The Lego City Advent Calendar (set number 60235) is one of the 53 City sets released in 2019. It contains 234 parts and 8 Minifigures. It retails for 19.99€/ 29.99$ with a price per piece ratio of 8.5c/ 12.3c.
Buy yours on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2DAOzsM
An advent calendar is like a countdown to Christmas that begins on December 1st and ends on Christmas eve, the 24th. Every day you are supposed to open one of the 24 different gifts.
The Lego City Advent Calendar is a great gift with just the right price. Kids are going to love opening the little doors every day and playing with the little gifts, while collectors are going to be happy to add the small items as details to their dioramas.
 |
| Front of the box |
Opening the box reveals sort of a play-mat, depicting an ice-skating arena surrounded by snow. The instructions are printed on the inside of each door. There are no stickers in this set.
 |
| The playmat allows you to display the 24 gifts |
Let's get to it, then.
Day 1
On the first day, you get this little red snowplow. It is made up of 16 parts. At first glance, it might seem uninteresting and perhaps even a little boring, but I think it's a great accessory that every Minifigure-households needs in the winter to clear the alleyways in the garden. I like how Lego used these
black gears as wheels to give a little more grip in the snow to this plow.
At first, I thought the wheels would have difficulties spinning on flat surfaces, but I was wrong, they move like normal.
 |
| Red snowplow |
Buy yours on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2DAOzsM
Day 2
The second gift is like a snow-catapult, apparently made up ice (the teal parts) and snow. It is made up of 8 parts. The
teal catapult arm I think is a fairly rare part, it appeared only in 7 sets and was introduced in 2016 and I think it is quite desirable since it looks very good in this color.
 |
| There are 9 parts in the bag, but one of the connector pegs is just a spare. |
You can actually use the catapult to throw large snowballs around (or toilet-paper rolls, it depends on your imagination), you get
two round 1x1 parts as ammo. Kids are going to like playing with this after they open it. Additionally, I think collectors are going to find it a nice little addition to a park in a winter-themed village, as they can have Minifigure-kids playing around with it.
 |
| Catapult is ready to throw snow at people. |
Buy yours on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2DAOzsM
Day 3
Today we are getting our first Minifigure, finally, someone to drive the little snowplow from day 1 or someone to use the catapult.
The male Minifigure wears wintery clothes: azure blue jeans/ ski-pants and a medium blue coat with an azure blue, warm, fur-lined hood. He has a dark brown mustache and eyebrows and his face seems positive and happy. He also has an alternate expression that seems amused.
 |
| Front of the Minifigure |
As far as accessories go, you get a broom for sweeping the snow.
 |
| The Minifigure, back and alternate face expression. |
It's the first Minifigure found in this year's advent calendar and I must say I'm a little disappointed by it. The colors are a little odd in my opinion, as the color of the coat doesn't match that of the hood or the pants. Let's hope tomorrow is better.
Day 4
On the fourth day, we are getting the snow fort to go along with the catapult. The snow fort itself is nothing special, it's just for decor. It is made up of 11 parts.
 |
| The parts for the snow fort |
Unless used in a larger diorama, it barely has any value. The only redeeming feature is the three
1x1 transparent light blue pyramids, of which one is a spare.
 |
| The completed fort |
Day 5
Today we are getting a log and an ax to cut it. The whole thing is made up of 7 parts.
 |
| The parts for today's gift |
The most interesting part of today's gift is the fireman's ax, introduced recently with the City Fire sets. It looks very nice when used by the brave firemen and women of the Lego City Fire Department, but in the hands of Joe the Lumberjack, it might be a little overkill.
 |
| The completed model |
Day 6
Surprisingly, today we are getting a Christmas Tree. I thought we might be getting another Minifigure since there are only 8 spread across 24 days (that's one every 3 days, we got the first one on day 3...). But no. An anemic Christmas Tree made up of only 18 parts.
 |
| The parts for the Christmas Tree |
The golden studs between the branches give the impression of decorations. The golden knife from the Ninjago series is used as a decoration on top of the tree.
Day 7
Yesterday we didn't get any Minifigure, so it was about time to get another one.
It's a boy with beige pants, a green sweater, and a blue propeller cap. There is nothing special about him, apart from the propeller, which is a new part that appeared this year. Funny thing is, apart from the one used for the Minifigure, I got 2 more spares - not complaining tho.
The cookie is a printed part. There is also a spare.
 |
| Picture of the boy and the cookie. |
Day 8
Today we are building 3 presents. These have always been part of all Advent Calendars over the years, but surprisingly, none have ever had identical presents.
The 3 of them this year are made up of 12 parts (of which 3 are spares).
 |
| The 11 parts used for today's build. |
The orange one is the largest, but it's empty, you can't store anything inside because of the 1x2 bricks.
The new flower parts are used as bows on top. They look really good and you are even getting spares to use somewhere else - you can never have enough flowers in your City.
 |
| The 3 presents. |
Day 9
Today we are getting our 3rd Minifigure, a snowman. It is not a traditional Minifigure, but rather a "brick-built character".
It is made up of 10 parts, of which 2 are spares.
 |
| Parts for today's snowman |
 |
| The built snowman |
Day 10
Ignoring the "brick-built Minifigure"-snowman, we received only 2 "real" Minifigures. This is about to change, for today we are getting the 3rd one.
The female Minifigure's torso was released last year, but that's not the most exciting part about her.
The scarf is the best part (see what I did there?) about her. It was introduced in 2017, produced only in orange so far and appeared only in 7 sets. It gets even better: a second scarf is included as spare.
 |
| Today's female Minifigure |
Day 11
Today's gift is sports-related and contains 14 parts, of which one is a spare.
 |
| Today's parts |
I had to Google around to find out what this sport is all about, it had to have something to do with the printing on the "ice field" on the playing mat.
Turns out, the sport is called "Curling". We got a set of 4 red and blue "curling stones" and a yellow "jack".
Apparently, the jack is not used in the game: the players are supposed to get the stones closest to the circular marking on the ice (called "house"). Brooms are used by the players to polish the ice ahead of the stones, thus altering its trajectory. Now it makes sense why the first Minifigure's accessory is a broom.
 |
| The curling stones and the jack |
Day 12
Who doesn't love enjoying a good book on, sitting in a comfy chair by the fireplace?
Well, today's little present is the first step towards that: we are getting a rocking chair and a desk with a lamp on top. Both models are made up of 8 parts, of which one is a spare.
 |
| The parts for today's build. |
The chair doesn't exactly look like the real deal, but that's irrelevant since it gets the most important feature right: it's a rocking chair.
I think these furniture pieces included in the advent calendars are great for expanding the decorations of existing houses or apartments, you can use them to add a great deal of detail to your City diorama.
 |
| Furniture. Is it from IKEA? |
Day 13
It's Friday the 13th, so we need to be careful today. Luckily, opening today's window isn't a bad surprise, but rather a pleasant one. Since yesterday we got a comfy rocking chair and a lamp, today we are getting a Minifigure who can actually enjoy that classic furniture: an elderly lady with a book.
She is wearing a cardigan and has an interesting hairpiece.
 |
| Today's Minifigure. |
The book can be opened since it's made of 2 parts. Inside of it, you can see a printed tile with the text "once upon a time".
 |
| The fairy-tale book |
Day 14
Opening today's window leaves us with a bag containing 12 parts. 4 of them are spares.
 |
| The parts for today's build |
It appears that today we are getting a small table with a cookie, a glass of milk and a tealight (with a really really large flame). Perhaps the granny we received yesterday set this up with her nephews for when Santa comes up or just prepared herself a snack while reading...
 |
| The completed build. |
Day 15
After going back "inside" over the last couple of days, today we are getting something that is best used outside: an orange snowmobile.
It is made up of 19 parts (one of which is a spare)
 |
| The parts for today"s build |
I think it looks excellent for a Minifigure-scaled snowmobile. The only downside (or omission) is, in my opinion, the lack of proper studs to be used as headlights.
 |
| Picture of the completed model |
Day 16
After getting the snowmobile for some outside fun yesterday, we are moving back inside to replenish our energy with some delicious meals prepared on our brand-new stove, made up of 11 parts.
 |
| Parts for today's build |
The stove seems to have a feature that allows you to launch your cooking straight out of it. There is also a single ring on the hob (although there would have been room for two), but it seems that there are 4 knobs... The frying pan is a nice touch.
 |
| The completed model |
Day 17
Today we are getting the grandfather to match the grandmother we got on day 13. He is wearing a sweater and a fire extinguisher... Perhaps that insane tealight candle from day 14 got out of control?
 |
| The grandfather Minifigure |
Day 18
Today's build is quite festive, Christmas is just a week away. With the included 14 parts (no spares) we are building a festive table, adorned with a thematic red and white tablecloth.
 |
| The parts for today's build. |
On the two plates, Christmas dinner is being served: cabbage and a turkey leg. We are drinking a cup of water. Overall it's a nice build and one can never have enough food-related parts.
 |
| Today's festive table. |
Day 19
Today's build is a vintage "grandfather" clock. It is made up of 14 parts (including 2 spares).
 |
| Parts included with today's build. |
Looking back at older Advent Calendars, it occurred to me that none other included such a grandfather clock. Nonetheless, it's a nice interesting build, with a printed clock-face. The only downside is the plain body.
 |
| The grandfather clock |
Comments
Post a Comment