For the record, this is the second 2026 calendar with a penguin.

There's also a distinct lack of Olly.

I was most tempted by the City calendar, but I like how the Friends calendar has a distinctive outdoors theme. And there's so many cute little animals, not counting the penguin that's secretly plotting to kill them all.

I wonder if the split reveal indicates this one will be a D2C exclusive.

A surprise calendar is just going to frustrate everyone hoping for an additional surprise Batman or Ninjago calendar.

Hurray!

Spotted: pink hockey sticks!

Panic averted.

Thank goodness. When the original article said there wouldn't be one I was afraid that was the monkey's paw price for the HP one ending.

Lotta cute animals in this one—my favorite is probably the white mink/ermine!

Hey, a catapult that doesn't isn't ridiculously short! Still short, but not at bad as https://brickset.com/parts/6225386/catapult-arm-1x4. Also, love the little Santa hat element.

@johleth said:
"The Friends calendar is usually the best one too."

Agreed!

@MeganL said:
"Poor Zac! He's the only Friend who hasn't been in a calendar."

Maybe he doesn’t celebrate Christmas?

@xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia.

@Crux said:
" @xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia."

I guess you mean bair?

Hate to say I told you so, but...

Sadly I've just noticed that the price of this and the City one has gone up (in the UK at least) as well.

I'll remain vaguely hopeful there will be another Minecraft Advent Calendar. It was the first one my kid expressed any real interest in!

CHRISTMAS IS SAVED!

It looks really colorful.

That's a LOT of tiny Santa hats! Also, I like the 80s colours and ski-suits

I hate to tell you I told you so, but I told you so. ;)

@Crux said:
" @xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia."

Speaking of…what exactly is a “pinguin”?

@gunther_schnitzel said:
" @MeganL said:
"Poor Zac! He's the only Friend who hasn't been in a calendar."

Maybe he doesn’t celebrate Christmas? "

I can still remember the time my family went to a photo studio to get pictures taken. My brother and I were homeschooled, and we went there during normal school hours. Since this was before widespread knowledge of homeschooling (at least in the US), the lady was about to show us some Christmas packages, then stopped and said, "You don't celebrate Christmas, do you?"

@R0Sch said:"I hate to tell you I told you so, but I told you so. ;)"

When someone says "I hate to say I told you so," they're lying.

Love all the Santa hats ;)

@PurpleDave said:
" @Crux said:
" @xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia."

Speaking of…what exactly is a “pinguin”?"

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingu%C3%AFns

I know, friend. "America First", right?

@DekoPuma said:
"I think that "bear pizza" is supposed to be a sugar cookie for decorating."

Or maybe gingerbread?

No minecraft one is PUZZLING, it was a great hit and I hoped for Reindeer Lama.

@Crux said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Crux said:
" @xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia."

Speaking of…what exactly is a “pinguin”?"

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingu%C3%AFns

I know, friend. "America First", right?"

You typed two paragraphs in English, but used the Dutch (I assume) spelling pinguin, then accuse someone else of chauvinism?

...

@560heliport said:
" @Crux said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Crux said:
" @xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia."

Speaking of…what exactly is a “pinguin”?"

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingu%C3%AFns

I know, friend. "America First", right?"

You typed two paragraphs in English, but used the Dutch (I assume) spelling pinguin, then accuse someone else of chauvinism?

..."

Regardless of whether or not it's the Dutch spelling, I'm pretty sure it's the first and only time he's used it on this site.

@PurpleDave said:
" @560heliport said:
" @Crux said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Crux said:
" @xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia."

Speaking of…what exactly is a “pinguin”?"

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingu%C3%AFns

I know, friend. "America First", right?"

You typed two paragraphs in English, but used the Dutch (I assume) spelling pinguin, then accuse someone else of chauvinism?

..."

Regardless of whether or not it's the Dutch spelling, I'm pretty sure it's the first and only time he's used it on this site."

That is indeed so. Maybe I felt overwhelmed by rampant patriotism after reading an unnecessary amount of Dutch lyrics over in https://brickset.com/article/131633.

@Crux said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @560heliport said:
" @Crux said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Crux said:
" @xris said:
" @Crux said:
"I could focus on the fact that there is a bear pizza,"

Bear Pizza!!! Is that a pizza for bears?"

I don't think I should have to carry the blame for your crippling dyslexia."

Speaking of…what exactly is a “pinguin”?"

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingu%C3%AFns

I know, friend. "America First", right?"

You typed two paragraphs in English, but used the Dutch (I assume) spelling pinguin, then accuse someone else of chauvinism?

..."

Regardless of whether or not it's the Dutch spelling, I'm pretty sure it's the first and only time he's used it on this site."

That is indeed so. Maybe I felt overwhelmed by rampant patriotism after reading an unnecessary amount of Dutch lyrics over in https://brickset.com/article/131633."

The only lyrics there that I could sing along with (or even understand without using a translator) are Queen lyrics.

@pocketone23 said:
"I'll remain vaguely hopeful there will be another Minecraft Advent Calendar. It was the first one my kid expressed any real interest in!"

You will sadly have to tell your kid this year that LEGO wants him to be a Disney only fan. HP and Minecraft are not welcomed.

@R0Sch said:
" @pocketone23 said:
"I'll remain vaguely hopeful there will be another Minecraft Advent Calendar. It was the first one my kid expressed any real interest in!"

You will sadly have to tell your kid this year that LEGO wants him to be a Disney only fan. HP and Minecraft are not welcomed."

I don't really understand the logic. From what I've seen, SWAC usually sells well, so keeping that at least makes sense. City and Friends were both pretty rough early in their runs, but Friends found its footing a few years in, and City has been doing well since they introduced exclusive minifigs. Minecraft seemed to be popular, but they may not have planned to do more than one when the ACs dropped last year, and didn't have time to rush a second AC through.

But why cancel HPAC and bring Marvel back? HPAC only sold badly the first year, when people didn't understand the format. Even when physical stores backed off from stocking it, it was usually one of the first to sell out everywhere. Marvel has consistently been one of the worst ACs each year they were in the lineup. And then Disney was hands down the one with the most overstock left on December 26th last year, on a level I don't think I've seen since the 2019 HPAC (possibly worse).

I’d like to think the HP calendar was dropped because Lego and/or the general public had come to their senses on the whole funding attacks on human rights thing, but unfortunately I am also very cynical, so I wonder if it’s as much to do with the the new show coming out and waiting-and-seeing as to whether it’s popular enough to change the merch over combined with not wanting to put out the “wrong” product in the mean time. Given the awkward timing of the premiere relative to advent calendar releases.

Or, worse case scenario, they very much do have an HP calendar planned but it’s entirely based on the new show and WB asked them not to put out twenty five days worth of “spoilers” (is it still spoilers if nigh on everyone already knows the plot?) this far in advance. Which would be extremely disappointing to me personally and I hope it isn’t the case but it seems plausible.

It’s great that there’s a Friends calendar. I would still like a Ninjago one please and thank you Lego. And no HP theme ever.

A Castle advent calendar please!

@Hiratha said:
"Or, worse case scenario, they very much do have an HP calendar planned but it’s entirely based on the new show and WB asked them not to put out twenty five days worth of “spoilers” (is it still spoilers if nigh on everyone already knows the plot?) this far in advance."

I was thinking a likely reason was that they plan to make it an LBR exclusive, which usually don't get revealed at the same time as general retail sets, but it does make sense that WB might impose strict street dates on merch tied to the new series. Disney has repeatedly done it for the IP they've created or bought, and a lot of it seems to have to do with signing an exclusivity agreement with some media outlet or another. Because Disney has given preferential treatment to some website or magazine, nobody else (who they can enforce terms on) is allowed to reveal news, plot points, or merch until their preferred partner does so first. This sort of arrangement almost certainly involves kickbacks to the studio, as there's no logical reason for them to enforce such restrictions when the goal is to drive hype across the board. And being the prime news outlet on a highly-anticipated production can drive a lot of traffic their way, so throwing some money at the studio can pay off in the long run.

The AC release date is nearly four months away (I'm pretty sure they only reveal these things in May because it gives people time to forget exactly what they include, if they still want to be surprised come December). The show won't even premiere for a few more months. Even if the overall plot is well-known at this point, there are still a lot of things they haven't revealed about the look, from characters and costumes, to vehicles and sets.

Whether they stop producing sets based on the movies altogether remains to be seen, but it's a sure bet they'll want to shift the focus to the new show. And in the seven years it's been around, there have been a few points when it seemed like they were running out of ideas for the HPAC (short of doing Slughorn's party), but the series will give them years of new material to mine, and incentive to keep them focused on that iteration.

Maybe they planned to do a black Snape for the AC for day 24 and quickly came to their senses and cancelled the whole thing. :))

@R0Sch said:
"Maybe they planned to do a black Snape for the AC for day 24 and quickly came to their senses and cancelled the whole thing. :))"

… This is just racism.