… I saw Ace’s comment on white chocolate, and there is not limit on how much white chocolate a man can take. This man can take all of the white chocolate, and gladly.

Anyway, after a couple of subpar days, we get what may be my favorite City holiday character ever in a calendar. There are a few different singers, carolers, and wassailers in this little subtheme. As a slice of modern but throwback Christmas, this is just… perfect. Yes, it’s very much a “Christmas” more than holiday thing, but even my heathen little heart recognizes this and enjoys it – and there are tons of commercial songs that have been belted out like this.

Marvel Day 9 – Nick

I like 99% of Steve Rogers, right up until they ruined the whole arc of the character with the end of Endgame, the worst movie of the whole of the first phase of the MCU (fight me, I’ll die on that hill – Dark World, Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 3 are all better than it is).

He’s also a character that could so easily be made holiday, and would lean so hard into it as well. He’s basically made to be happily reluctant Santa. But we just get a stock Steve. We’re bad to the old Marvel BS, and this is a miss.

Bonus Star Wars Day 9 – Nick

Yesterday’s Battle Droid gets a ride in a STAP, which I think gives us our elventyeth version of this little vehicle that showed up on the screen for about forty seconds in Episode I. Why do robots need a vehicle, anyway? They could basically just be the vehicle. The whole idea of battle droids is kind of silly, the tank can be a robot, why build a robot that just replaces a body?

As a build… it’s meh. The droid should have been included in the day, for starters. It also needs to sit higher on its little base, one brick height isn’t all that great. There are much better versions of this in sets, and not all that many more parts.

I think the biggest issue is that it’s made to hold the droid, which makes it feel like it’s simultaneously straddle the mini-build in spots, but a regular build, but it’s part limited. It’s got substance compared to most days, so it’s a marginal hit, but only because it’s something to build and use.

Pokemon Day 9 – Nick & Family

Another cardboard build, and a much lamer version compared to the earlier one. It’s a snow pile, with an opening too small for almost all of the Pokemon we’ve gotten. This is the most meh thing yet, and my kids didn’t even put it together, they just dropped it to play with the other things

Previous Days
December 9, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 8

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…

Star Wars: 4 Hits / 3 Misses
City: 5 Hits / 2 Misses
Harry Potter: 6 Hits / 1 Misses
Marvel: 3 Hits / 4 Misses
Star Wars: 4 Hits / 3 Misses

Star Wars Day 8 – Ace

I don’t think we’ll ever have a calendar without one of these stupid things. I get it: it’s low cost, low effort, and because of that it’s a mainstay in these annual calendars but I think we deserve a little more. I can’t remember if got extra arms and a weapon in previous iterations. Even if we didn’t, it’s still a crap day.

Today’s chocolate totally makes up for it though. I am being treated to a “Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Nougat Praline”.

If you were to ask me what nougat was, I wouldn’t be able to tell you except that it’s one of three main components in a Snickers bar. Praline? Same thing, no idea except that it’s often followed by ” and cream”. Put it all together and add some hazelnut and you get this wonderful confection.

The hazelnut part was actual hazelnut bits that added a crunchy texture. I wouldn’t be able to distinguish nougat from praline from the flavor profile, but the hazelnut was very distinct. Overall, it was very smooth and very satisfyingly rich.

Harry Potter Day 8 – Eric

Oh man, I was just looking at Ace’s chocolates. Very jealous. I need to steal that idea for next year.

Anyway, here’s another low-effort sign.

Wow, seven whole pieces. Lucky me.

This one is as bad as the last one. I wonder how many more of these terrible signs we’re going to get?

Today’s tea was THREE CHAMOMILE. Don’t really know how that applies practically, but let’s give it a shot.

It’s certainly chamomile. Delicious as always, but not sure the benefit of THREE of the things. Still, best tea in a few days.

4/5.

City Day 8 – Nick

This is the sort of thing in the Advent that I have such mixed feelings about. It’s shown up in multiple calendars. It’s also a frequent filler and parts-padding item in the holiday sets, something that I stopped collecting a few years ago. You don’t need all that many, and the scale and style vary so wildly that they just don’t have all that much usefulness in the end.

There’s something “holiday” about them, kind of, more in an old-timey way… but ultimately it’s just a street lamp. One that’s too short at that, so I’m gonna say miss.

Marvel Day 8 – Nick

Okay, wait, did I slip into the prime universe suddenly, and the world stopped sucking? To clarify that, I’m rather convinced that we’re in the mirror universe, the past seven years or so seem to be evidence that this really isn’t the good one. And there are a lot of goatees on people. Unlike some of the Iron-themed stuff, this one is clearly Iron-Man themed, in color and selection. It’s also clearly holiday and reindeer themed. Though it probably should be like Rescue or Pepper colors and peddling Goop nonsense, since only female Reindeer would have Antlers. Very solid little hit.

Also, those gold Spider-man accessory garbage parts are supposed to fit into the discs that come with this. That’s dumb, and they shouldn’t be here. But whatever. The reindeer is still very cool.

Bonus Star Wars Day 8 – Nick

It’s a B-1 Battle droid. Who gives a Bantha Poo Doo about these or honestly wants on in your calendar? Even if you like them, you have dozens, if not more, of the dang things. Miss harder than your average OT stormtrooper.

Pokemon Day 8 – Nick & Family

When is a shiny not a shiny? When it’s a “sparky” Absol! A Shiny Absol is orange, but this is the “shimmering” large figures that come in this Advent calendar. It’s much bigger than the other Pokemon, and interesting. My daughter wants to make it clear that it’s the exact same mold as the existing toy version you can get at Target, just with a slightly different plastic. She thinks this is important information for everyone to know.

December 8, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 7
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…

Star Wars: 4 Hits / 2 Misses
City: 4 Hits / 2 Misses
Harry Potter: 5 Hits / 1 Misses
Marvel: 2 Hits / 4 Misses
Star Wars: 4 Hits / 2 Misses

Star Wars Day 7 – Ace

We may have escaped the weapons rack, but we haven’t escaped paired build days apparently. While the art on the front of the box shows this as some sort of snowball sentry post, we all know it’s a crows nest for soemone with a long gun. Like this:

Wonder if it goes on that post on a Clone Turbo Tank set…

In any case, it’s not great because by itself it’s really just nothing. I can’t believe I’m saying this but a weapons rack is better than this, because it was at least something. You can look at it and know what it is. If I didn’t look at the back of the box or stuck this Clone Trooper in it, it would have been hard to tell what it’s supposed to be.

Unfortunately this day is full of disappointment even on the chocolate side. Today’s chocolate snowman felt a bit light. I looked at the back of the box and it said that it is a “Lindt Mini Milk Chocolate Snowman”. It sounded pretty hollow.

And it was! Utter disappointment.

At least it looked nice.

Harry Potter Day 7 – Eric

Another Zonko’s build. Not too much to say about this one except:

These two cones. I’ve never seen the sparkles in a LEGO piece like that. Big fan.

Forgot to take pictures of the tea, but it’s called TURMERIC ACTIVE. But I think it should be called TURMERIC AVERAGE because yeah it was just average.

3/5.

City Day 7 – Nick

This makes yesterday makes a whole lot more sense. An ice sculptor is a great little thing (and something that fits well into the theme). I wish it would have had a chainsaw, which they have as a part (it came with the Collectible Minifigures), but still a good, if simple, figure. It would have been better if the sculpture was included, or came after, but still a solid if not spectacular hit.

Marvel Day 7 – Nick

Edit: Switched days 7 and 8, so fixing that!

Our second sweater fig, Black Widow. Always love a sweater fig, and holiday themed to boot! So solid, solid hit.

Bonus Star Wars Day 7 – Nick

WTF is this thing? Like… a chair. This is the kind of nonsense that would come up if someone dared the world’s biggest billionaire idiot (I repeat myself, but talking about Elon Musk specifically) decided he wanted to * bleep * up wheelchairs and make them worse for everyone, crapped this out while high, and then spent two years and tens of billions of dollars bullying everyone to accept it while his rabid fanbois harassed anyone who dared to disagree it was * bleep * (which it was, like every other idea he’s ever had).

What does the fact that Elon Musk is awful, his companies are awful (also overrated, ruining the world – as well as the night sky, and should be the first on the block when the revolution comes)? Nothing, I’ve just been making fun of that ass for a long time, well before the shine came off and he drove twitter into the ground. And this miss of a build stinks and isn’t worth talking about.

Bricklink says it’s a Clone Command Center, but they weren’t known to roll around and communicate with one or two beeps, so I doubt it.

Pokemon Day 7 – Nick & Family

Oh, Swinub, you poor little thing. You’re a trash Pokemon that’s still somehow cute. These things are what show up by the dozen if you open Pokemon Go around my house and walk a quarter mile in any given direction. It’s cute, and a solid representation, but it’s still just a Swinub.

Previous Days
December 7, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 6
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…

Star Wars: 3 Hits / 2 Misses
Harry Potter: 4 Hits / 1 Misses
City: 4 Hits / 1 Misses
Marvel: 1 Hits / 4 Misses
Bonus Star Wars: 4 Hits / 1 Misses

Star Wars Day 6 – Ace

Fairly certain this is Commander Cody with a long rifle. If not, it’s some sort of elite trooper I’m guessing. They wouldn’t waste precious paint on some regular ol’ noncom. It is a bit weird that we’re getting some random colored clone trooper though. Was the Clone Wars a recent product push by LEGO? Not entirely sure, but I’ll give it a thumbs up. Who doesn’t like Star Wars minifigs? What’s surprising though is the inclusion of the weapon. That sort of thing was always held off for the following day’s inevitable weapons rack. If we get some other nice-ish build tomorrow then I am sold on the idea that this year’s calendar is the dawn of a new era. An era of (mostly) non sucky calendar days. I wish I could say the same for today’s Lindt calendar day though.

At first glance, I thought this was the same as Day 2’s Lindt Mini Milk Chocolate Double Milk Teddy.

I hadn’t looked at the back of the box to verify. But instead what I got was…

A gigantic RIP OFF!!! I felt so cheated. It is not a Lindt Mini Milk Chocolate Double Milk TEDDY but instead it is in fact a Lindt Mini Milk Chocolate TEDDY. Single, not double. I hate hollow chocolates. Sure they’re easier to eat, and not as hard on the teeth but that’s part of the fun. Just how much can you destroy your teeth and gums trying to eat a solid hunk o’ chocolate. But anyways, hollow chocolates have always been, and will forever be, one of the biggest crimes against humanity. At least fill it with creamy ganache or something. C’mon!

Harry Potter Day 6 – Eric

Day 6!

Fireworks! If Days 2 and 3 were Honeydukes, then this must be…I’m guessing Zonko’s Joke Shop? Pretty cool, because I don’t even think this place was featured in the movies. We get Gryffindor- and Slytherin-themed fireworks, and two…magic wands? That’s what I’d normally call them, but since Harry Potter already has wands, I’m not sure.

What purpose would a wizard even have for those?

At least Ron seems happy.

Today’s tea had great potential – ELDERBERRY AND ECHINACEA.

It looked great, it smelled great, but the taste…was nothing. Seriously. It tasted like hot water. I was so disappointed.

All style, no substance. Truly sad day.

1/5.

See ya tomorrow!

City Day 6 – Nick

Ice turd? A high-quality Chima build… wait, that wasn’t ever a thing. I’m going to assume an ice sculpture or something… but it’s more like “WTF is this?” Calling it a miss, because I don’t get why it’s a thing.

Marvel Day 6 – Nick

How is it we get a better City advent build in the Marvel calendar than we got in the City? This is a solid little build, if uninspired, but I don’t get why it’s in the Marvel calendar. Still, given how awful the rest of the thing has been, it’s at least seasonal, so it can steal a hit from the City calendar.

Star Wars Day 6 – Nick

This is not Commander Cody, and it’s not a holiday thing. Sure, getting a 212th trooper is cool, but getting Commander Cody would have been even cooler. He needs the visor and the proper markings. He was just in Bad Batch too, so easily could have been included as part of that run.

A miss, because this is just disjointed filler.

Pokemon Day 6 – Nick & Family

After the disappointment of the tree, this is a solid little cardboard build. I mean, it’s going to die the same tragic death the other things like this will, but at least my the little Pokemon can go take a ride.

I’d give you input from my kids on this, but they’re too busy having a battle. Squirtle vs. Spheal, if you were curious.

Previous Days
December 6, 2023
FBTB’s LEGO Advent Season of Extra-Special Spam 2023 – Day 5
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…

Ace and Nick didn’t quite agree on the Pit Droid, but that might honestly speak more to variation on parts in LEGO and the long-term dip in quality that has happened. The Harry Potter calendar missed with its sign, and City saw its first miss as well. Marvel continued it’s path of suckitude by giving us what should have just been included with Spider-man and cheating us out of a full day of stuff.

Star Wars: 2 Hits / 2 Misses
Harry Potter: 3 Hits / 1 Misses
City: 4 Hits / 0 Misses
Marvel: 1 Hits / 3 Misses
Bonus Star Wars: 3 Hits / 1 Misses

Star Wars Day 1 – Ace

“Oh neat!” That’s what I said when I first laid eyes on the little instruction panel. Even in it’s semi-deconstructed state I knew we had a winner. Even though the wheels of the Clone Turbo Tank are floating above the ground they’re supposed to be rolling on, there is a certain level of charm to it just scraping along the surface. It doesn’t work but it works so well at the same time. This reminds me of the little trains from the CITY advent calendars a few years back. I love this thing and I’m not even a huge fan of the source material.

Today’s chocolate offering are two “Lindt Mini Solid Milk Chocolate Balls”. I’m glad it was a two-fer ’cause if there was only just one it would have been a sad advent day.

And the chocolate maker still managed to put some texture on the ball. Not that anyone would notice, ’cause the balls would immediately go straight into one’s mouth.

Being solid, there’s no surprises here. The chocolate is the same through and through. I should probably start using a knife and cut these things in half cause I destroyed this thing.

The back of the box showed three balls but we get two today. I’m beginning to think the back of the box isn’t showing us the complete offering of the calendar. I don’t think they’d stiff us with one chocolate ball on a single day anymore, if today is any indication. That’s kind of good news.

Harry Potter Day 5 – Eric

Honestly, it’s kinda nice to have a dud every once in a while. Keeps me honest.

Today, though, is far from a dud.

Well, unless I’m speaking about the character of Ron Weasley. Big dud energy for sure. But there’s a ton to like about this minifig. The half-sized legs, of course, but the jacket is excellent, and so is the hat / hair. And the angsty teenage face. So great!

This is actually our fourth Ron overall. And, without a doubt, the best. 2020 comes close, but Ron’s dumb little beanie from this year really puts it over the top.

And to make things even better, today’s tea is DE-LIC-IOUS!

It’s CHAMOMILLE, VANILLA, AND MANUKA HONEY, and it’s just a great tea. It’s the kind of tea that I’d drink normally, so I slurped this bad boy down. You can never go wrong with chamomille, believe me. 5/5.

Onto Day 6!

City Day 5 – Nick

The streak couldn’t continue forever, I guess, and yeah, I was marginal for the hockey player, but this just feels like something that should have been included with the hockey player and not its own thing. So, a miss…

Marvel Day 5 – Nick

Do I grade these things on a curve? Because this is simultaneously nice for being a snowman, and stupid because it’s Iron-Snowman. It’s only that because it has an arc reactor, I guess, on the front, and blasters or something instead of arms. There are dozens of better ways this could have been done. Put a War Machine helmet on it, put robot arms on instead of those stupid blasters.

I know, it’s winter, but it just wasn’t a fun build. Taking off the arms would make this better, and given that it’s 1/5th of the build, that’s not a good thing. So going to call it a miss.

Bonus Star Wars Day 5 – Nick

Oh, the Clone Turbo Tank / Turbo Tank / Juggernaut… three things that aren’t the same but also are, because they’ve never really been around for more than a few seconds. Yet it’s had multiple, really good, LEGO sets. You can tell immediately what this is when you see it, and it’s just little and simple. Bonus points for using the pucks as wheels, which just makes it nice. So a hit.

Pokemon Day 5 – Nick & Family

Okay, not only do we have a Squirtle, we have a Squirtle with a snowball and earmuffs. How cute is that?

Previous Days
December 5, 2023