Welcome back!

It’s the most wonderous time of the year! It’s Lego Advent Calendar time!

Sound the trumpets and gong the gongs! We have 24 days of surprises and suspense!

If this is your first time reading these blogs, go straight to hell where you belong!

Or, catch up right here:

Year One
Year Two
Year Three – The most terrible year. Still angry.
Year Four
Year Five

This is the sixth year of these blogs and it’s still one of the highlights of the entire holiday season for me. Though I know there will be days of disappointment, and days of anger, there will also be days of joy and every day will have a Lego thing!

This year, I went with the Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar. The reasons are many:

First, the City Calendar this year looked like another retread of the cops-n-robbers motif. I’ve been down that road too many times. I love the Lego City stuff, but I hope next year’s City calendar is about more than just a burglary or fire. Why not theme centered on Santa’s workshop? With a Mrs. Claus!? Come on Lego. Do better in 2016.

Second, Star Wars is amazing and this season everything is Star Wars! I’m excited for the new movie. I’ll probably write thousands of words on that later in this blog. Just know that I’m a Star Wars fan.

And third, the Lego Friends Advent Calendar hurts.

There was talk of opening a different Advent Calendar. Playmobil has a few that seem cool, and it’s something I may explore in the future when I’m wealthy enough from my magic pencil empire to buy two toy calendars.

So, Star Wars it is!

As always, my amazing girlfriend was kind enough to wrap the calendar up and tape paper over some of the spoilers on the box. Lego ruins everything by showing way too much on the box art. I would pay $10 more for a plain cardboard box. I try my very best to avoid Lego Advent Calendar spoilers. Says so on my résumé.

And this is what the playmat looks like. It’s dirt or sand. The mind races with what will pop out of the calendar to fill this landscape!

And so, with trembling hands and the sound of Christmas music in the background, I open the first door to find… Continue reading →

Welcome back!!! This is the 5th anniversary of “Blogging the Lego Advent Calendar” and it’s a time to celebrate, reflect, and bruise fingertips as I try to disconnect misplaced mini Lego pieces. I love the Lego calendar more than all other holiday traditions. The concept is this: Every day until Christmas, you open a cardboard door and behold the Lego thing dwelling inside.

If this is your first time reading this, here’s a handy guide to the previous Lego calendar openings.

Year One – This was a glorious time during which a werewolf was given a jetpack and Santa bathed. This calendar was, and will always be, my favorite.

Year Two – A nice assortment of pieces. Some were ho-hum, some were ho-okay, and some were ho-yay.

Year Three – A month spent eating rusty staples would have been a better experience. If you want to see true anger (and an expletive) relive the horror of the Lego Friends Advent Calendar.

Year Four – Wonderful! Last year’s calendar was a fantastic surprise. Nearly every day was great, and then an astronaut showed up and I cried. This was Christmas Joy in the form of plastic bricks.

Which brings us to…

The Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar!!!!

For the fifth anniversary of my first opening, I’m changing things up. Lego puts out three advent calendars in America: The traditional Lego City calendar (which I’ve opened 3 times), the Lego Friends calendar (which is worse than a mouthful of spiders), and the Star Wars calendar.

Last month I briefly looked at the box of the City calendar (you should NEVER look at the box, as there are too many secrets revealed, but I’m a pro so I know exactly when to avert my eyes). The box looked like a retread of previous Lego calendars. More cops? More robbers? Eh…I’m tired of Lego assuming the holidays are associated with crime and punishment.

That left two options, and since I’ll never open a Lego Friends calendar again, I went with the Star Wars calendar.

This means my chance of getting a Lego Mrs. Claus has dwindled to 3%. I can still hope, but I’ve seen the Star Wars movies and I don’t remember Mrs. Claus ever showing up — unless she’s hiding in the back of Jaba’s palace. Hmm.

On the plus side, this means no more Lego cops and burglars which means I can avoid making any broad statement on current social issues surrounding law enforcement.

I was told on Facebook that Lego Mrs. Claus does exist, but only in a $70 Lego Set. As much as I’d like a Mrs. Claus, I can’t justify spending over half-a-hundred dollars for her.

To ensure it will be as much a surprise as possible, my amazing girlfriend once again wrapped the box up to hide the front and back cover. She also placed a bit of wrapping paper over one of the doors because she said it revealed something “cool.” I appreciate that.

And what lies behind the first door??

Continue reading →