So…yeah. A pretty low-effort finish on LEGO’s part for the Friend’s advent calendar. It’s a nice enough mini-kit, but this really should have been day 23, with at least a third Friend waiting behind the final door.
I can see why retailers weren’t overly thrilled with this set and decided not to buy it. The part count is very low, the sets are lackluster, and the play value is medium at best. At least at the $35 price point. I could see this being a decent value (even for the high-priced standard of LEGO) at $25. Sadly, this is my usual holiday gripe about the advent sets…and from the gouging we saw on this year’s Star Wars advent LEGO was already trying the waters at pricing these yearly adventures even higher. (I’m personally convinced that the 1/2 off Christmas price at shop@home was due to sales tanking across the board at the $50 price point they started at.)
Anyway, stay tuned for a quadruple-length mega episode tomorrow as I wrap up this year’s advent madness. Well, as much as I wrap up anything here, anyway.
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So…yeah. A table, a couple of bottles, a wig stand and wig. Not a bad little set. Just not what I wanted to see on Day 24 of the advent.
The wig isn’t even a unique part. It is somewhat rare, having been in just two other sets in black – and it’s a nice addition to the female minifigures on the “non-Friend” side of the LEGO fence. But…couldn’t we have at least had an advent-unique color for it?
*sigh*
Well, there’s always next year, I guess.
Oh, wow. I had wondered about getting the Friends advent calendar for the bits (they had marked it down in the supermarket near me in the UK) but decided not to bother and just go with the City Advent Calender. At least we got a Santa on Day 24!
Actually I thought Day 24 was really neat – as well as the Santa figure, we also got a snowmobile – which really equated to two advent presents (based on previous windows).
Thanks again Christopher for a great years’ worth of stories (I know we’re not at year end yet, but ’tis the season etc). I hope you have a great break over the festive period and I look forward to seeing what adventures you come up with next year!
Huh. I should probably edit my commentary to read “why retailers in the US didn’t pick it up…” I didn’t know it was mass-released in the UK.
Similarly, I passed up a marked down friends calendar at a supermarket, but instead chose Star Wars. We got Santa Maul today, as well as a snow-droid yesterday. The only remotely festive parts of the calendar, but they were quite nice.
And, as well, thank you and good job with the comic.
That snow-droid is probably my favorite advent-item this year. It’s a more creative repaint than the usual “main character as santa” option.
Well, this one’s bizarre. It almost looks like a white-skinned three-legged alien, who somehow got hold of a glittercube…
Hey! Doyle should wrap this plot up with that JimmytheJ. Nice thinking.
Oh, like I ever wrap up plots around here.
Did they put a horse on the box and not even include it in the calendar?
And by quadruple length do you mean 16 boxes?
Yeah. 16 panels. It was a pain to put together.
I told you guys to prepare to be disappointed by what day 24 was.
No, that was me, remember?
My guess is that it’s suposed to be the contents of the gift we got yesterday. Not exactly Lego’s greatest idea, especially for the 23-24 sequence, but it’s the only thing I could think of that would make today’s set Christmassy.