City Advent Calendar Review: Day 1

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It's time for our first Advent Calendar review and this year we are commencing with the City offering, 60099. City Advent Calendars have been available since 2005, far longer than either of the other modern calendars, so designers could be forgiven for struggling to come up with very much that we haven't seen before.

Day one typically yields a minifigure but behind the first door this year is a pair of remote control cars, complete with their respective controllers. Each car consists of 11-pieces and uses exactly the same selection of parts, just in different colours while the remote controllers only differ by the colour of the translucent stud; red or green which corresponds with the cars.

Both models look great and I like the use of the offset 1x2 tiles which form the rear spoilers. This is a fairly simple technique but an effective one and not one that is often employed in official sets, perhaps due to the rarity of such small scale models.

My only criticism of today's gift is that a minifigure is required to control the cars and therefore increase the playability. Presumably that issue will be resolved in the coming days. Regardless, vehicles are consistently popular with children so I expect these models will be well received.

Overall - 3.5 - The City Advent Calendar is off to a good start but without a minifigure to control these little cars the play value is lessened.

10 comments on this article

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By in Germany,

The minifigure will come another day.
I like these cars :)

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By in Taiwan,

22 pieces + 5 extras!
These remote-controlled cars fit in nicely with 31036 Toy & Grocery Shop. The toy store was a bit empty before!

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By in United Kingdom,

I'd give this a 4. Yes, no minifig, but you can't have everything on the first day!

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By in Sweden,

Nice little build :) I didn't find any building instructions in the first door :O Are the instructions usually in the plastic bag?

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By in Norway,

@Tuben the instructions are printed on the flip side of the actual door

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By in United States,

Interesting... the 'random set' on brickset right now is the 2015 Advent Calender.

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By in Sweden,

I see :) Thank you anderaus! :)

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By in New Zealand,

I opened up the door, removed the bag ... and wondered why there weren't instructions, or even a picture.

So I ignored the front-of-box image and just went ahead and guessed what it was, based on the parts. Very pleased to see that what I produced was identical to what was intended!

I had no idea there's instructions inside the door, but I think doing a "guessed" build each day could be fun! And it's already the 2nd here in NZ! But don't worry, folks, I won't post any spoilers... :-D

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By in Netherlands,

My son loved it; easy to mount, super fun for the kiddo. I enjoyed as well. About the minifig, I do not think it is really a problem, even if it does come later.

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By in United States,

Haha it also took me awhile to notice the picture on the inside flap. I opened it with my daughter and I can tell this is gonna be a fun thing to look forward to each night this month.

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