Star Wars Advent Calendar - Day 9
Posted by CapnRex101,
The previous three days have seen the arrival of three droids. Even though this Advent Calendar is themed around droids, I think we are due for another piece of scenery next.
Find out after the break...
Please, take me back to the daily droids! There are sometimes items in Advent Calendars where you can feel the designer scrambling for something to fill the last couple of days and this crate of droid parts is a prime example. I appreciate the uncommon colours used for some pieces, like the golden Battle Droid legs returning from 10350 Tudor Corner, but this box is still extremely dull.
Overall - Not every item in any Advent Calendar is going to be a winner, but this is a rare instance of a genuine loser.
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Peter: A boat's a boat, but a mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat.
Lois: Then let's get the boa...
Peter: We'll take the mystery box.
Whoever said that day 9 was going to be bad was not kidding. This is comically pathetic lol
Disney: Yesterday's Friends one was a complete fireplace, this one is half-finished, but I like its silhouette better. 3/5p
Friends: 4.5/5p
Minecraft: I still don't like the Minecraft style... but within that, it's pretty good. 5/5p
Harry Potter: 1.5/5p
Star Wars: 1.5/5p
Over on Lego Reddit, somebody was complaining that Day 9 is just a box of parts.
The bulk of the comments replied that the entire Advent Calendar is, literally, a box of parts.
Ironically I do actually need that black astromech leg.
@Mister_Jonny said:
"Ironically I do actually need that black astromech leg."
I guess that makes you a winner then :)
Eh, not the best. If the box art is anything to go by, some of these pieces will be used later to construct a Battle Droid. Those gold leg pieces returning from 10350 is nice.
This year's SW calendar has been awful. Real cost cutting this year. No wonder it's been reduced everywhere.
One more: this is where you bring in your Iron Man minfigure from 76196.
"Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!"
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"One more: this is where you bring in your Iron Man minfigure from 76196.
"Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!""
I was thinking of that line when I built this, lol!
The box is more useful than the droid parts, including the droids from the past few days.
Day 9 (rather lame):
0 points (+ 29 from yesterday = 29): SW - Thankfully, it makes sense when set in context to the rest of the thematic calendar.
1 (+ 22 = 23): HP - Ony the prints save today's entry from 0 points.
2 (+ 17 = 19): Dy - Droppin' Baymax (still chuckling). At least, something to build but nothing that can stand on its own.
3 (+19 = 22): Fr - Colourful collection of minifig accessories.
4 (+12 = 16): MC - Not pretty in my eyes, but good play value.
5 (+20 = 25): Ct - Generally not a fan of animal costume CMF, but it's the nicest gift of today and a clever way to include a raindeer. Child labor is still not cool, Santa!
Didn't even need to assemble this one, the parts all tumbled into the crate as I opened the bag. Dark grey crate element is nice, I suppose, we usually just see them in brown.
@Rob42 said:
"Didn't even need to assemble this one, the parts all tumbled into the crate as I opened the bag. Dark grey crate element is nice, I suppose, we usually just see them in brown."
Yeah I really need non brown crates for my clone base moc so I need this
Worst.Advent.Calendar.Ever
I don't have a B1. Now I have B1 legs. Cool. I guess.
@BabuBrick said:
"Eh, not the best. If the box art is anything to go by, some of these pieces will be used later to construct a Battle Droid. Those gold leg pieces returning from 10350 is nice."
I'd like this more if today alone had had enough pieces in the box of scraps to build a patchwork droid out of them.
Useful parts, but not funny LEGO.
I feel like I’m at odds with everyone else here. So far I’ve been enjoying this AC on the whole while so many others appear not to be, but the first day, when Babu Frik was the toast of the town, that day kind of underwhelmed me. I mean, I do get that it’s a debut of a fondly-regarded character, and a new mold at that, but at the same time it’s a single piece, and a tiny one at that. From a pure building perspective, every subsequent day has offered something more and better. I think I’ve enjoyed every subsequent day more than that one, whereas it appears to be everyone else’s favorite (or perhaps “least-hated”). Oh, well.
I will admit to being mystified by just what holiday role the power droid from a few days ago is filling, though, and why it has a spoon. Did we ever find out what that was about? Even so, I still liked it; it’s still an honest-to-goodness build that yields a figure with slightly more articulation than Babu Frik has, and that inexplicable role does give it a spoon (!) - two, in fact, since there was a spare, and that was a cool part for me to get, so… eh. Anyway…
I get that others aren’t fond of racks and crates full of stuff in their ACs, but I’ve always kind of liked them, and I actually do appreciate this one of droid parts; the fact they’re in less-common colors is appreciated for their potential utility in future builds. Still not the most exciting thing, I concur, but I really don’t hate it. I will say this year’s SW AC is shaping up to be decidedly lesser compared to the last couple years, though, which is unfortunate as I’ve always had a special fondness for droids, and I was hoping and half-expecting this one to be an all-time favorite.
@Mister_Jonny said:
"Ironically I do actually need that black astromech leg."
I remember when it first became available in black, not in a Star Wars set but in the Belville set (!) 5942 back in 2004, and how exciting that was then.
The part is far more common in Star Wars sets now, of course, but still.
@Robot99 said:
"Whoever said that day 9 was going to be bad was not kidding. This is comically pathetic lol"
But you _can_ build this one. Instructions show the two leg elements attached to the studs inside the box.
Unpopular opinion: I love that the whole calendar this year has a clear theme and that every build contributes to it. Moreover, this represents a scene from a movie (the worst one, but still) that would never work as a standalone set. Is today's build good? No, it's not even a build! But does today work as another piece of the whole? In my opinion, yes. The part count and minifigure selection overall is still pretty good, and there are always going to be weaker days. For me, the Advent building experience is more than the experience of its individual days. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
@AcademyofDrX said:
"Unpopular opinion: I love that the whole calendar this year has a clear theme and that every build contributes to it. Moreover, this represents a scene from a movie (the worst one, but still) that would never work as a standalone set. Is today's build good? No, it's not even a build! But does today work as another piece of the whole? In my opinion, yes. The part count and minifigure selection overall is still pretty good, and there are always going to be weaker days. For me, the Advent building experience is more than the experience of its individual days. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
Honestly, I agree with this and like the finished product even if some individual days are weak.
As someone who doesn't own the calender and who has no idea what the total picture of everything you get is like, I can't really say much about what this contributes to the calender as a whole.
@Blondie_Wan
I actually am of mostly the same opinion, especially regarding day 1. With every other calender I kept thinking: hey look, they actually included something along with the small dog/baby/animal/creature, instead of it being the entirety of what you get that day. Babu Frik being a whole day didn't do it any favors for me though, and so far the individual things you get each day have been mixed for me.
That said, I always appreciate a decent build and I like originality in lego (within licensed IPs, but especially with their own IPs), so stuff like the Gonk I can at least appreciate as lego doing something different. Also, I agree that it being a focussed theme helps a lot. My least favorite advents are a bunch of disjointed minibuilds that each live in their own vacuum or scale. A good old minifig compatible calender is a bit nicer than what we usually get for Star Wars in that sense.
That said... today isn't the best. It's no Dr Strange's cape or anything, but a box of scraps is a box of scraps. Useful parts, some very useful (the crate) or uncommon (B1 legs in pearl gold)... but as a build it's not the most charming of subject matter and the build aspect I spoke of earlier isn't really here.
I think the trick was (or is, if I'm being optimistic) is to have a day like this interact directly with a future day. In my 2013 City calender yesterday's window contained stuff for on the table. Not a very exciting 'build', but now the table is decked out with food and drinks. A box like this could be fun if in future days we get other parts to build your own droids, or if there's figures who you can customize with these parts. I think that that might just save today's 'build' aspect :)
Edit: You can at least replace one of R7-A7's legs already
I took it as an opportunity to use the spare parts to build a droid. Do you guys even LEGO?
@AcademyofDrX said:
"Unpopular opinion: I love that the whole calendar this year has a clear theme and that every build contributes to it. Moreover, this represents a scene from a movie (the worst one, but still) that would never work as a standalone set. Is today's build good? No, it's not even a build! But does today work as another piece of the whole? In my opinion, yes. The part count and minifigure selection overall is still pretty good, and there are always going to be weaker days. For me, the Advent building experience is more than the experience of its individual days. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
I actually agree with pretty much all of that (except for Ep. 9 being the worst movie — but that's just my opinion ;)
To quote Luke Skywalker "what a piece of junk"........
@AcademyofDrX said:
"Unpopular opinion: I love that the whole calendar this year has a clear theme and that every build contributes to it. Moreover, this represents a scene from a movie (the worst one, but still) that would never work as a standalone set. Is today's build good? No, it's not even a build! But does today work as another piece of the whole? In my opinion, yes. The part count and minifigure selection overall is still pretty good, and there are always going to be weaker days. For me, the Advent building experience is more than the experience of its individual days. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
I started buying two of every SWAC from the start (one to build, one to raid), skipped the year they did a Forced Remake DWAC, and only bought one copy of the 2018 one so I could build the Ep1-6 stuff. I still bought two of this one because you can at least pretend it has nothing to do with the sequels if you “accidentally” drop Punt Muppet down the air vent.
@welshysensei:
You’re getting ahead of yourself, there.
@donnyman1972 said:
"To quote Luke Skywalker "what a piece of junk"........"
This one will not make .5 past light speed. It may not look like much, and it doesn't have it where it counts.
Our calendar had a second Gronk power slushie in this 9 spot, so that's a win, I guess?
Hardly worth the time to contact Lego customer service, I may anyways just to make it incrementally more expensive for them. Do better Lego!
@MayoLego said:
"Our calendar had a second Gronk power slushie in this 9 spot, so that's a win, I guess?
Hardly worth the time to contact Lego customer service, I may anyways just to make it incrementally more expensive for them. Do better Lego!"
Portions of the ninth build will become important later on, so…
@BabuBrick said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"One more: this is where you bring in your Iron Man minfigure from 76196 .
"Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!""
I was thinking of that line when I built this, lol!"
What a bunch of junk!!!
Hey, kid, she'll do .5 past light speed.
EDIT: apologies to those who beat me to it. Apparently, they shot first!
I don't even see what's inside the box. Random LEGO pieces, or at least something related to Star Wars?
@Yooha said:
"I don't even see what's inside the box. Random LEGO pieces, or at least something related to Star Wars?"
They're Droid parts. The black piece is an Astromech Droid leg, the white piece is a Battle Droid torso, and the gold is a pair of Battle Droid legs.