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City, Friends & Star Wars Advent Calendars 2012 Images (Spoiler Warning)

bricksanbricksan Member Posts: 566
edited May 2012 in Collecting
If there is a thread already I apologise but over on the Daily Brick they have the images of both the City and Friends advent calendars plus their contents and Hoth Bricks have the Star Wars ones, if you don't want to know what, look away now :)

City

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Friends
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Star Wars
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Comments

  • Si_UKNZSi_UKNZ Member Posts: 4,179
    that city calendar is much better than last years - still not very festive, but an improvement.

    I like darth maul's hood, is that a new piece?
  • sidersddsidersdd Member Posts: 2,432
    ^ Looks like red version of the CMF Series 5 Ice Fisherman hood.
  • MatthewMatthew Administrator Posts: 3,714
    I just waved goodbye to £60 odd come December :-)
  • Si_UKNZSi_UKNZ Member Posts: 4,179
    edited May 2012
    ^^
    ahh, yes, good spot. great use of it.
    still cant believe that they think darth maul makes a good santa!
  • GothamConstructionCoGothamConstructionCo Member Posts: 805
    ^ I think the hood is the same as Hans from the (7879) Echo base :o)

    Its going to be a star wars kind of Christmas :o)
  • legomattlegomatt Member Posts: 2,543
    edited May 2012
    ^Father Sithmas!

    Shame the Gonk droid is brick built, rather than a new printed one, like the old version (that i don't have).
  • hoyatableshoyatables Member Posts: 873
    Awesome - OT minifigs. My Hoth battle will continue to grow :).

    And the City calendar is probably worth a pickup simply to deck out the Fire Brigade for the holidays.
  • The_Brick_BuilderThe_Brick_Builder Member Posts: 658
    Loving the City calender!
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    That hood has been worn (in different colours) by a number of minifigs. There is Han Solo, the ice fisherman (CMF), the winter village post office set, the winter bakery, and it was also in last year's city calendar.
  • y2joshy2josh Member Posts: 1,996
    I really like the City calendar. As a huge Star Wars fan, I find that calendar extremely disappointing.
  • starfire2starfire2 Member Posts: 1,335
    I think I will pass on all 3. I am sooo not impressed with what is in any of them.
  • PohmPohm Member Posts: 17
    I know my girls will like the friends calendar and I will certainly be looking into the SW one too. Hope that I see them out here this year.
  • brickupdatebrickupdate Member Posts: 1,020
    Star Wars calendar looks like they are still trying to get rid of minifigs from the hoth battle packs, which didn't seem to sell very well.
  • GIR3691GIR3691 Member Posts: 674
    That Star Wars assortment is totally lame. Mostly common minifigures and the vehicles are underwhelming, though I guess that comes with having so many good ship minis in the lats one.
  • LegobrandonCPLegobrandonCP Member Posts: 1,917
    Only two figures in the Friends calendar? That is lame.
  • graphitegraphite Member Posts: 3,275
    ^ yeah compared to 7 and a dog in the City and 6 and 3 droids in the SW one it is definitely lame.
  • y2joshy2josh Member Posts: 1,996
    ^ yeah compared to 7 and a dog in the City and 6 and 3 droids in the SW one it is definitely lame.
    Hmmm... I'm counting four droids. Are you missing the gonk, because it's brick-built, or Artoo, because he's not the droid you're looking for?
  • graphitegraphite Member Posts: 3,275
    I only count the minifigure style droids. Meaning they have arms legs and heads that snap together. Otherwise its a pile of parts that builds a droid and not an actual "figure".
  • 111ins111ins Member Posts: 265
    how about the friends one then... TWO figs and a snowman!
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    Which there are some nice little ships in the SW set, they are incredibly little. Compare the Star Destroyer to the one that was free in the Sun yesterday. I think we'll be making our own advent card again this year.
  • LovaqueroLovaquero Member Posts: 23
    ^ You know that there will be plenty of folks who will pick up the SW calendar because it is SW. Or they are completists. Or they feel a compulsion to own all SW calendars. Or... =)
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    Seem to remember seeing that this years SW calendarwas going to be more expensive. any ideas about the other two?
  • vwong19vwong19 Member Posts: 1,191
    i'm not rushing to buy these this year. last year they had tons at 50% off after x-mas.
  • aimlesspursuitsaimlesspursuits Member Posts: 207
    The R.unit snowman is kinda cool. As is the micro droid starfighter.
  • wRuBwRuB Member Posts: 86
    Must say the SW one pales in comparison to last year's. City one is definitely better and friends one is so so... Funny, my son asked me to search for the SW advent cal for this year, and I told him they're not out yet... Guess I can show him the pics tmrw!
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,789
    what will probably be about 50 dollars again for a bunch of mini models and a Holiday Maul.... Well I guess Ill ait until Walmart has them for 15 bucks again if I really want one...
    I wish they would do another castles one, Id take even a Pirate one.. at least the Fire Dept one should be conspiracy free
  • MinifigsMeMinifigsMe Member Posts: 2,844
    is that some toilet rolls in the city calendar @huw?

    I think you're mostly missing the point guys (or maybe I just like christmas too much) - there's not much lego building value in these, but the thrill of opening each door and getting a 'surprise' is worth the money to me. must not let myself look at these again, so that they're a surprise for me!
  • jadeirenejadeirene Member Posts: 474
    I was hoping for a few more animals in the Friends calendar. I would pick up a few calendars if I could get some hedgehogs, bunnies, kitties, and birds out of them.
  • RobbRobb Member Posts: 144
    The crate that is on fire kind of looks like reindeer antlers. Perhaps inspiration for a MOC...
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,789
    edited May 2012
    is that some toilet rolls in the city calendar @huw?

    I think you're mostly missing the point guys (or maybe I just like christmas too much) - there's not much lego building value in these, but the thrill of opening each door and getting a 'surprise' is worth the money to me. must not let myself look at these again, so that they're a surprise for me!
    Do not get me wrong, I like the calendars, but not when LEGO spikes the price for SW calendar over the price of a non-SW. Plus quality of the items in the calendars has gone down and Im talking about the little minisets, not the chinese parts...
    The first 3-4 calendars that had minifigs were neat with a lot of mini themes for the fig (like the crossing gate for the train guy, mini pizza station with a chef, security check guy, construction guy with carts and garbage guy with bin, etc., but these new city theme sets are ridiculous.. it is almost like LEGO forgot that you can have a construction fig with accessories and a railroad man with accessories in one calendar and it is OK.

    I would not mind if they had better stuff in them, which they do not.. They could do wonders with these SW calendars, either put figures of lesser known characters in them that will never be in a set (but known to collectors or die hard fans, Aunt Beru anyone, not an action hero, but I think you get the idea.. pick random aliens from the cantina scene) OR at least put a ton of droid parts in the calendar to be able to build a droid and that are interchangeable with the parts in the calendar..
    They could do so much more with this calendar IMO, especially for the money they are charging for it...

  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Only two figures in the Friends calendar? That is lame.
    That is more than lame. It is enough for me to nix buying it. I would rather put the money towards a set for my kids.
  • greekmickgreekmick Member Posts: 710
    This will be my first year buying the calendars for the kids so dont know how they compare to previous ones. The Friends one is really naff though with only a couple of minifigs and the second item in the image, the flowers! I do feel the SW one is nice with 9 minifigs including 2 unique ones.
  • cheshirecatcheshirecat Member Posts: 5,331
    Of course it is possible that the friends one has been targeted more at the established girls market which *may* be more geared towards a smaller number of figs and a larger number of accessories.

    Or they may be targeting a lower price point than the city calendar?
  • leemcgleemcg Member Posts: 607
    @greekmick. My boys absolutely love these calendars but, as I have twins, I've had to go back and buy some of the older calendars on BrickLink. They're not much more than the new ones and quite a bit better, I think. As a theme they have high Wife Acceptance (she generally thinks we all have too much Lego) because they dont have chocolates in.

    Christmas just gone we got an old pirates one from 2009 (6299), for £25.

    I have a feeling that they're both going to want the Star Wars one this year, but otherwise I might look at the castle one from 2008: 7979, which is available for £30.

    I think the best one though was the City one from 2010: 2824, which had loads of lovely microscale models, so some proper building.


    It's certainly more expensive that getting the new ones, but potentially more rewarding, and in fact not that much more than the RRP of the 2010 calendars (but I assume that was a price point test that failed).

    This conversation reminded me, and I've just picked up the 2010 Kingdoms calendar for less than the RRP from Brickset. I'm sure it will be used in the next few years.
  • SpaceCakeSpaceCake Member Posts: 291
    edited May 2012
    If I got a LEGO Star Wars calendar and spent 24 days waiting to open the final door, only to find that it was a crap "Santa'd" character...

    I mean, what the hell do you do with a Santa-Yoda??? It doesn't fit with the Star Wars theme because he's wearing a freakin' Santa outfit and it doesn't fit with any other theme because it's Yoda!!!!

    Same goes with every Santa Star Wars minifig they release. I HATES THEM!

    Now where the heck is the LOTR calendar LEGO???
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    Our kids were allowed the batman toys from Sun promo at the weekend, but the ones from the week are being saved for advent calendars. The models with a figure and a car etc do two days. I bricklink some parts as well to make models that have been in previous calendars, or just freestyle ones. This year I reckon we need to spend only about £5-6 per calendar.
  • JenniJenni Member Posts: 1,390
    I understand the point about minifigs in the Friends calendar but to date the entire Friends cast is 10 people. As we're currently almost complete on Friends the figures in this calendar will be Olivia 5 and Stephanie 5. I would be more enthusiastic about minifigs in the calendars if they were new characters. I'm betting the favorite day will be the one with all the accessories. I agree that more animals would have been nice and the flowers suck.
  • greekmickgreekmick Member Posts: 710
    ^^ I quite like the unusual SW minifigs as they look good in a collection and they definitely wont be produced again.
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    ^ Yeah, my comments were more for the city sets. Police and firemen are fairly generic and can easily be swapped about. Even if there is a unique figure in the City sets, they can normally be made (or very close to it) from other parts. That is not true of the SW figures.
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Of course it is possible that the friends one has been targeted more at the established girls market which *may* be more geared towards a smaller number of figs and a larger number of accessories.

    Or they may be targeting a lower price point than the city calendar?
    A lower price point would be interesting, since their focus has been on smaller sets. I actually hope this is the reason.

    My understanding of the girl market is that girls really get involved with the story-telling aspect of Lego. This is why accessories are a big element, but I do not think at the expense of minifigs. One can't have a story without minifigs.

    With my two girls, minifigs are a big deal. If it came down to minifigs are accessories, minifigs majorly trump. Considering the increase of females from series 1 until now in minifig line, I think Lego has also realized that girls really gravitate to minifigs.

    In addition, I have also seen, with my 2 girl test case, that they veto whole themes based on the lack of female minfigs. Minifigs are a huge deal over here.

    I suspect this is more due to
    a) There are limited minifigs in in the line, and to include too many, dilutes the need to buy specific other sets. At the same time, I think if one made a few more of them exclusives with Christmas outfits, like these two are, it wouldn't compete.

    b) With the popularity of friends, maybe they felt they could simply have two minifigs and still sell it.

    Unless we're talking about a majorly good price point, though, I'm still highly disappointed with this set.
    Tammy
  • GraysmithGraysmith Member Posts: 15
    Wow, the Star Wars calendar looks terrible outside of the clever R2-snowman. I can't say I'm the most knowledgable Star Wars fan, but I can hardly recognize half of the micro-models, and the minifigures included are enormously disappointing to say the least.

    I like the City calendar far better than last year's. Nice it get 12 brick-bricks, and more of the new firefighters. It also looks like the little girl has the long ponytail hairpiece, which hasn't appeared in many sets.
  • graphitegraphite Member Posts: 3,275
    ^ Most of the micros in the SW set are PT not OT so that might be why you don't recognize them if you aren't that into the newer movies. Theres a gungan sub, naboo fighter, vulture droid, naboo speeder, sith infiltrator, grievous' ship, assuming the tan one is supposed to be a separatist shuttle, the j-type nubian royal starship, and the OT walker, and star destroyer. I guess that little brown one is probably supposed to be an MTT as well.
  • Si_UKNZSi_UKNZ Member Posts: 4,179
    ... Sun promo ... are being saved for advent calendars.
    I did that last year after being disappointed with last years calendar. Glad I did, it was fantastic fun. I also added some keyrings and things I got cheap from lego.com
  • TheBigLegoskiTheBigLegoski Member Posts: 1,437
    That city advent set looks more like a pyromaniacs calender to me, not that there is anything wrong with a nice blazing bonfire.

    Why did TLG not do a LOTR advent calender?!
  • AFFOL_Shellz_BellzAFFOL_Shellz_Bellz Member Posts: 1,263
    ^ Maybe because it isn't a proven line yet, too new.
  • SpaceCakeSpaceCake Member Posts: 291
    Why the hell does Santa-Maul have a spade?! What does that have to do with Christmas/Star Wars/Santa.

    "Shall we give him a lightsaber?"

    "Naaaah, just give him a spade and a 1x1 round plate to hold."
  • greekmickgreekmick Member Posts: 710
    ^ for digging his spaceship out of the snow.
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,789
    edited May 2012


    Why did TLG not do a LOTR advent calender?!
    I think they do the calendars before LoTR was signed (if I remember right there were rumblings about the new Calendars in Jan) and I just do not see LoTR being a license that is going to stay for more than 1-2 lines, tops. Three is possible, but I'm guessing pushing it. So it is not really in their best interest to put out a calendar for a line with a brief run (compare with SW) SW will always stick around, at least for some time now and in the future and SW will always be big money AND they will make their money because they overcharge for EVERYTHING Star Wars (compared to other lines) and can get away with charging 50 dollars for the kind of weak calendar they have for this coming year...

    Actually Im kinda surpised there is no Ninjago Calendar
  • sidersddsidersdd Member Posts: 2,432
    Why the hell does Santa-Maul have a spade?! What does that have to do with Christmas/Star Wars/Santa.

    "Shall we give him a lightsaber?"

    "Naaaah, just give him a spade and a 1x1 round plate to hold."
    If it were a black 1x1 round plate then I would have said he's the Santa which gives the naughty kids coal.
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    I suspect the reason there is not a Ninjago calendar has to do with timing. I have seen images of these three boxes for a while now. I do not think Ninjago really exploded until sometime this year. I think they had the calendar sets designed well before the Ninjago explosion. I may be wrong, though. On the other hand, I suspect with the huge marketing drive for Friends, they had that calendar planned before they ever saw the success of the one.
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