City Advent Calendar - Day 24
Posted by MeganL,
We've made it! Over the past 23 days, we've seen a variety of builds, from a snowman to a penguin to a gaming station and many things in between. We've also had a nice array of minifigures. There is very little mystery as to what's behind the last door of this calendar.
It's Santa Claus! Unlike Mrs. Claus, his torso is not new this year, though was introduced last year. He and Mrs. Claus share the same legs, which are seen first in this set.
I do like the detail on the back, especially the fur trim.
I also like that the minifigure head also boats a white beard and moustache, so the beard piece wasn't really needed.
Overall thoughts
It's been a very entertaining calendar! There was a nice blend of minifigues and some very nice builds. The minifigures were great; I particularly liked the caroller on Day 9 and the gamer on Day 11. Of the builds, my favourites were the reindeer on Day 3, the cat with its own Christmas tree on Day 15, and of course, the Dreadflipper penguin ice sculpture on Day 6.
For those of you interested in how the builds look on the mat, here's my take:
Thank you sharing this advent calendar journey with me! I've really enjoyed the builds and the commentary in the comments this year. I think I look forward to the comments almost as much as the builds! Until next year...
Merry Christmas!
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26 comments on this article
You know, honestly, it was a great calendar.
The only disappointing thing, to me, was that darn red scarf on the first day. Everything beyond that knocked it out of the ballpark. There were some great minifigs and really interesting builds.
I adored the computer game nerd and his gaming set-up. Maybe not super-duper festive, but it was just delightful and cute. The puppy and kitten were adorable, the Christmas tree and presents were really well done. We got an updated Mrs Claus figure ... and of course, the ice sculpture of Dreadflipper (which was easily the highlight).
I had a lot of fun. Let's do it again next year!
DREADFLIPPER IS OFFICIAL OH MY GOD
Nice scene, glad there is space in the sleigh for Santa’s sack.
Looking at them all laid out like that makes for a great scene.
I think my personal favourite is still the clock; maybe not the most festive but I just really dig the design and clever way they set up the pendulum
Definitely an above-average City calendar this year. The only real miss for me would be the gaming desk since it doesn't feel particularly festive/topical compared to everything else. I'd rather have built a snow fort and a snowball slinger for that kid instead of a desk and chair.
This minifigure of Santa without a thick beard looks like a random drunk beggar in Santa's costume. :D
My first ever CITY Advent - I am happy with the whole thing. It's a good looking scene all together on the mat.
Thanks to our host - Megan, and the wonderfully entertaining comments over the course.
Season's Greetings Everyone x
As shown above, you can arm yourself, sing to him, hide inside your house... it won't matter because for you, he's coming for everyone.
I like this year's offering. I had originally passed on it, but reading the review and seeing what was showing up each day sold it for me. I think its worth it for the reindeer signpost alone! No offence to those in the professions, but it was nice to not see any EMT, firefighters or police in the calendar this year. I guess LEGO City is becoming a safer place to live! Not like the Friends Heartlake area which seems to have an unusually high number of injuries and amputations occurring. ;-)
The City Calender was a lot of fun this year! Besides the Dreadflipper effigy there were a lot of excellent mini builds and not too much filler. I like this stuff a lot more than miniatures of cars and ships like the 2020 one was infested with.
Merry Christmas, and may we survive Dreadflipper for another year!
My first Advent calendar yet! And my toddler had a lot of fun building it with me. Looking forward to next year!
@RUL said:
"This minifigure of Santa without a thick beard looks like a random drunk beggar in Santa's costume. :D"
It's a minifig of Henry Corwin from Night of the Meek!
@Binnekamp said:
"The City Calender was a lot of fun this year! Besides the Dreadflipper effigy there were a lot of excellent mini builds and not too much filler. I like this stuff a lot more than miniatures of cars and ships like the 2020 one was infested with.
Merry Christmas, and may we survive Dreadflipper for another year!"
I also did not like the mini builds in the 2020 AC either. This year's AC had great pieces for my collection and love the Dreadflipper statue.
@Zordboy said:
"You know, honestly, it was a great calendar.
The only disappointing thing, to me, was that darn red scarf on the first day. Everything beyond that knocked it out of the ballpark. There were some great minifigs and really interesting builds.
I adored the computer game nerd and his gaming set-up. Maybe not super-duper festive, but it was just delightful and cute. The puppy and kitten were adorable, the Christmas tree and presents were really well done. We got an updated Mrs Claus figure ... and of course, the ice sculpture of Dreadflipper (which was easily the highlight).
I had a lot of fun. Let's do it again next year!"
My scarf did not fit either but the pets are cute. I did like the girl with the phone and the gamer. Overall, it is an awesome AC.
@legoprobuilder4768 said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"The City Calender was a lot of fun this year! Besides the Dreadflipper effigy there were a lot of excellent mini builds and not too much filler. I like this stuff a lot more than miniatures of cars and ships like the 2020 one was infested with.
Merry Christmas, and may we survive Dreadflipper for another year!"
I also did not like the mini builds in the 2020 AC either. This year's AC had great pieces for my collection and love the Dreadflipper statue."
Personally, I've always liked the mini builds in the City calendars. Many can be linked to a specific full sized Lego set, so they're minifig sized Lego sets for the kids in the calendar to play with. To me they make the City theme the most Christmas themed calendars out of all of them, with all of the Christmas toys.
(Edit) I actually gave this one a pass this year because it didn't have them. To each their own.
"I also like that the minifigure head also boats a white beard and moustache, so the beard piece wasn't really needed."
Listen, I need my Santa to have a GREAT BIG BUSHY BEARD!
Otherwise it could just be old Paul showing up drunk to the work Christmas party 2 months after being let go.
She said the thing!!!!!
I wish I had gotten this calendar. Hopefully next year's will be similar (not a fan of the mini builds) and I will find one easily.
The torso came out two years ago, in 10293 and 4002021. I was thinking it was the candy cane torso that came out in 2017, but I keep forgetting this one exists (the only set I own it from is 10293, which I haven't built).
The first proper Santa torso, outside of the SWAC, was of course 8833-10. That exact minifig ended up in three City Advent Calendars, a Winter Village set, and a holiday GWP. Following the release of 21317, and the announcement of Disney Series 2 CMFs, someone on the Ideas team revealed that the CMF team didn't want anyone making straight copies of their minifigs anymore, which is probably what led to near-abandonment of the CMF Santa torso (it has since only appeared in the 2020 holiday BAM assortment).
The candy cane torso got introduced in 2017, and appeared in five City Advent Calendars in a row (though not every minifig wearing it was Santa). It made _one_ of the two minifigs from 4002019 affordable to piece together. Last year it only appeared in one Christmas GWP, and this year it has resurfaced in dark-red for the BAM assortment. So, we may see these two unique torso prints running concurrently going forward, but I suspect the CMF Santa torso is done. Frankly, I'm okay with that. It has no back print, unlike this and the candy cane torso, and it has white fur down the button line (which is not commonly depicted). Hopefully this version of the Santa torso will show up at BAM someday (or I may have to see if I can order a bunch on PAB), so I can expand my assortment of Santa minifigs.
Not bad...Santa's facial set-up reminds me of shaving ads though, you know: before and after...although; if the product left that much 'stubble', it'd probably be rejected...:D
My favorite two builds were the clock and Dreadflipper (of course). My favorite fig was the hockey player. My favorite Dreadflipper was Dreadflipper (of course). All hail, praise, and fear the mighty penguin!!
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!
@brick_r said:
"Not bad...Santa's facial set-up reminds me of shaving ads though, you know: before and after...although; if the product left that much 'stubble', it'd probably be rejected...:D"
He, uh...sheds. For the summer.
This was my first CITY AC and it was so worth it. Enjoyed much more than Marvel, HP, and SW combined. The hockey player and skiing snowman were the best. Snowboarding Mrs. Santa was the icing on the cake. A+
It was one of the better calendars, I must say. However, having been getting these for the past several years, I wish they'd mix things up. Maybe include a small build with a minifigure. Or a different Santa, which I believe has been the same each year. Or better yet, a build with Santa. Just seems kinda boring that the last door always has the big man himself and nothing more.
@Kalhiki:
You mean like these?
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=7324-25T=S&O={%22iconly%22:0}
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=7904-25T=S&O={%22iconly%22:0}
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=7687-25T=S&O={%22iconly%22:0}
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=2824-25T=S&O={%22iconly%22:0}
Thank you for 24 really nice reviews.
I'm so glad that I chose to get the City AC this year as our main LEGO Advent Calendar. Over the last few years we were more into Friends and Harry Potter, with one Star Wars AC in the mix, but City had become a rarity.
In the end I also got this year's HP Calendar on clearance, and happy about that as well. All in all two very nice offerings, especially at the discounted prices.