Star Wars Advent Calendar - Day 9
Posted by CapnRex101,
Two minifigures have now appeared lacking any armament, meaning the threat of an impending weapons rack continues to overshadow this Star Wars Advent Calendar!
I fear that threat could prove real today...
The unarmed Tusken Raider now receives his gaderffi, which is connected to a mound of sand. These colours seem appropriate for Tatooine and the texture is reasonable, although this model undoubtedly looks very bland. The brick-built gaderffi looks good though, faithfully replicating this onscreen weapon.
Overall - 1.5 - Weapons racks are rarely exciting and this example is poor, as usual.
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28 comments on this article
At least better than the targets!
It’s like half a weapons rack
Yeah, that should have come with the minifig, especially after the TargetGate situation from the other day.
@Keegan_MC said:
"At least better than the targets!"
A lot has been made about the targets but my son likes them. They're light enough to knock over with a stud shot from the shooter. A weapon rack, though...
This is definitely worse than the targets. It's not even a weapons rack, it's a pile of dirt with a stick.
I kinda feel like the nipple tile would have worked better than that giant cone at the top end.
The moment you wish you had a traditional weapons rack instead of a mound of dirt...
Honestly, there's a comparison to be made here with today's marvel entry. Both are 4 piece accessories plus some padding, but while marvel's padding was a well done present, this is some spare parts piled up to make some rocks.
I'd rather not have the gaffi stick at all, if this is the price. Same with the Stormtrooper's rifle, if that is padded out with something similarly poor. Or, just do a single weapons day, with all the accessories that we apparently won't include with their respective figures. No rocks or racks, just the weapons.
And I'll restate my approval for the much maligned targets- those work well, even if they're more functional than aesthetic.
This is the one I got by mistake on Day 2 and now another one today. I hope I don't see any more!
Dumb pile of dirt.
At least the... errr... cheese slopes are nice. I guess.
*shrug* i like it
I think I'm in the minority as being one who doesn't mind the weapon racks ... generally speaking. When they are done well, they offer up a little bit of appropriate environment for the respective minifigure to interact with. Such interaction spanning different days is appreciated in my book.
That said... this one is NOT done well. Perhaps if it had been built up a little taller, suggesting an overhang or cave, then it would have offered a more dynamic pairing with the minifigure. OR ... they could do what they're doing with the Marvel calendar and have this link up with a pre-existing set (like 75299, Trouble on Tatooine). But, as it is, this is disappointing, and screams, "It's Star Wars, they'll buy whatever we give them."
I actually normally like weapons racks. I didn’t realize so many apparently detest them until I started following these AC reveals here this year. I do think minifigures should come with their own accessories, but a weapons rack in addition to already-accessorized minifigures would be fantastic, honestly.
That said, a pile of rocks and sand with a single accessory that should have been part of the previous day’s minifigure presentation is pretty suboptimal, I admit.
Now, if this same build and yesterday’s minifigure had all been together as a single day’s offering, that would have been fantastic…
I don't like advent sand sculptures. The construction is coarse, rough, and irritating. And they get everywhere.
So it's a weapons... dune? hill? hillock? hummock?
I don’t like sand.
@bgruner:
Now this has me thinking of the Peanuts Halloween special, when every house they go to, all the kids are comparing what candy they received, and every house Charlie Brown says, “I got a rock.”
On the other hand, your Tusken will be well-armed...
As someone who picks through themes having a bit of everything, I like all the AC models...I can get cool elements I'd miss this way. So for me, it's a blessing.
Didn’t even build it. Took one look and dumped the contents into my to be sorted box.
@PurpleDave said:
"I kinda feel like the nipple tile would have worked better than that giant cone at the top end."
*double takes*
Don't let Anakin see this build. He hates sand..
@CDM said:
" @Keegan_MC said:
"At least better than the targets!"
A lot has been made about the targets but my son likes them. They're light enough to knock over with a stud shot from the shooter. A weapon rack, though..."
I took one look at the targets and realized that, combined with a stud shooter, I would have loved them as a kid. They are actually an excellent play feature. On the other hand, today's build won't last past the 24th, and I don't think it would have lasted that long when I was little.
At least those two exposed studs to the right mean that it can be used as a minifig stand...
I'd say that Marvel or HP would win today. I'll go with HP because the wall splits open nicely (and doesn't have a STAMP saying "wall" like the Spongebob set 4982) and it's nice to get many masonry bricks and dark brown inverted tiles. The Marvel offering is mainly basic parts, apart from the weird spider, and a missed opportunity for a print on the Arc Reactor. So far HP has had 3 new printed pieces not part of minifigs, Marvel has only had new minifig prints, and SW has had no prints and reused figures! I think a lot more parts budget has gone into HP than the other calendars, and almost no budget has gone into SW. If SW had put out a quality mini-model today, it might have gotten a point today. I'm questioning if the old winner-takes-all system is fair in a three-way-fight. Maybe eventually I will go back and award the runner-up for each day half a point. But going by the winner-takes-all, SW has 2, Marvel has 3, HP has 4.
What a beautiful diorama.
I think weapons would be so much better if they included extra weapons. There's no reason the rack needs to come with just one blaster for a stormtrooper. They should include a rifle and a pistol too, a thermal detanator, even a studshooter! Give us more options for accessories. This one could have come with a couple gaffis at least, plus some macrobinoculars, etc. Instead we get... A single weapon and some rocks.
@Norikins said:
" But going by the winner-takes-all, SW has 2, Marvel has 3, HP has 4. "
Thank you for keeping score; glad you don't include the other two AC, I think Friends would be winning overall...