Star Wars Advent Calendar - Day 12
Posted by CapnRex101,
Although the Separatist army provides sufficient material for more items, I am expecting another change in the Star Wars Advent Calendar on day twelve.
Let's open the door and see...
GNK Power Droids, better known as Gonk Droids, have become an unexpected tradition in LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendars! They have now appeared in five calendars and three are dressed in accordance with the season, including this reindeer-themed Gonk! The antlers are splendid and a black 1x1 round plate represents a nose, presumably doubling as the droid's photoreceptor. I think the white elements look odd, but these depict a reindeer's mane and add a nice contrasting colour to the droid.
Overall - I always appreciate the seasonal Gonk Droids and this example is delightful, but does not quite reach the heights of last year's Santa Gonk!
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20 comments on this article
You know Dasher and Dancer and GONKer and Blitzen....
I hate it. But then, Brick-built GNKs always drive me crazy. The GNK has a vaguely hexagonal body and Lego has never captured it very well. My least-hated GNK is last year's version because they put 1x2 plates on the sides which gave it something closer to the actual look of the droid. (With that one, I tend to remove the hat and beard and substitute red plates to get a smooth, flat GNK look.)
Surprisingly early this year. I wonder if we will get as many Gonk droids in the near future as HBS seems to have moved to the Icons team.
5 Marvel - clean look, but not much substance
4 City - okay build, but not very festive
3 Friends - A bit of much needed green
2 HP
1 SW
I used a spare red stud from one of the previous days to have it be Rudolph the red nose Gonk Droid
No... just no.
Love the GNKs!! I will be replacing that awful black droid control chip on the front with a shiny trans red one.
'Do you recaaaalllll?
The most famous power droid of aaaaalllll.'
If I had a nickel for every time a robotic reindeer has shown up in this year's Advent Calendars... I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Imagine the excitement of kids when in the middle of the night, they hear G O N K
@Binnekamp said:
"No... just no."
Ho... just ho.
Me: Well, the little guy was kinda funny-lookin,
Brickset: In what way?
Me: I dunno, just funny-lookin'.
(My thanks to Fargo)
So I know that this is supposed to be a gimmick with the reindeer aesthetic, but I really dislike the way they've handled GNK Droids the past few years. They're longer than they are tall. They're pretty much supposed to look like a garbage can with feet. I wish they went back to the mailbox design as it was more representative of the GNK Droids' shape. Now if it was a PLNK droid with the second pair of feet, this would be a perfect design.
The reindeer gonk is nice but nobody can top St. Gonkolas
Hot take: Gonk Droids aren't funny
Ooooh. I really thought there was a Gonk with arms in some cartoon that I haven't watched yet. I did not register those as antlers at all.
All hail GNK
@Ridgeheart said:
"Sometimes I'm confronted with my lack of knowledge regarding the SW-universe, and then I think - yeah, that's fine. I'm okay with that."
And a Merry GNKmas to you, too.
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"I hate it. But then, Brick-built GNKs always drive me crazy. The GNK has a vaguely hexagonal body and Lego has never captured it very well. My least-hated GNK is last year's version because they put 1x2 plates on the sides which gave it something closer to the actual look of the droid. (With that one, I tend to remove the hat and beard and substitute red plates to get a smooth, flat GNK look.)"
I don't know if you'll ever be satisfied, but how's this for custom GNKs? I feel like LEGO could be doing a lot better, too.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mclegoboy/53393788476/in/dateposted/
@MCLegoboy said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"I hate it. But then, Brick-built GNKs always drive me crazy. The GNK has a vaguely hexagonal body and Lego has never captured it very well. My least-hated GNK is last year's version because they put 1x2 plates on the sides which gave it something closer to the actual look of the droid. (With that one, I tend to remove the hat and beard and substitute red plates to get a smooth, flat GNK look.)"
I don't know if you'll ever be satisfied, but how's this for custom GNKs? I feel like LEGO could be doing a lot better, too.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mclegoboy/53393788476/in/dateposted/"
That's not bad. Look, I'll admit that Lego just doesn't have the proper pieces currently to make certain things accurately in certain scales. Last year's advent calendar LAAT-T bothered me by being both accurate (general shape) and yet inaccurate (a lot of gaps that aren't fixable with the current stock of pieces). The GNK similar bothers me because the parts to make a minifig-scaled hexagonal GNK just don't exist.
I must sadly report that I absent-mindedly opened the bag while working on this one.
@Andrusi said:
"I must sadly report that I absent-mindedly opened the bag while working on this one."
Are you building them in the bag, too? I accidentally ripped a small hole in the bag for the HPAC model that has cherries, and I still need to tape it shut.