City Advent Calendar - Day 21
Posted by MeganL,
We're on a little bit of a roll the last three days, with some lovely festive builds. With only four days to go, will City be able to sustain this momentum and surprise us with something else evocative of the season?
Yes! Today we have a soldier. I personally think it could be a nutcracker, but that could be because I'm a huge nutcracker fan (I have no fewer than two dozen nutcracker ornaments on my Christmas tree). Otherwise, it could be considered the soldier from the classic fairy tale, but as that's a rather depressing story, I'd rather consider it a nutcracker.
Regardless, it's still festive!
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It feels unusual to to get an unprinted yellow head these days! Reminds me of the very early protofigs.
I would say 99% plus likelihood it is a nutcracker.
I think that's a nutcracker too. The fact that it has a stand/base and not legs gives away that it's an ornament. It's nice too, although it isn't a patch on the minifigure version they did a year or so ago. That one even came with printed nuts! (Matron. Ho ho ho.)
That looks like a fun little build that makes me want to dive into my spare parts and build a legion of them
@Freddy_Hodson said:
"It's nice too, although it isn't a patch on the minifigure version they did a year or so ago."
Even if it's a toy soldier, there's still a superior CMF version: https://brickset.com/minifigs/col162/toy-soldier who came with https://brickset.com/sets/ISBN9781409324621-1
Quite festive!
It could also be the steadfast tin soldier.
Given the sword, I think it's a nutwacker.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Freddy_Hodson said:
"It's nice too, although it isn't a patch on the minifigure version they did a year or so ago."
Even if it's a toy soldier, there's still a superior CMF version: https://brickset.com/minifigs/col162/toy-soldier who came with https://brickset.com/sets/ISBN9781409324621-1"
And even before that, I put windup keys on the back of a bunch of 8805-3.
Makes me think:
With 40701, start with the 'stock standard' figure, 'evolve' to this, then the minifigure nutcracker...now we just need a Rat King...didn't the TMNT sets...:)
Reminds me of Babes in Toyland. I had a Colorforms set for the movie when I was a kid, and the soldier pieces are my most vivid memory of it.
@brick_r said:
"Makes me think:
With 40701, start with the 'stock standard' figure, 'evolve' to this, then the minifigure nutcracker...now we just need a Rat King...didn't the TMNT sets...:)"
Yes, but right now Splinter is serving double duty as both himself (film version, leading the Tiny Mutant Ninja Turtles) and as Rizzo the Rat (animated series version, because they didn’t make a Rizzo CMF) at our Detroit Symphony Orchestra display, where today they are doing the second and final screening of Muppets Christmas Carol featuring live accompaniment.
Also, because my college did it repeatedly for a few years before I attended, and at least one of the years I was involved with the scene shop, I’m far more familiar with The Nutcracker: A Play, where the main villain is Mouserinks, the mouse queen. In that version, there is no Mouse King.
@AlfredHitchcock said:
"Reminds me of Babes in Toyland. I had a Colorforms set for the movie when I was a kid, and the soldier pieces are my most vivid memory of it. "
Oh, man. I haven't even *thought* about Colorforms in years.
Nuts not included
@brick_r:
I finally got time to watch that video you linked to on the 18th. Reindeer sausage is actually quite tasty. I had it twice on our trip to Alaska in 2017.
@PurpleDave: Thanks...although, I was thinking the 'figurative' not 'literal':
https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Rat_King
Also, I keep hearing reindeer is supposedly tasty, but I haven't even tried regular deer...have tried moose...never again. :P
@brick_r:
Ah. Yes, there's a TMNT character, and I was thinking there was also one in B:TAS (that one was called the Sewer King, though). Funny thing is, I've watched every episode of the second, third, fourth, and first season of the fifth TMNT series, and the only thing I know that character from is seeing an action figure warming the pegs at Target (seriously, I think I live within an hour's drive of at least a dozen that are available for purchase). I don't remember a single episode that featured him. The action figure was based on the comics, but the character did apparently appear in both the second and third animated series (second being my favorite, and third being the one the sets were based on).
On a related note, a "rat king" is what they call it when a bunch of rats (who frequently sleep piled on top of each other) end up with their tails getting tied into a knot (the same phenomenon has been observed in squirrels). In the play we did in college, Mouserinks was a giant mouse (costume worn by a full-sized adult who had to reach up to operate the mouth like a Muppet). The Mouse Prince, on the other hand, was a rat with three heads, which I'm now wondering if that was inspired by the rat kings found in nature.
Regarding the sausage, I suspect it's going to depend in large part on the rest of the recipe. The two I ate had a very mild spiciness to them (more flavorful than hot), so they'd definitely taken advantage of the sausage format to expand on serving _just_ the meat. On the other hand, the shredded bison I had in Yellowstone was pure meat, and had an almost sweet taste to it.