Disney Advent Calendar - Day 4
Posted by MeganL,
Yesterday we met the second character in the calendar - everyone's favourite snowman, Olaf (though apparently that's under debate). Even better, he didn't come empty-handed, bringing plenty of sugary treats for everyone to enjoy, including what I now think is a fruitcake!
It seems likely that this calendar is based on Olaf's Frozen Adventure, the short film released a few years after the original movie. That makes sense, considering it takes place at Christmastime. That also explains why Elsa comes with Sir Jorgenbjorgen, and why Olaf has a fruitcake. (Thanks to the commenters who pointed that out, and it aligns with some of the set's description, too.)
My challenge is - I've never seen Olaf's Frozen Adventure! So until I manage to watch it, this calendar will be an adventure in more ways than one.
All that being said, let's take a look at the next build.
Today's build is a snow-covered house effectively put together with just a few parts. I'll have to rely on those who have seen the short film to tell me if it's a specific location. I think it does look like a house that would fit quite well into the village of Arendelle.
It's a nice house and will serve to set the scene, but there's not a lot of play value here. Not to mention Elsa is almost as tall as the house!
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17 comments on this article
Honestly, beyond the novelty you can build a tiny house out of tiny LEGO parts, what kid actually likes micro builds after putting the handful of pieces together? It has zero play value, really.
Hmm. Nice little house. But, tiny and cheap.
@StyleCounselor said:
"Hmm. Nice little house. But, tiny and cheap."
Yes, a tiny house. Or a birdhouse.
@jkb said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Hmm. Nice little house. But, tiny and cheap."
Yes, a tiny house. Or a birdhouse."
Hmmm.... that's a nice birdhouse. Plenty of room outside to rest your dirty axe against it.
A tad disappointing after the gingerbread palace of day 2
@Brickalili said:
"A tad disappointing after the gingerbread palace of day 2"
Yes. That was a palace!
This is an outhouse.
@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"Honestly, beyond the novelty you can build a tiny house out of tiny LEGO parts, what kid actually likes micro builds after putting the handful of pieces together? It has zero play value, really."
I think you'll find that kids' tastes can be varied. Yes, there are probably kids who built this and said, "That's it? Boring." But there are also probably kids who said, "Oh, a little house? That's so cute!"
@jkb said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Hmm. Nice little house. But, tiny and cheap."
Yes, a tiny house. Or a birdhouse."
Not to put too fine a point on it.
@Crux said:
" @jkb said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Hmm. Nice little house. But, tiny and cheap."
Yes, a tiny house. Or a birdhouse."
Not to put too fine a point on it."
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
@Brickalili said:
"A tad disappointing after the gingerbread palace of day 2"
Kingdom can only have so many castles, and this one happens to have twice as many as expected.
@TheOtherMike:
This is also only 1/6th of the way through the calendar. If it's a lone house, meh. If the rest of Arendelle is yet to come, it's likely to be very polarizing. If one house feels tedious, a pile of them is going to seriously tick people off. If one feels interesting, filling up the entire city might be even more exciting, or it could start to wear thin.
The house I can afford.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"Honestly, beyond the novelty you can build a tiny house out of tiny LEGO parts, what kid actually likes micro builds after putting the handful of pieces together? It has zero play value, really."
I think you'll find that kids' tastes can be varied. Yes, there are probably kids who built this and said, "That's it? Boring." But there are also probably kids who said, "Oh, a little house? That's so cute!""
Of course, everyone ha a different taste, but beyond it being 'cute', there's nothing to it. Unless a kid has a very specific interest in tiny houses, it's just a 1-minute build, and then they move on. You can't play with a house this tiny. If it's just one little build among 23 more interesting builds it's perfectly fine for variety, but my main critique it that these type of micro builds don't seem to entertain most kids for much longer than the time it takes to build them. It's really the minifigs/dolls and more substantial builds that make these advent calendars (somewhat) interesting.
@ToysFromTheAttic:
To be fair, most kids who are old enough are still in school for most of the AC run, so for over half of the calendar, they’re probably either building the day’s entry really quick before getting ready for school, or they’re doing it when they get home and have dinner and homework to occupy much of their evening. It’s just something to help keep them sated during the 3.5 weeks before the main event, (hopefully) not the best thing they’re going to get that month.
Yes, it’s true you can’t really play with a house this small, but the same could (and was) easily be said about the House banners in the first HPAC. But in the end they helped create a unified scene that won over a lot of early detractors, including myself.
that's not a small house, it's just far away
Is that supposed to be the house in Frozen who had that guy with the funny accent?
A bit disappointing IMHO
@PurpleDave said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic:
To be fair, most kids who are old enough are still in school for most of the AC run, so for over half of the calendar, they’re probably either building the day’s entry really quick before getting ready for school, or they’re doing it when they get home and have dinner and homework to occupy much of their evening. It’s just something to help keep them sated during the 3.5 weeks before the main event, (hopefully) not the best thing they’re going to get that month.
Yes, it’s true you can’t really play with a house this small, but the same could (and was) easily be said about the House banners in the first HPAC. But in the end they helped create a unified scene that won over a lot of early detractors, including myself."
If it serves as a display piece in the calendar's total output of builds, it's perfectly fine of course, but a lot of these micro builds really feel like fillers with no other function than to pad out the numbers of slots. The house banners in the HPAC served a function, and while they added little in terms of playability on their own, they were a great addition to the overal scene, and they also worked as nice decorations outside of the advent calendar. That's a nice additional value proposition, which I'm not yet seeing here... But maybe I'll see what they're going for once all gifts are unlocked and build.