Star Wars Advent Calendar - Day 7
Posted by CapnRex101,
Two pleasing minifigures have already appeared in the Marvel and Harry Potter Advent Calendars, while the Stormtrooper remains alone in the Star Wars calendar.
Perhaps that will change today...
The Stormtrooper remains alone! Instead, we receive this model of the Mythrol's landspeeder from the second season of The Mandalorian. This design closely resembles past renditions of Luke's Landspeeder from Advent Calendars and its shape looks superb, including an accurate curved nose and the correct engine configuration.
However, this model features distinctive medium blue bodywork, starkly contrasting with the earthy colours of Luke's vehicle. While this colour is attractive, the onscreen landspeeder appears extremely worn and lacks such vibrant paintwork. I think grey or pearl silver would probably seem drab though, so I am pleased the designers selected this factory-fresh shade instead.
The additional engine on the reverse and offset windscreen both correspond with the original vehicle, while the bulky flanks look reasonable too. I dislike the dark red tile which forms the interior, where a 1x2 grille tile might have been more successful. Any representation of the seats is welcome though.
Overall - 4.5 - Despite some potential inaccuracies, I think this landspeeder looks marvellous!
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Love this - great color choice!
Yeah, 't's not bad.
That's a dark red tile for the seats.
I think grilles on the sides would work better than the 1x1 plate & tile, but the rest of the colour scheme works for me. This was a nice little build to get this morning.
A very solid mini-model, showing just what can be done with a mere couple dozen or so tiny pieces.
One aspect of Advent calendars I don’t see much comment upon but which is a notable part of the experience for me is the instructions. Since they’re printed on the insides / backs of the doors, there’s very little room, and typically we get just a single exploded diagram showing how maybe dozens of pieces fit together. It kind of reminds me of the more densely-packed instructions of LEGO sets from when I was a kid in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when the assembly of a set of a given size might be broken down into far fewer steps than has been typical of the last couple decades, and each step would have a sizable chunk built at once; the builder would have to look pretty carefully to make sure they didn’t miss anything. By comparison, a lot of instructions from the 2000s and 2010s have had these fairly substantial instruction booklets with lots of pages, and each page having a single step with perhaps as little as a single piece added (and yet somehow I still occasionally overlook things when building).
Seems a bit oversized to me
Ooh, I wouldn't mind a Minifigures-scale version of this.
@Blondie_Wan said:
"A very solid mini-model, showing just what can be done with a mere couple dozen or so tiny pieces.
One aspect of Advent calendars I don’t see much comment upon but which is a notable part of the experience for me is the instructions. Since they’re printed on the insides / backs of the doors, there’s very little room, and typically we get just a single exploded diagram showing how maybe dozens of pieces fit together. It kind of reminds me of the more densely-packed instructions of LEGO sets from when I was a kid in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when the assembly of a set of a given size might be broken down into far fewer steps than has been typical of the last couple decades, and each step would have a sizable chunk built at once; the builder would have to look pretty carefully to make sure they didn’t miss anything. By comparison, a lot of instructions from the 2000s and 2010s have had these fairly substantial instruction booklets with lots of pages, and each page having a single step with perhaps as little as a single piece added (and yet somehow I still occasionally overlook things when building)."
I was building 10249 yesterday for my Christmas display, and every time I rebuild that set I have a greater appreciation for how far instructions have come.
Many thanks for info and images of the vehicles in universe - even though I've watched both seasons of The Mandalorian I had no idea about the origin of this colourful landspeeder!
I was VERY impressed with how many parts spilled out of the bag - another small build with a lot of pleasant heft!
...but yes, as you said, the Stormtrooper continues to stand alone...
Well, the packaging alone does let us know we can expect a Biker Scout, a Tusken Raider, IG-11, and seasonal versions of Din Djarin and Grogu. Together with the Stormtrooper, that’s six figures (two of whom aren’t technically Minifigures in official TLG parlance, although “minifigure” can just mean a figure that is mini; it’s not even limited to LEGO, but never mind that…).
Assuming that’s the full complement, which is plausible (if a bit disappointing, I have to admit), that’s one figure every four days (6 x 4 = 24), so I’d say we’re due for another tomorrow. But we’ll see!
My thanks to captain Rex for enlightening me as to what it was I just built!
Clever build so my compliments to the designer.
This just rubs in my face the fact that I can’t make Hagrid’s sidecar in medium-blue...
I was confused a bit while building because there were two kinds of studs (regular and with a hole). The instructions could have been a little clearer for me. Nice model, though.
Yeah, I can see 4.5. I'd lean to 4.0, but accurate, with a cool color? Yeah.
Too bad yesterday's gift wasn't a Marauder. We could re-create a memorable scene, right after the screen shot above if I'm not mistaken.
@Toa_of_Pi said:
"I was confused a bit while building because there were two kinds of studs (regular and with a hole). The instructions could have been a little clearer for me. Nice model, though."
Yes - you can't tell the two types of round 1x1 circular stud apart from looking at either the instructions or the calendar in general. I guessed that the one with a hole went at the top for an engine intake, but the photo at the top of this page shows it at the bottom of the model instead (which clearly does match the film frame). Not that it really matters, but it seemed an odd choice to include both pieces in the same model. In fact, I only read this article to find out if I chose the right option or not. :)
@GarethMoore:
I read a comment some time back, where a set designer said they’re restricted from using the hollow version of the regular one will suffice. With this in mind, it makes sense that the upper one would be regular, since the bottom half of each part is identical, and it’s the bottom that forms the intake.
However, I’ve noticed that usually what happens is if they break hearts on the hollow version, they typically use it exclusively in that color for the rest of the set (Home Alone uses a ton of pearl-gold 1x1 round plates w/ hollow stud, but none of the regular version in that color).
@PurpleDave said:
"However, I’ve noticed that usually what happens is if they break hearts on the hollow version, they typically use it exclusively in that color for the rest of the set (Home Alone uses a ton of pearl-gold 1x1 round plates w/ hollow stud, but none of the regular version in that color)."
I've noticed that too, which is why I was surprised that this 'rule' had been broken on this tiny little model. :) Interesting about the design restriction, though!
Am I the only one that’s had like 4-5 extra pieces each bag? I know most seasonal sets have extra but that seems like a bit much.
@GarethMoore:
That’s not the only part I’ve seen them do that with, either. The first big Batmobile set, from the original run, uses several black 1x1 bricks in the design, but the set doesn’t come with any. In the very instance of this part being used, you only ever see one side, and it turns out they also needed 1x1 Technic bricks to make the eyes in the giant bat head over the turbine intake, so they just gave you a bunch of those and have you turn them sideways. It’s actually a pretty clever reuse of parts, and it surprised me enough that I was actually digging around for regular 1x1 bricks that weren’t there for a minute or two.
@Celldweller said:
"Am I the only one that’s had like 4-5 extra pieces each bag? I know most seasonal sets have extra but that seems like a bit much."
Nope, you're not the only one. I've had spares each day of all the small bits I would normally get spares of in a set, especially the 1x1s. I've now collected a whole load of them.
@Celldweller:
You should see the pile left from Home Alone. I was flipping through the book looking for where I missed a part because I started getting second extras of certain parts, like the red 1x1 5-petal round plate.