Harry Potter Advent Calendar - Day 1
Posted by CapnRex101,
I had a chance to see 76456 LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar 2025 at the London Toy Fair in January and I think it would be reasonable to say this calendar is very different to its precursors!
I enjoyed the Harry Potter Advent Calendars as they were before, though it can be nice to have something completely new...
The packaging for this Harry Potter Advent Calendar is quite different to the previous few, with minifigures from each Hogwarts house taking pride of place and some small models displayed underneath. Hogwarts Castle and the frozen Black Lake form an attractive backdrop behind the box flap, with some kind of magical energy streaming from one to the other.
LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendars tend to begin, unsurprisingly, with Harry Potter himself! However, the young wizard is not dressed in his standard uniform, instead wearing a seasonal jumper. These are common in Advent Calendars, but the red and dark orange colour scheme is perfect for a Gryffindor student and I like the owl icon on the chest, grasping a candy cane.
Knitted patterns continue on the reverse, including a row of pine trees and plenty of white dots, representing falling snow. Perhaps there was an opportunity for more Gryffindor-related details, but the overall design looks lovely.
I would have preferred a different head, as the alternative frightened expression seems out of place to me. The design with two smiling expressions found in a few previous sets could have been a good option, for example. Harry comes with a dark brown wand, as ever.
Overall - This is not my favourite of Harry's various festive minifigures, although the Gryffindor jumper looks wonderful.
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Well, we found Harry. That's the whole calendar right there.
This seems to be the year that TLG tried something different with its calendars. Marvel's been replaced with Minecraft, Harry Potter has no minifigure-sized play accessories, and Star Wars has no micro-ships.
I, for one, welcome some change.
Took me a moment to realise that’s Hogwarts in silhouette behind the owl, thought it was people at first
Ok, that coat looks great, and we got the MC out front.
Isn't he scared because his jumper has just revealed a vision of Hedwig being burnt alive.
@CCC said:
"Isn't he scared because his jumper has just revealed a vision of Hedwig being burnt alive."
"Oh no, bird friend!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud7b8Mg6iVI)
So the first two years depicted the scene when Hermione heads home in the first film, and the Yule Ball from the fourth film. The last two years depict a wintertime trip to Hogsmeade (can’t remember the film), and I believe to be the first Christmastime feast _before_ students got sent home in the first film. The middle two years were games that covered the first film up to the Sorting scene, and bits from all eight films. They still haven’t touched the Slug Club party, which I think is the only cohesive scene left that really ties into Christmas. There are some other winter scenes, but none that really stand out as being Advent-appropriate. The HP design team really has their work cut out for them if they don’t want the HPAC to be replaced by another theme. Honestly, given the look of the non-minifig days this year, I’m surprised they didn’t just go with actual ornaments you could hang on your tree. It worked for Friends.
@Brickalili said:
"Took me a moment to realise that’s Hogwarts in silhouette behind the owl, thought it was people at first"
The section on the right side of the image (left side of the minifig) does look rather like a wizard hoisting a wand. But the pattern is much more visible in the box art of Cho Chang, which gives the least obstructed view of the castle, and the best contrast between the print and base color.
@CCC said:
"Isn't he scared because his jumper has just revealed a vision of Hedwig being burnt alive."
Nah, Hedwig got her claws on the Elder Cane, and that’s pure, unadulterated, magic power flowing out of her…uh…wing tips.
@Brickalili said:
"Took me a moment to realise that’s Hogwarts in silhouette behind the owl, thought it was people at first"
I thought it was his mom and dad!
But then he'd be set up to become Batman, which in retrospect, a DC set would be a much better Advent Calendar.
@PurpleDave:
You forgot Godric’s Hollow. Still haven’t done that, and it’s distinctly Christmas.
In love how so many people can't make out what the background of the shirt depicts. Ah well, at least it's a thematic sweather
@PurpleDave said:
" @CCC said:
"Isn't he scared because his jumper has just revealed a vision of Hedwig being burnt alive."
Nah, Hedwig got her claws on the Elder Cane, and that’s pure, unadulterated, magic power flowing out of her…uh…wing tips."
Dumbledore's and Grindelwald's battle over the centuries old candy cane was legendary!
Too bad a bird snatched it when they were fighting over it.
@Binnekamp said:
"In love how so many people can't make out what the background of the shirt depicts. Ah well, at least it's a thematic sweather"
I think it becomes clear it is Hogwarts Castle once you realise that the building on the far left is supposed to be the Great Hall attached to the Marble Staircase Tower, rather than a garage linked to a three-storey house!
@PurpleDave said:
"They still haven’t touched the Slug Club party, which I think is the only cohesive scene left that really ties into Christmas."
I think it might be a not-so-famous scene and pretty limited in what to display, apart from food. There also some lesser characters in there.
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
"You forgot Godric's Hollow. Still haven't done that, and it's distinctly Christmas."
Oh I love that place! In the movie, the atmosphere is so calm and cozy, at least until it took a darker turn. But again, to be the theme of an entire set, it would be just a pretty limited scene that would directly involve only two main characters.
One compromise could be having an Advent calendar depicting what happened during each year's Christmas period. Like, for example:
1st year: Harry's first presents received from the Weasleys and the Mirror of Erised;
2nd year: Harry and Ron adventuring in the Slytherin hall disguised with Polyjuice, cat-Hermione;
3rd year: Firebolt present and Hogsmeade;
4th year: of course Yule Ball;
5th year: Christmas at Grimmauld Place and first kiss under the mistletoe;
6th year: Christmas at the Burrow and the Slug Club;
7th year: Godric's hollow.
At least we would be given some nice minifig-scale accessories to decorate our Hogwarts sets with...
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
" @PurpleDave:
You forgot Godric’s Hollow. Still haven’t done that, and it’s distinctly Christmas."
I was thinking more in terms of large scenes. Even without checking, every HPAC has had at least six minifigs, and most have had seven. Godric’s Hollow has a shortage of characters, a lack of festive decorations, and very little that’s iconic enough to warrant being a full day by itself. Given the sweaters worn by the two boys, the 2019 HPAC depicts a largely empty room, but it’s still a _large_ room, and still decorated for the holidays, and the boys were opening presents at the time. Christmas at the Burrow could work, if you don’t mind a box full of Weasleys.
@Legodp:
2020 had the twins, and last year had Susan Bones. Minor characters become necessary when you want to work Hufflepuff into the mix, because they only really had one main character. And I don’t think the twins would have ever appeared in their Yule Ball dresses if that HPAC hadn’t come out while 75948 was still available. And if you’re concerned about minor characters appearing in the HPAC, I’ve got bad news for you…
I just love this jumper
That's some owl you got there.
@Rimefang said: "But then he'd be set up to become Batman, which in retrospect, a DC set would be a much better Advent Calendar."
I'm still waiting for a Ninjago calendar.
@Zordboy said:
" @Rimefang said: "But then he'd be set up to become Batman, which in retrospect, a DC set would be a much better Advent Calendar."
I'm still waiting for a Ninjago calendar."
Did you miss it when it happened? Well, I mean, they are ninja, after all, and ninja can be quite stealthy at times.
@PurpleDave said: "Did you miss it when it happened? Well, I mean, they are ninja, after all, and ninja can be quite stealthy at times."
It just seems like a slam dunk, which is why I don't understand why they've never done it.
The box art depicts the Ninjago team fighting a Christmas-time battle against -- oh, I don't know -- a conquering evil penguin, and each day of the calendar is a new character/weapon/micro-scale vehicle/mecha to build up your resources for the final confrontation (where the villain appears on the 23rd), with a Christmas tree (with a ninja star on top) on the 24th to celebrate the victory.
C'mon Lego. It's a no brainer. This would be impossible to get wrong.
@Zordboy said:
" @PurpleDave said: "Did you miss it when it happened? Well, I mean, they are ninja, after all, and ninja can be quite stealthy at times."
It just seems like a slam dunk, which is why I don't understand why they've never done it.
The box art depicts the Ninjago team fighting a Christmas-time battle against -- oh, I don't know -- a conquering evil penguin, and each day of the calendar is a new character/weapon/micro-scale vehicle/mecha to build up your resources for the final confrontation (where the villain appears on the 23rd), with a Christmas tree (with a ninja star on top) on the 24th to celebrate the victory.
C'mon Lego. It's a no brainer. This would be impossible to get wrong. "
Sure, why not? I hear the person who designed the last couple Marvel calendars has some free time to work on it.