Svelte Claus in the Friends one must have locked himself in the gym since he finished his job last 25th of December.
What's the vehicle Santa is using in the City one? It looks like the front should hover but the back has wheels.

rockets in both sets, interesting!

Not as festive as I'd like but feels like an accessory pack to existing sets. Not bad, tho.

If the Friends set were a City set with minifigs I'd buy it in a heart beat. It's the best of the bunch.

Ah, it's the one day of the year when the Friends wear something with sleeves...

Santa is driving a zero turn lawn mower? Cutting north pole grass and delivering presents now with global warming

City wins this year in my eyes, so many animals and good figs!
Friends one is..ok. Which is dissapointing after last year

Daddy Claus and a baby reindeer? The Friends calendar looks great, just needs another minidoll to make it feel equal in value to the City one

Santa Claus after lipo?

The animals in the City pack are the only thing that really interest me. I don't understand why they went with a street sweeper instead of an actual reindeer to pull the sleigh.

I thought Santa's sleigh in the Friends one was a speeder bike until I realized that the front part was to hitch it to that adorable reindeer.
Speaking of the Friends AC and Star Wars, that is a much better target than last year's SW AC.

Phew, I’m relieved the City calendar is better this year after last year’s monstrosity. Somewhat festive, and cute animals at the very least!

City looks surprisingly good this year...

I like how they did Friends Santa's coat, but he definitely needs a more voluminous beard! Is there an existing beard that fits a mini-doll?

I don't really like either of these compared to previous years. Obviously the animals in the City one are great, and I like the snowman - it looks more like the kind of snowmen I make.

I also find the piano quite funny in that it only has one octave on it.

Does anyone really buy these advent calendars for the 'mini builds'?
You open up the box, get the figs/animals and toss the bricks with the rest of your bulk bricks.
Dreading a bit that time of year when every Lego-fan site does a countdown of every window of every calendar...

These are just expensive Lego minifig-packs. Sorry, the word 'expensive' was a bit pleonastic here.

Why is 60352 tagged "Helicopter"? I don't see one.

Love the dual molded pony in the City set. Terrified of that Friends Santa. Great prices though.

I love that the City one isn’t all mini models! Might actually pick it up for the first time in several years

I'd have preferred the Friends outfits to be a bit more festive. They're a bit 'everyday

Can anyone enlighten me on what the egg surrounded by stars is in the City calendar?

I think it'll be City for me this year. Friends is nice but I prefer the figs and animals in the City one. Also there's 4 figures and one animal in the Friends calendar and 6 figs and 3 animals in the City one which seems a bit unequal.

I like the Christmas fair/market theme of the Friends calendar though. For children who would want to play make believe Christmas market it would be a great choice.

However, for me as an adult collector the City one has more to offer. Though I prefer the Christmas tree in the Friends one.

Finally, Tippy gets a minifig.

The blue-hair girl in the City calendar, at a frozen lake in the box art, looks like Clementine - Kate Winslet's character from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I wonder if the designer took some inspiration from the film.

We've chosen the Friends calendars the last few years. The builds are always the most festive which is what we enjoy.

Glad to see the improvement of the City calendar this year. Might actually pick up both.

Still holding out hope someday for a return to the straight up Creator calendars with no licenses or minifigs. Nothing but festive mini-builds.

Nice to see a City calendar with minifig-scaled builds again. Hopefully this means LEGO realises that the last two years of mostly micro-scale builds were a mistake.

Is that a gender-neutral Father Christmas (errr... Parent Christmas?, Santa Klausina?) in the Friends one? It's a good effort but he/she/they/it should not be so undernourished.

That Thing the Beardy Bloke is driving in the City one: the graphic on the box front shows it with snow around the front discs and a cleared path behind it. It's some sort of roadsweeper. Which would imply the trailer should have wheels, not skids. Who knows?- Lego used to be all about imagination. It's something to argue about.

I just know I hate the kid who got a pony for Christmas...

One new-colored princess pony isn't enough to get me excited. I'll wait till Feb or March when it's $15.

Nobody likes a skinny Santa.

@minishark1000 said:
"The one minifig in the City advent calendar, "Tippy" (the hotel doorman/valet looking fig) would go great with the boutique hotel!"

That is in fact "Tippy Doorman" from the Lego City Adventures cartoon. And yep, the Hotel will be his new home for sure. He is the only new named character in this years set. We've never gotten him before. We've seen Raze, Billy, Small Carol I mean Maddy and the Grocer before.

I'm thinking that's supposed to be a zamboni Santa's driving in the City AC.

Need the city one - that doorman, the farm worker and the white pony and the rock chick is pretty cool too :) eeeep!

@Paperdaisy said:
"Can anyone enlighten me on what the egg surrounded by stars is in the City calendar?

I think it'll be City for me this year. Friends is nice but I prefer the figs and animals in the City one. Also there's 4 figures and one animal in the Friends calendar and 6 figs and 3 animals in the City one which seems a bit unequal.

I like the Christmas fair/market theme of the Friends calendar though. For children who would want to play make believe Christmas market it would be a great choice.

However, for me as an adult collector the City one has more to offer. Though I prefer the Christmas tree in the Friends one."

I'm curious about the egg wreath also.
I think I may actually end up getting all 5 calendars this year. I'll be stalking Costco & Sam's Club waiting for them to arrive. I skipped Friends & City last year and City the year before. I'd skip the Star Wars one but the Holiday Sweaters & Gonk Santa are must haves. Harry Potter is a must buy for me but I'm not too impressed with this year's. Haven't made my mind up on the Marvel one.

@Atuin:
I’m thinking no. Friends seems to be restricted to hairstyles that are also minifig-compatible, while the reverse is clearly not true. I mean, you can put a minifig beard on one, but it’ll look like a drunk Santa whose costume is coming undone.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Atuin:
I’m thinking no. Friends seems to be restricted to hairstyles that are also minifig-compatible, while the reverse is clearly not true. I mean, you can put a minifig beard on one, but it’ll look like a drunk Santa whose costume is coming undone."

And thus, the Bad Santa Ideas set was born.