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LEGO Christmas sets: Advent Calendars

LEGO has been releasing Advent Calendars to count down to Christmas since 1998. The LEGO Advent Calendars contain 24 small sets, so you can build one each day leading up to Christmas. In the past LEGO produced one Advent Calendar for each Christmas season, which gradually increased to two per year in different themes (i.e. LEGO City, LEGO Castle, LEGO Star Wars, etc.), and this year is the first time we get three LEGO Advent Calendars: LEGO Star Wars, LEGO City, and LEGO Friends. 😀

Advent Calendars date all the way back to the 19th Century Germany, and later become popular in other countries as well. Advent Calendars were originally made of cardboard with 24 little windows to open each day until Christmas. Behind each window there was a little picture or verse from the Bible. Later small pockets were added to contain a piece of candy, small toy, or other treat. These days there are many secular Advent Calendars which simply count down to Christmas without any religious reference – amongst these the LEGO Advent Calendars are quite popular.

LEGO Advent Calendars mimic the classic Advent Calendar design. There are 24 little windows built in the box, so you have the fun of opening one each day, and behind it are the parts to assemble for that day. Here I will show you the three LEGO Advent Calendars you can choose form this year with details of each set. So follow along! 😉

#4428 LEGO CITY ADVENT CALENDAR: Help to rescue Santa’s sleigh in time for Christmas! It’s Christmas time again but Santa’s sleigh is stuck in the forest snow! He needs help from the LEGO City forest fire department. Open a door every day, December 1–24, to reveal the minifigures, models and accessories that Santa needs to get him out. Only you can help free Santa’s sleigh in time for Christmas! Gifts include 7 minifigures (Santa, 3 firefighters, brother, sister and mechanic), iconic forest fire equipment racks, fire hydrant and chainsaw, wheelbarrow, snow catapult, mini fire engine and much more!

LEGO Advent Calendars are popular not just with kids but adult LEGO fans, as they contain many cute minifigures and interesting elements often not found anywhere else. Here we get a whole assortment of useful items for LEGO City fans.

#9509 LEGO STAR WARS ADVENT CALENDAR: Feel the Force the holiday season with the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar! Featuring 24 gifts, including iconic starships, minifigures, and accessories, this great advent calendar is the perfect gift for Star Wars fans of any age! Open a window every day to reveal 24 different LEGO Star Wars themed gifts. Features 9 minifigures, including 2 holiday-themed minifigures. Vehicles include mini Gungan Sub and General Grievous’ Starfighter.

Amongst all the LEGO Advent Calendars this is usually the most popular due to all the unique parts and exclusive minifigures. With last year’s LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar we got Santa Yoda, and this year we get Santa Darth Maul. 🙄

The above two LEGO Advent Calendars are available at the Online LEGO Shop and some retailers. If you are interested I would suggest you pick them up soon, as they will likely run out as holiday shoppers raid the stock. Also notice that the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar is currently on sale. Here are the direct links at the Online LEGO Shop: LEGO CITY ADVENT CALENDAR, LEGO STAR WARS ADVENT CALENDAR

#3316 LEGO FRIENDS ADVENT CALENDAR: 24 days of LEGO Friends building fun! The holiday season has arrived in Heartlake City. Head outside with Olivia, Christina and their dog Coco! Build a snowman or go skiing, then warm up by the fire with cookies and milk. Help Olivia and Christina writing a holiday-card, delivering gifts on their snowmobile and decorate the Christmas tree. Includes 24 individual gifts, including 2 mini dolls not found in any other set, a dog, and accessories in colors not available anywhere else. Celebrate the holiday season with LEGO Friends!

This is the third and most elusive of the LEGO Advent Calendars this year. Full cute accessories in interesting colors, and two Friends figures unique to this set. This is a LEGO collector’s dream!

While the LEGO City and LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendars are available both online and by retailers, the LEGO Friends Advent Calendar is limited to LEGO brand stores only (but not at the Online LEGO Shop). And even they get them only in very limited quantities (200-250 per store). I’m not sure why this move by LEGO as Friends is very popular, but if you are interested in this set, you better get it right away. I did find it listed on Amazon at the time of this writing, but I expect that they will sell out soon. You can find the Amazon LEGO Advent Calendar listings below:

How do you like the Christmas LEGO Advent Calendars? Have you been collecting them from previous years? Which one is your favorite this year? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 🙂

You may also like to check out the following related posts to get you in the mood for the Christmas holidays:

{ 20 comments… add one }
  • JediToa November 10, 2012, 1:52 PM

    That Darth Maul Santa is creepy

  • KING_BOO_XDDX November 10, 2012, 2:48 PM

    snow-droid R2-D2 ftw!!

  • NinjaNut November 10, 2012, 5:21 PM

    I like the city

    • Darth Awesome November 12, 2012, 5:52 AM

      It would be so cool if they had a Lord of the Rings Advent calendar!

      • admin November 12, 2012, 9:19 AM

        Yes, that would be wonderful! 😀

  • Chris November 11, 2012, 2:34 PM

    I have the StarWars one already.I blogged it each day last December and will do it again this year. The sets are cool but pricey.
    We used advent calendars when I was little. It was a fun way to countdown to Christmas.

    • admin November 11, 2012, 6:21 PM

      That sounds like a fun project! 😀

      • Chris of Yoda Archives November 12, 2012, 1:58 AM

        It was fun to do last year. I also followed other people blogging their calendars. I had to wait till after I’d built my daily piece before I could visit other blogs.

        • admin November 12, 2012, 9:20 AM

          LOL! That’s funny! But yeah, you don’t want to spoil the surprize! I don’t have that kind of patience. 🙄

    • Eric at a LEGO a Day November 14, 2012, 11:10 AM

      Hmmmm. Great idea. Would be an easy way to get daily pictures in for an entire month! Might need to get the Star Wars and Friends calendars.

  • lego chronicler November 11, 2012, 9:28 PM

    I tend not to buy LEGO from the company, but more bulk parts from 3rd party sellers such as Ebay (although Ebay has not been doing very well selling bulk parts of specific colors 🙁 ).

    • admin November 12, 2012, 9:24 AM

      I also buy most of my LEGO from BrickLink and eBay because I like to build my own MOCs, but there are some LEGO sets totally worth buying – expecially when they are on sale. 🙄

      For bulk parts of specific colors I would suggest you write up a request on the BrickLink forum. The guys and gals there are very good at fulfilling wishes like that. 😉

  • Chris of Yoda Archives November 12, 2012, 1:56 AM

    Also I’d get LEGO Castle advent is it was offered this year.

    • admin November 12, 2012, 9:21 AM

      Unfortunately Castle is kind of neglected right now. I did hear some news that some castle sets may come next year, but it is so much in the rumor phase I don’t want to write about it just yet. 😉

  • NinjaNut November 12, 2012, 8:02 AM

    I like last year star wars one on amazon better than these i might it?

    • NinjaNut November 12, 2012, 8:04 AM

      whoops i might get it :s

  • KING_BOO_XDDX November 12, 2012, 9:24 AM

    Damn wheres todays and yesterdays post?

    • admin November 12, 2012, 9:30 AM

      LOL! Relax. I always post at 10 AM EST, so today’s post is scheduled and will be visible at that time. As far as yesterday, I just needed a break. Even though Sunday is TBB’s second biggest day as far as traffic, I have found that most of the regulars are not around as much. So I thought to sneak away and do some shopping. 😉

  • Blake November 12, 2012, 9:11 PM

    I found the Lego Friends Advent calendar in a local toy store for my daughter. Not sure how they got them if only Lego Stores can sell them.

    • admin November 13, 2012, 9:09 AM

      Blake, not sure about that either. Maybe some secret connections? 🙄

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