Marvel Advent Calendar - Day 24
Posted by CapnRex101,
We have reached the conclusion of 76196 The Avengers Advent Calendar which has provided an impressive range of models and minifigures throughout December.
Examine the concluding item and the complete Advent Calendar below...
The vaunted Infinity Gauntlet completes this Advent Calendar, following appearances in three previous sets. However, this example is unique because a complete collection of six Infinity Stones is also included! These are provided on sprues, meaning that three spares of each element are present too, should any of the tiny Infinity Stones become lost.
While the stones look impressive on the gauntlet, today's gift is intended to decorate the tree which arrived yesterday. The colourful Infinity Stones complement the Christmas tree, but two slots remain empty so you may wish to use a couple of the aforementioned spares. The golden Infinity Gauntlet, meanwhile, slots on top. Its size is definitely awkward, but I think this addition does improve the tree.
Overall - 4.0 - Receiving all six Infinity Stones with the Infinity Gauntlet is fantastic, although something more substantial would have been great on Christmas Eve.
Summary
Marvel does not necessarily feel like a natural fit for an Advent Calendar, but I have definitely enjoyed this set! The exclusive minifigures are an obvious highlight and the general selection has proven fantastic, featuring several popular characters and some that are only available in relatively expensive sets.
The balance between festive items and Avengers-themed toys has been marvellous as well, particularly towards the end as small-scale vehicles and structures have arrived. Admittedly, I found the grille and picnic table somewhat strange, but they might be nods to warmer Southern Hemisphere Christmases, which would be fun.
Ultimately, I am not necessarily clamouring for another Marvel Advent Calendar during 2022, as they could quite easily become repetitive, but this Advent Calendar has proven enjoyable!
Are you pleased with this Advent Calendar and would you like another next year? Let us know in the comments.
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34 comments on this article
Guardians of the galaxy one next year hopefully! Would tie in well with the Christmas special out next December.
Thanks for the reviews!
It's been great fun to explore the daily builds with the Marvel theme behind them, and if they do continue under the Marvel license I do hope they pursue different characters either from animation, concurrent film/tv, or games. Overall it's got to feel like a holiday build fits, and Christmas may not blend some characters well yet I'm interested to see where they go!
I was really surprised to receive the Infinity Gauntlet as the final gift. I mean, I knew we were getting the stones (they're right there on the box art) -- and I admit, earlier in the year, I was a little scared to contemplate getting one Infinity Stone per day, for the last six days of the calendar -- thank goodness they didn't do that. But I kinda liked the touch of the gauntlet and all six stones on Christmas.
Gosh, remember back in 2018 when these had only just been released and were really hard to find? I remember paying about $25 for the gauntlet piece, and I had to import two of the stones from overseas Bricklink sellers. Good times.
The Friends calendar was great, but for me, this one edges ahead ever-so-slightly. There was only one bad day (and, let's be honest. Nobody cared for the power blaster pieces), and the other 23 were great.
I loved the two Stark work stations that connected, and the toy wind-up Hulkbuster was adorable. And kudos for the full Infinity Gauntlet, right at the end.
@squiz18 said:
"Guardians of the galaxy one next year hopefully! Would tie in well with the Christmas special out next December.
Thanks for the reviews!"
That would actually be really cool! Especially since we'd be unlikely to get regular sets based on it
If this was just the Infinity Stones it would have been a let down, but the gauntlet raises it back up.
This was my first Lego Advent Calendar, once a Marvel one was announced I was very keen, and it became a must-buy once I realised I had none of the minifigs. I have enjoyed the builds almost every day and feel that it stood up against more established calendars, with a great minifig selection, nice festive themed builds and some lovely microbuilds.
My favourite builds were the iron snowman and the Avengers Tower.
Maybe a DC Superheroes one next year?
Thanks to the Capn for doing this and I wish you all a very merry Christmas!
Maybe they could do alternate years between Marvel and DC advent calendars.
It's honestly surprising they don't do a Ninjago calendar, given how popular the theme is
I agree with CR101. This has been a great set. And that is the surprising part. Worth the money? Sure. Cool figures and builds? Yeah. But the 'great' part is the whole calendar has been just...fun. It is a fun damn set. At a fun damn time of year.
I'm 100x the Star Wars fan as I am an Avengers fan, yet this calendar is exactly what the past several years of SW calendars have not been. I'm really grateful for that.
Forgive the random musings; Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas folks! Hope you're getting in some rest and time with family. Here's to a gentler 2022!
@MisterBrickster said:
"It's honestly surprising they don't do a Ninjago calendar, given how popular the theme is"
I agree, but apparently Christmas doesnt fit with that universe, this year employee gift was ninjago themed with the golden figures as a one time thing for the 10 year anniversary.
I dont collect marvel but that gaunlet getting all stones in 1 set is nice, as they were spread across regular sets previously.
After seeing the calendar in its entirety I am a little bit envious, that I did not buy it... because the Star Wars Calendar I bought instead was such a big let down this year.
@squiz18 said:
"Guardians of the galaxy one next year hopefully! Would tie in well with the Christmas special out next December.
Thanks for the reviews!"
I completely agree, but I wonder how closely associated with the show such an Advent Calendar could be. This may have changed, but I was once informed that LEGO Advent Calendars must be finalised in advance of Christmas the year before as they need to be available for retailers to order then.
Should that remain the case, the Advent Calendars for 2022 have already been completed.
The grille was probably to include a fire extinguisher. Those are ubiquitous in Avenger sets... for some reason?
You know what this really needs? A “LEGO Batman Movie” rebranding. I’m pretty sure they showed at least one Christmas-themes outfit in his collection during the two scenes when Robin was trying them on, and there’s no reason they couldn’t make up a few more.
Some weak spots (day 2 being an additional baggie of accessories for Iron Man had me worried), but it's largely gone from strength to strength as the days went on. With 5 calendars, I don't think we need this every year, but rotating one or two out for different themes could be fun, and allow these calendars to remain fresh feeling.
Also, props to the marvel team for giving us all the stones and the glove in one shot, an excellent final day. The Star Wars team would have had stone racks, giving you 1 or two colours and some worthless terrain to pad out the day.
I think this calendar really knocked it out of the park! My kiddo has been extremely excited about almost every day, and I've found myself side-eyeing his bags as I assemble my own City builds. This was a great way to get characters (all he really cares about in most sets) and a bunch of fun play accessories - I know Day 2's laser blasts weren't popular here but we've had lots of fun with them.
I think this could get old fast (see Star Wars) but if Lego rotates themes I'd be interested! The new Ninjago employee gift shows that there is lots of potential for festive variants of the more eccentric themes.
Scores for the 2021 MCU calendar:
5 / 2 / 4 / 4.5 / 3.5 / 3.5 / 4.5 / 4.5 / 4 / 3 / 4.5 / 4.5 / 3 / 5 / 4 / 4.5 / 4.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 4 / 4 / 3.5 / 4 / 4
Final score: 96.5 points
76196 finished 1st place, just a little ahead of the HP calendar. Regular high scoring and two 5 scores gave this set the title. Congrats for the Marvel Super Heroes!
I think that they can do a combined Hawkeye/Guardians Holiday Special next year. That would rock!
“I found the grille and picnic table somewhat strange, but they might be nods to warmer Southern Hemisphere Christmases”
Grew up in a colder climate myself, but my mom still made me shovel snow off the BBQ to grill year-round. To me this is nothing unusual... ;)
...May you all stay inside and use the oven this holiday season! :)
Although the golden color is the best match for the tree as it came, this should have been the Iron Man version of the glove (i.e., the one in 76144 : Avengers Hulk Helicopter Rescue). They could have recolored the tree decorations to match.
This is actually incredible value. The glove and all stones for cheaper than ever? In 2018 or 19 this day alone went for the price of the entire calendar!
The Stones are assembled in the incorrect order...
I think that this one is the winner of the advent calendars for the year. We were dissatisfied with the City one, it just didn’t have the flare that it usually does. Maybe due to the marvel one. As for the Star Wars advent, which we love getting stormtroopers, is getting a little formulaic. Marvel was a refreshing change, and we looked forward to each day.
This was definitely a great AC. Of course it had that advantage of being the first time ever for the Avengers, so every day was a first. The minifig selection is great with the festive prints on Iron Man in addition to characters I did not have before. Completing the Infinity Stones is awesome, and some of the minibuilds were impressive, especially the quinjet, tower, and the helicarrier. There was only one day I did not care for (the now infamous Day 2), but 23 out of 24 aint bad!
Guardians of the Galaxy could have great potential for next year, but I am honestly surprised there has not been a Batman AC. With all of the UCS builds and sets across various years, it seems like there is more than enough to go on to fill 24 slots. I could only imagine what a bat tree would look like and how they would make Batman himself festive. Lots and lots of potential there.
@stevesheriw:
I’m wearing one right now. It has five branches. They’re Batman symbols. The star is a Batman symbol. The planter is a Batman symbol. There are 26 bauble ornaments on the branches. They’re Batman symbols.
https://www.neatoshop.com/product/Holy-Christmas-Tree-Batman
As for Batman, I remember seeing a Batman costume that included a Santa suit with the hat hanging off one ear on his cowl.
At first, I couldn't figure out what the half-peg was for, then I realized that it was to make a tree topper. Yes, let's decorate the tree with a symbol of mass murder! All joking aside, I'm just glad to have a Power Stone.
And I decorated the tree with some of the extra stones from the sprues, and left the Gauntlet complete. Looks more festive that way.
@squiz18 said:
"Guardians of the galaxy one next year hopefully! Would tie in well with the Christmas special out next December."
That's what I'm hoping for too. Would also allow for no repeated figures unlike the HP ones...
@TheOtherMike said: "And I decorated the tree with some of the extra stones from the sprues, and left the Gauntlet complete. Looks more festive that way."
I did that too.
Honestly, I had no idea that the Gauntlet was supposed to perch on top of the tree.
Thanks for your reviews on these three calendars CapnRex101. I always enjoy following along with these and appreciate that you all do this every year. I really enjoyed this Marvel calendar this year. A great selection of minifigures and some good microbuilds. (I really love that Avengers tower.) I would love to see more Marvel calendars going forward (I am more a Marvel fan than a Star Wars or Harry Potter fan) and hopefully they can keep it interesting and fresh. Have a Merry Christmas!
It was fun to see a different theme for an AC this year and I agree this worked out very well. Thank you so much for the reviews, CapnRex101!
The Marvel Advent Calendar is really cool. Here we see the Avengers having a Christmas party - complete with grill for party food , area for wrapping, and Iron Snowman Snowball-Firing drone. We get awesome micro-builds as remote-controlled toys; Thanos getting a bag of coal; and an Infonity Gauntlet fully-loaded with Infinity Gems as a tree-topper! All that plus a total of seven minifigs - this is a great set that has it all.
I think alot of people would agree that overall, the Marvel Calendar has been the best with its selection of builds and minifigures. Only 'bust' day was 2 with the energy blasts, but added to the other parts gave extra play value.
Would I like to see another Marvel Calendar next year? Yes please. But they need to change up the characters unless we're getting some more unique costumes ala Tonys Christmas jumper and the Spidey varsity jacket.
@CapnRex101: On that note of the calendars for next year should already be done, does that mean we know if we're getting another marvel one yet, or aren't you allowed to say?
I think a calendar next year makes sense to get the rest of the Avengers in. Cap, Ant-man, Hulk, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Loki, Hulk, etc... Too many main characters not to go back to this well.
If they do do another Marvel Calendar, it'd be fun if Cap got a Christmas version with a Snowflake pattern on his shield instead of the usual star :D