Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar: Day 1!!!

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

Lego Advent Calendar: Day 23

It’s Christmas Eve Eve! Today is the perfect day to read my short story, What If Nothing Happens This Christmas.

There are only 2 items left in this calendar. One of them is Santa. Santa will pop out of the calendar tomorrow. That’s a sure thing.

As such, if I’m going to get a Mrs. Claus in this calendar, today is the day.

Will she appear? (Hint: No.)

Today’s item is… Continue reading

Lego Advent Calendar: Day 21

Happy Winter! It’s the first day of Winter, which is strange because in Eastern Pennsylvania, we’ve already had three snow storms this month, and today it’s going to be 60-degrees. Calling this Winter is like calling a bald guy “Curly” or calling live-action fairy tale remakes “good.”

Today’s item is great. Of course it is. This entire calendar is great! Continue reading

Lego Advent Calendar: Day 20

I make a Christmas card every year and send it out to the people who are lucky. Last year’s card, pictured below, looks like the poster for the new Joaquin Phoenix movie called Her. If Joaquin (which I pronounce as Jokin’) had a full beard and was sans shirt, I might take legal action.

Here’s a picture of the card…

And here’s the inside…

This year’s card is more of a think-piece. I’ll share it with you at another time.

Let’s rip open day 20 of the calendar! Continue reading

Lego Advent Calendar: Day 18

By this time next week, the Lego Calendar will be empty. That’s sad. I am genuinely sad about it.

I’m surprised at how fantastic this year’s calendar has been. From Mickey “Two Mugs” to the Omega Trophy, nearly everything has been great. If I got a Mrs. Claus at this point, I might just burst into pure Christmas energy.

But before I send a flowery letter of thanks to the Lego Headquarters, let’s see what the remainder of the calendar offers. Today’s item is… Continue reading

Lego Advent Calendar: Day 17

I wrote a short story about Santa Claus called What If Nothing Happens This Christmas. You can read and/or download it here!

The story was originally much shorter, and darker. In the original version, the story contained only the first section and ended with Santa missing Christmas because he was too afraid of what was out there.

That all changed this summer when I began making a list of possible enemies for Santa. Writing long lists is one of my many hobbies, so the end result was a list of over 100 possible enemies. I’ve included some in the final version of the story. The other’s I’m saving.

I love how the story turned out. The tone of the story changed significantly when I added a certain snowman to the mix. Everything became happier.

I hope you like the story. I had a blast writing it, in case you couldn’t tell. Let me know what you think.

Now let’s Lego!

Today’s item is… Continue reading

Lego Advent Calendar: Day 16

It snowed this weekend, so my girlfriend and I built a snowman. It has been approximately 15-20 years since I last built a snowman, but the muscle memory never forgets. Brett is an authentic snow person, with real coal eyes, mouth, and buttons. We didn’t have a carrot, because carrots are gross, so his nose is a stick. He also doesn’t have a scarf or hat, because the neighborhood kids will steal them. He doesn’t have a pipe because Brett is not a victim of peer pressure.

I sure hope Brett never, ever dies! He’ll live forever, right?

Today’s Lego item shines some light on yesterday’s mystery object, but not much light. It’s like a tiny light on your computer that you only notice when it’s dark in your room.

Today’s item is… Continue reading