City Advent Calendar - Day 1
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO City Advent Calendars were once notably formulaic, rarely containing more than one or two unique elements and repeating much the same models each year. Some repetition is fine and perhaps inevitable, but whereas other LEGO Advent Calendars innovated, City stood still.
However, last year's edition made a change by introducing lots of new minifigure parts, so I hope 60475 LEGO City Advent Calendar 2025 will be follow suit.
A delightful festive scene appears on the front of the box, showing characters gathered around their Christmas tree. I love the cosy lighting and some of the minifigures and models on display here will doubtless arrive over the next few weeks.
The artwork behind the opening flap looks superb too, turning the scene on the front of the box into a floor plan on the play mat. Furthermore, there are a couple of referential details to spot in the background, such as Santa disappearing into a chimney on the right and several recent sets. 60423 Downtown Streetcar, 60440 LEGO Delivery Truck, 60448 Sports Car and 60452 Donut Truck all appear, plus the Police helicopter from 60462 Helicopter, Fire Truck & Submarine Remix.
Day one brings a child dressed in a polar bear costume, which is a fun idea! The headgear for the costume was introduced in 60363 Ice-Cream Shop a couple of years ago and its nose and eyes look splendid. The torso is a new piece though, featuring a scarf and some grey fur, which matches the hands.
The printed tail is cut off on the back, which looks a bit awkward, but this is an excellent figure otherwise. Even the cheerful head has only appeared once before, with the Hamster Costume Fan Collectable Minifigure.
Appropriately for a polar bear, the minifigure comes with an ice lolly. This trans-blue piece has appeared quite often in recent years, so another colour would have been ideal, but blue works well enough.
Overall - LEGO City makes a promising start with an appealing and seasonal minifigure.
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29 comments on this article
Vengeful polar bear with iced penguin lolly. Great first day!
It would have been better if it had a blue tongue.
But then, it will look even better when replaced with the head-piece of the hammerhead shark from Atlantis.
@CCC said:
"It would have been better if it had a blue tongue.
But then, it will look even better when replaced with the head-piece of the hammerhead shark from Atlantis."
Oh god
@WokePope said:
" @CCC said:
"It would have been better if it had a blue tongue.
But then, it will look even better when replaced with the head-piece of the hammerhead shark from Atlantis."
Oh god
"
A new world opens for Her Holiness. Not a particularly nice world, but we've run out of those.
Now this is a solid figure with accesories.
@Crux said:
" @WokePope said:
" @CCC said:
"It would have been better if it had a blue tongue.
But then, it will look even better when replaced with the head-piece of the hammerhead shark from Atlantis."
Oh god
"
A new world opens for Her Holiness. Not a particularly nice world, but we've run out of those."
It's a bad deal, for any deity no matter what their intentions are.
@WokePope said:
" @CCC said:
"It would have been better if it had a blue tongue.
But then, it will look even better when replaced with the head-piece of the hammerhead shark from Atlantis."
Oh god"
What, you’ve never seen that done before? I’ve been doing that since…you know, I can’t even remember which was the first minifig I put one of those heads on, but I did buy a large supply of them when they were readily available. Low triple digits.
One of the reasons why I’m getting this Advent Calendar. Would go great with https://brickset.com/minifigs/col340 ! Also, slight correction CapnRex101: the polar bear head mold is not the same on as the Hamster’s, and was used on https://brickset.com/minifigs/cty1617
It also appeared in BaM stations for a bit.
Looks like a fun little mini figure. It's a nice start.
@TheBrickPal is doing a calendar, @CapnRex101 is taking over the City calendar from @MeganL; you guys are really shaking things up this time, aren't you?
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
"One of the reasons why I’m getting this Advent Calendar. Would go great with https://brickset.com/minifigs/col340 ! Also, slight correction CapnRex101: the polar bear head mold is not the same on as the Hamster’s, and was used on https://brickset.com/minifigs/cty1617
It also appeared in BaM stations for a bit. "
He's not talking about the mold, he's talking about the printing on the head under it.
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
"One of the reasons why I’m getting this Advent Calendar. Would go great with https://brickset.com/minifigs/col340 ! Also, slight correction CapnRex101: the polar bear head mold is not the same on as the Hamster’s, and was used on https://brickset.com/minifigs/cty1617
It also appeared in BaM stations for a bit. "
The polar bear hat is from 60363. The minifig head print is from 71048.
A Wampa youngling with a strange lightsaber? I wasn't expecting Star Wars in the City Advent Calendar but I'm in
I know it's probably not a true representation due to changing part sizes etc, but it feels like these calendars are shrinking? This year's City calendar has 186 parts (according to Brickset), 2024 = 195, 2023 = 258, 2022 = 287, 2021 = 349!
@classicstylecastle said:
"I know it's probably not a true representation due to changing part sizes etc, but it feels like these calendars are shrinking? This year's City calendar has 186 parts (according to Brickset), 2024 = 195, 2023 = 258, 2022 = 287, 2021 = 349!"
This year and last year both include several unique prints, and this year also includes a new mold that only has a couple months to pay off its creation. Such things eat up a significant amount of the parts budget.
What the heck is an ice lolly?! Oh, a popsicle. ;)
@TheOtherMike said:
"
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
"One of the reasons why I’m getting this Advent Calendar. Would go great with https://brickset.com/minifigs/col340 ! Also, slight correction CapnRex101: the polar bear head mold is not the same on as the Hamster’s, and was used on https://brickset.com/minifigs/cty1617
It also appeared in BaM stations for a bit. "
He's not talking about the mold, he's talking about the printing on the head under it."
Ah… “cheerful head.” Yes, sorry about that. Thanks for the correction. While we’re on the topic though, I really don’t like CMF heads being reused. I don’t necessarily mind it here, but for most other instances, I really don’t like it.
The costume themed CMFs have now infected the advent calenders apparently. And this one's not even a new mold. At least it's appropriate
Always a minifig on day 1. Surely a funny looking one.
@PurpleDave said:
" @WokePope said:
" @CCC said:
"It would have been better if it had a blue tongue.
But then, it will look even better when replaced with the head-piece of the hammerhead shark from Atlantis."
Oh god"
What, you’ve never seen that done before? I’ve been doing that since…you know, I can’t even remember which was the first minifig I put one of those heads on, but I did buy a large supply of them when they were readily available. Low triple digits."
Oh, I've seen it done. Just I always forget about that particular nightmare-fuel head until someone comes along to remind me.
@WokePope said:
"Oh, I've seen it done. Just I always forget about that particular nightmare-fuel head until someone comes along to remind me."
Looks best on 71011-13. Or a Classic Spaceman. So, what is it about that head that bothers you? Is it the giant teeth, the trans-red base looking like a sheet of blood, or the tiny beady eyes off to the sides that most people probably never noticed?
@PurpleDave said:
" @WokePope said:
"Oh, I've seen it done. Just I always forget about that particular nightmare-fuel head until someone comes along to remind me."
Looks best on 71011-13. Or a Classic Spaceman. So, what is it about that head that bothers you? Is it the giant teeth, the trans-red base looking like a sheet of blood, or the tiny beady eyes off to the sides that most people probably never noticed?"
yes
@StyleCounselor said:
"Vengeful polar bear with iced penguin lolly. Great first day!"
Hee, hee, ha, ha! Thank you for bringing a smile to my face.
Okay, this minifig is very cute, so now I'm afraid I'll end up regretting my decision to skip this year's City calendar.
@Zordboy said:
"Okay, this minifig is very cute, so now I'm afraid I'll end up regretting my decision to skip this year's City calendar."
Ah, there’s no reason to be afraid. You _will_ regret it once you see the full family. Like last year, they’ve made this year’s CAC a must buy, even for those of us who don’t much care for City.
@PurpleDave said: "Ah, there’s no reason to be afraid. You _will_ regret it once you see the full family. Like last year, they’ve made this year’s CAC a must buy, even for those of us who don’t much care for City."
I've always found the City ones very same/same. If you buy one (and I bought the 2023 one, which I enjoyed), you can skip a few years without missing anything. It's why I went Disney Princess last year, and tracked down last year's Spider-man calendar for this year.
I guess I'm not as hugely into "minifigs in costume" as other collectors.
@Zordboy said:
"I've always found the City ones very same/same. If you buy one (and I bought the 2023 one, which I enjoyed), you can skip a few years without missing anything. It's why I went Disney Princess last year, and tracked down last year's Spider-man calendar for this year.
I guess I'm not as hugely into "minifigs in costume" as other collectors. "
I've always found the City ones to be very...City. I got one copy of the 2023 calendar, mainly for the Mrs. Claus, but I got two each of 2024 and 2025 for the family minifigs. And the Mrs. Claus minifigs. I don't build those ones, though. I just raid them for minifigs to put on layouts, and parts to build MOCs. I've already pulled one set of the family to put out on our Cranbrook display coming up this weekend.
I thought we would have Dreadflipper on day 1, ended up with his neighbor I guess???
@BrickInTheEye said:
"A Wampa youngling with a strange lightsaber? I wasn't expecting Star Wars in the City Advent Calendar but I'm in "
It's not a lightsaber, it's a lightshortsword.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @BrickInTheEye said:
"A Wampa youngling with a strange lightsaber? I wasn't expecting Star Wars in the City Advent Calendar but I'm in "
It's not a lightsaber, it's a lightshortsword."
A light-leiomano, or perhaps even a light-macuahuitzoctli.