Star Wars Advent Calendar - Day 1
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO has now produced ten Star Wars Advent Calendars since 2011, featuring an exceptional selection of minifigures and vehicles within the enduring range.
75279 Star Wars Advent Calendar expands this collection further today...
RZ-1 A-wing Starfighters have appeared in two previous Star Wars Advent Calendars but the newest example is undoubtedly my favourite. This model effectively captures the aerodynamic profile of the classic starfighter, featuring a wedge towards the prow and smooth armour behind the cockpit canopy. This tiny vessel even features an accurate towing slot, much like the design from 2015's 75097 Star Wars Advent Calendar.
Moreover, laser cannons are fixed on either side and the vertical stabilisers appear attractive, although this model lacks ventral stabilisers which is disappointing. However, the trans-yellow engine glow looks marvellous and the broader colour scheme of white and dark red compares favourably with the source material.
Overall - 4.5 - This is my favourite rendition of the A-wing Starfighter at this scale, surpassing previous Advent Calendar designs and that from 40407 Death Star II Battle.
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25 comments on this article
Love the Christmas spirit of the advent calendars so far...
Lol but this ship is really sleek looking. Nice
Is anyone going to do commentary on HP vs SW like Matt_Z_ did last year?
@Mosquitosquisher7 said:
"Is anyone going to do commentary on HP vs SW like Matt_Z_ did last year?"
i hope not that was a ridiculous wall of text for a comment section. if he wants to do it again, give him a regular article series instead
Well reminded of 40407! Something tells me I'll be swapping out that A-Wing for this one...
@denn said:
" @Mosquitosquisher7 said:
"Is anyone going to do commentary on HP vs SW like Matt_Z_ did last year?"
i hope not that was a ridiculous wall of text for a comment section. if he wants to do it again, give him a regular article series instead"
haha this made me laugh! There's been so many people asking me to do this again, but for every fan there's a detractor like you.
Look, at the end of the day, I did it for a laugh in 2019, but what ends up happening is controversial debate as to which build won the day. Look no further then today- we have 4.5's given out for both HP and SW on Day 1 already, which is effectively a draw by that metric. Anything I add is just going to be subjective, and that leads to fanyboys coming out of the woodwork, on both sides.
EDIT: That said...if any of you out there still want the unofficial/underground Battle of the Licensed Advent Calendars, keep an eye on NewfoundLUG.ca :)
@Matt_Z_ said:
" @denn said:
" @Mosquitosquisher7 said:
"Is anyone going to do commentary on HP vs SW like Matt_Z_ did last year?"
i hope not that was a ridiculous wall of text for a comment section. if he wants to do it again, give him a regular article series instead"
haha this made me laugh! There's been so many people asking me to do this again, but for every fan there's a detractor like you.
Look, at the end of the day, I did it for a laugh in 2019, but what ends up happening is controversial debate as to which build won the day. Look no further then today- we have 4.5's given out for both HP and SW on Day 1 already, which is effectively a draw by that metric. Anything I add is just going to be subjective, and that leads to fanyboys coming out of the woodwork, on both sides.
EDIT: That said...if any of you out there still want the unofficial/underground Battle of the Licensed Advent Calendars, keep an eye on NewfoundLUG.ca :)
"
I can’t find any advent coverage at that site. Also, I feel like offering might be a bad idea, but does anyone want me to try doing advent coverage this year?
Easy 5 out of 5 in my book. And a thousand times better than the one in 40407.
I agree with the 4.5, great version of the A-wing, but at 6am the sideways partially obscured build card was frustrating for my 9 year old, and almost too much for my caffeineless brain. We powered through and it sits now waiting for tomorrows.
We're excited, great start!
That IS a nice A-Wing for the tiny size! :o I'm not usually convinced by these very micro-scale vehicles, they often feel a bit contrived to me; but this one is a very well-put-together indeed. Definitely nice work on the part of the designer!
Tilt the cannons slightly upwards for the most UCS accuracy ;)
Wow! That’s one long comment!
And this is why I relented and started picking up one copy each of the DWACs from 2018 on, after skipping 2017 outright. There's stuff I'll never build, but there are far too many really solid builds from the six SW movies.
And it's "bow", not "prow". Bow is the forward area of a water, air, or spacecraft. Prow is the forward part of a watercraft's hull above the waterline, so it's really kind of unique to watercraft.
I have opened it this morning and my first thought and reaction was: meh, another A-wing, again. But while and after having building it, my mind completely turned to a positive state. Excellent design and built, for what is. To me, it's simply the best mini A-wing that ever came out of SW Advent calendar.
A very auspicious start I must say. Brilliant design. My thanks to CapnRex and Brickset for this annual tradition which I thoroughly enjoy.
@PurpleDave said:
"And it's "bow", not "prow". Bow is the forward area of a water, air, or spacecraft. Prow is the forward part of a watercraft's hull above the waterline, so it's really kind of unique to watercraft."
No, prow is equally appropriate when discussing the A-wing because it features a ram. Reference works frequently refer to the reinforced prow of the A-wing.
Cute.
I now feel like building a Star Destroyer bridge...
I actually gasped when I saw this, one of the best micro models I've ever seen.
When I opened it this morning, the instruction picture made me think it was a tiny Jedi Scout Fighter. Though of course with the recent UCS A-Wing, having an A-Wing in the advent calendar was a no-brainer.
Looks like the best micro scale A-Wing too.
That's a great A-Wing!
My calendar got mixed up and I got darth vader's castle, but I built it anyways by using the picture on the front.
@CapnRex101 :
I...would not want to try using an A-Wing as a ram. Even if you reinforced the craft itself, you never know what you're going to hit with that knife-edge, and you never know if you're going to be able to back out without getting hopelessly stuck in something that's drifting into a planetary atmosphere (or if whatever you punctured is going to chew up the non-reinforced part of your craft, even going so far as to "Jayne Mansfield" you if the very vulnerable-looking cockpit goes into the hull).
In ancient days, when everything was made of wood (and you _knew_ everything was made of wood), warships did feature nasty spiked rams that were intended to pierce the hulls of their enemies, but partly that was meant to keep them from escaping while your warriors could swarm aboard and kill everyone. The wood would splinter, so given enough effort you could force yourself free a lot easier than the impaled boat could, just due to the orientation of your respective hulls (you'd have a nice wide section of hull facing directly at you, while they'd be facing the curved bow with very few places to plant the end of a pole).
I don't doubt what you say, but I suspect whoever came up with that idea was desperately trying to explain why a starfighter would have such a unique chisel tipped design, and decided it could cause a lot of damage (probably true), without thinking very hard about what that really means in space combat. Or when you're going up against ships with energy shields.
@TheWackyWookiee :
Super Star Destroyer, though the bridge design itself appears to be identical in both shape and size. I don't know about the bridge tower, though.
@MikeBrickStop :
You got Day 23 behind your Day 1 door. All LEGO Advent Calendars appear to use the same pattern for their numbering, so it appears yours might have had the tray flipped around before it was sealed up. Day 1 is third row, first column, while Day 23 is second row, sixth column. You've got three options. You can either cut the seals and flip the tray around, you can just build everything out of order, or you can look for the number you're supposed to open and open the one that's directly opposite instead.
I enjoy the advent calendar reviews but is there any way to make it easier to see all of them in one place? Perhaps one article per day that is simply Advent Calendars Day 1, and then show each of the themes in that article? Instead of each theme having its own article every day. Just seems cluttered and other things get mixed in, like the new CMFs article. Maybe it’s just me lol.
@JRBricks:
At the top of the article, there's a tag link for "Advent Countdown". Clicking it will take you to a page that only includes articles pertaining to the daily reveal of Advent Calendar mini models. It includes the entire history of AC reveals, but this year's coverage starts with one article that reminded people this was about to start, and then each of the four daily articles has a numbered graphic that matches the date, so you can easily find the ones you're looking for. They don't always post at the same time, so you might need to check back if you only see 1-3 with the latest date.
Ugh I wanted this years Star Wars Calendar so bad. But it is being scalped like crazy here in Japan, cant find it for retail anywhere (not paying 90 bucks for this). I hope it comes back in stock soon in my region.