Friends Advent Calendar - Alternate Builds
Posted by MeganL,
For those of you following the Friends Advent Calendar, you might remember there were extra surprises promised on December 25. Now that I'm back home and recovered from jet lag, let's take a look at the alternate builds offered.....
Not surprisingly, it's a series of smaller builds, but fortunately just about all of them are more substantial than many of the single day offerings. First we have Stephanie on the snowboard.
Next, a hill for her to ride on, decorated with a small tree. I rather liked the use of the arched pieces to form the top of the hill.
A snowman comes next, arguably a more servicable one than in the calendar. However I'm not sure why he's on skis.
It shouldn't surprise anyone that sleds are a recurring theme even in the alternate builds. In this case Jewel gets a sled of her own. Though how she's supposed to steer without thumbs is a bit of a mystery to me.
Diamond gets to pull another sled, with Violet and the mouse/hamster as passengers.
There's a small assortment of accessories - a carrot cake (?), fancy cake and table with a mug and hunk of cheese.
The last sled in the alternates is the fanciest - the first car is styled as a flaming locomotive with Toffee at the controls.
The locomotive pulls another sled that has the bunny as a passenger and includes a present with a star as a bow.
Another couple small accessories include a present and some signposts.
The most substantial build in the alternates is a window scene. The outdoor portion is very pleasant with lots of detailing including several red flowers.
The inside shows a storage space for just about every small accessory included in the calendar: the hair bow, microphone, party hat, dog bone, milk carton, chocolate bar and fish.
All together, the scene isn't quite as cohesive as the original calendar, which is to be expected.
I do like that LEGO has offered this option - for those children who may not have any ideas on what else to build with these parts, these alternate builds offer a great start. Hopefully they provide inspiration on other things to build as well.
What do you think of the alternate builds? I'm looking forward to the Friends and Elves sets in 2018. Which sets would you like to see reviewed here? Let us know in the comments.
Happy New Year!
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8 comments on this article
Any of the Elves sets with those brick built creatures would be nice to see reviewed!
Where can I obtain the building instructions for the extra models? I can't seem to find them on LEGO's site.
This advent calendar was so bad this year that I gave up half way through and all of the parts are now in my Bricklink store. The box was flattened by me stamping on it and putting it in the recycling. All of the other 5 friends advent calendars were then put on eBay. I love lego friends but these calendars are terrible.
I found the elves sets early at my local toys r us and might review them.
Thanks for posting these other builds.
@Strident, try here:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/friends/activities/downloads/2017-advent-calendar
Does anyone else think an Elves Advent calendar would be a nice change of pace?
Thanks MeganL :)