Advent Madness: Day 15

VS

We've passed the halfway point, how are our calendars doing?

So far CITY has been running the same race that it has run for the past three years - three-day mini-themes starting with a mini-figure, the occasional mini-model of interest, but mostly just bland items that really don't show off the creativity and scope of the CITY theme.

Belville, as a brand new Advent theme, doesn't have to worry about the "boy, have we seen this before" problems that have been plaguing CITY. For the most part we seem to be setting up a large room full of stuff for the pink Fairy character we received on Day One. We've had furniture, pets, and the occasional stink-bomb.

Reading that, you'd think that in the day-to-day comparison CITY would be left in the dust. Not so! Entering today's review the Calendars are tied at 7 doors each. But there's still some time to go, and the end game has yet to be played.


DOOR NUMBER FIFTEEN

I'm guessing that Day Thirteen's figure is less of the "Mechanic" we've seen in previous years, and more of a "Gas Station Clerk." Why? Because today we have what appears to be a cash register and display rack.

The Red/Green/White color scheme has been used for years by LEGO to represent their fictional "OCTAN" brand of oil/gas/whatever. Both yesterday's set and today's have the familiar striping, putting them firmly in gas station land, as opposed to "Qwik Stop"

Heh. Another dropped opportunity for LEGO. A CLERKS crossover theme!


DOOR NUMBER FIFTEEN

Belville gives us another puzzler today. It's clearly a flag and a bit of luggage.

It's not a holiday theme. (Unless they're thinking holiday travel. A real stretch.)
It's not any fairy tale that I'm aware of.
It IS pink and white, the default colors of this calendar.

I dunno. I'm not inspired to write anything snarky about it. It's not a bad group of items. It just feels...random. Is Belville starting to slip?


JUDGMENT:
I had posted in comments earlier that I was trying to keep from looking at the running score, lest it influence my day-to-day judgment. Since I obviously changed my mind about checking the score, does the fact that today begins with the caldndars tied at 7 doors apiece make me more likely to throw things one way or another?

I'd like to see Belville stomp CITY's butt. That's not hard to tell.

But here I am, throwing the tiebreaker to CITY. Why? Because CITY today's mini-set is a lot better than the Belville one.

Damnit.


TODAY'S WINNER: