2019 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 24
Welcome to Day 24, the last day of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ve revealed the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team.
If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. What will we score for the final Day 24?
For Day 24, we have a Hedwig and a chest of goodies from Harry Potter and a Santa Porg from Star Wars.
Dave: It seems fitting that after an entire month of exclusive parts and minifigures, we end the first ever LEGO Harry Potter advent calendar with another spectacular new print, Harry’s acceptance letter to Hogwarts. While I might have expected a Santa version of a well-known character (Santa Voldemort anyone?), receiving that letter feels like a personal invitation to continue the magic of the Wizarding World, building on what we received for the entire advent and exploring the other Harry Potter sets LEGO has to offer. With the addition of Hedwig, a chest, a schoolbook, a wand and a bar of chocolate make for a delightful last day.
For Star Wars, we have a Santa Porg. This carries on the tradition of a Santa or Christmas version of a character or creature included for the last day, and again helps this entire advent have a bit more holiday cheer. It certainly doesn’t feel as exclusive as Darth Santa, Santa Maul, or Santa Yoda and instead follows the pattern of slapping a Santa hat on a brick built character like the snowboarding BB-8 from two years ago. The real exclusive here is the red 1×1 Travis brick, which is surprisingly the first time it has ever been available in a set. I just need a few hundred more of them now…
Lino: “It’s our own fault that we’re so delicious.”
Benjamin: “Yer a wizard, Porgy!”
Chris: That printed Hogwarts letter is one of the cooler printed tiles I’ve seen in a while. The Porg is just pandering, though.
Edwinder: I’d love to see a Porg added to the Harry Potter list of pets. Perhaps we could call it the Chewy Porg.
Chuck: I feel like the Harry Potter build is a lovely collection of parts but maybe a bit of a letdown for the final day. And Santa Porg looks so sad!
Continuing with Day 24, we have an icy snowflake from Friends and a Santa from City.
Dave: That snowflake is so simple, yet so effective. It is a fitting end for the calendar, and evokes memories of the snowflake ornament from last year’s Friends advent (though I personally like this one better). Interestingly, it is comprised of two parts intended for LEGO themes that have fallen by the wayside. The center snowflake element originated with the Belville line, and the six crystals around the outside were introduced in the Legends of Chima line. It goes to show that LEGO themes can live on through some nice parts usage (NPU).
For City, we have the man in red himself, Santa. This year he carries a sack he can actually fit presets in rather than the singular molded sack element provided in years past. I do like the change, but wish the bag came in something other than dark tan since it has only ever been available in that color. His torso has printing on the back of a candy cane tucked into his belt (a torso only ever included in the last three years of City Advent calendars) which makes this even more special than the simplified version appearing in many LEGO Store Build-a-Minifigure bars. That said, nothing screams “Christmas is here” more than Santa arriving with a big bag of presents!
Lino: This marks the 38th anniversary of me not getting giant snowflake throwing stars for Christmas.
Benjamin: “Christmas almost didn’t happen this year, but thankfully Elsa brought some snow for the North Pole.”
Chris: Hmm, the snowflake is simple… but I’ll allow it. I like it.
Edwinder: Blimey, I like that snowflake!
Chuck: Can’t blame City for finishing with the classic. And I’m glad Friends didn’t feel the need to shoehorn a white clip hanger onto that snowflake.
Instead of creative mash-ups today, we are going to do several comparisons between the LEGO calendars in a few different categories.
Dave: City wins for the best Santa… because it is Santa! Santa Porg from Star Wars comes in second with the Friends robot Santa coming in third. Hopefully Harry Potter will have an entry in this comparison next year with a playful take on Father Christmas.
Lino: “If the cops ask just tell them you’re my friends from work.”
Benjamin: So three Santas walk into a bar…
Chris: The year Santa brought a broken lightsaber, a lump of coal, and an old lunchbox.
Edwinder: Santa’s elves took a break this year, all he’s got help from are Porgs and droids.
Chuck: If they do the Harry Potter advent calendar again, I think we need a grassroots movement to give us Santa Dobby.
Dave: LEGO snowmen have always been a mixed bag. All things considering, these are not the worst I have seen coming from an advent. The scarves and hats go a long way to making these feel decent, though I hope at least one of next year’s snowman has a red long scarf and the printed snowman head LEGO already makes).
Lino: I know this is difficult but I need you to identify the snowman that robbed you. Take all the time you need.
Benjamin: The middle snow-demon-fish can make eye contact with both of the other ones simultaneously.
Chris: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: LEGO sucks at making good snowmen.
Edwinder: Do you want to build a snowman? (Yeah, I just put that earworm into your head now… I hope it sticks!)
Chuck: So we’ve got little brother (from Harry Potter), big brother (from City) and Cthulhu brother (from Friends).
Matt: Kill it with fire before it absorbs the other two!
Dave: When it comes to Christmas trees, Harry Potter wins hands-down. It gave us not one but THREE snowy trees, the tallest one of which is perhaps the best Christmas tree ever included in a LEGO advent calendar to date.
Lino: Nobody here but us trees!
Benjamin: Why did we have to look at this picture? It points out just how awful the City tree is again.
Chris: I’m pretty sure this is what Elon Musk’s spacesport looks like right now.
Chuck: Ah! The City tree is actually a microscale build of his spaceport disguised as a giant sequoia, with a golden spaceship right there on the top!
Matt: You can definitely tell which tree Charlie Brown would get.
It is time for 2019 class photos! Everyone smile as we look at the minifigures included in each individual LEGO advent in all of their collective glory.
Dave: Last year’s Friends advent was a spectacular change of pace providing rather large ornaments instead of mini-doll accessories and builds. This year it seems the designers tried to thread the needle by giving us ornaments AND a mini-doll as well as a few other friends adding a bit of play value. I think it was a wise choice, even if the ornament builds had to be a bit smaller because of it.
Lino:“I’m just glad we don’t have to look at the other passengers in coach!”
Benjamin: “We are here to overthrow your world, pitiful little Friend!”
Chris: Still looks like an Elton John concert circa 2040.
Chuck: All I can say about this is that I would like a minifigure torso with that sweater printing. And the boot lace print is lovely.
Dave: The City advent didn’t have the best mini-builds this year (though the curling set was fantastic!) but it really stood out in the minifigure department. A full third of the calendar was minifigures that felt special and didn’t reuse the tired winter torsos we’ve seen over and over again in the City theme. The newer colors, printing and elements made all the difference and saved the 2019 LEGO City advent from being forgettable.
Lino: Christmas caroling in the modern era: All together now! “Dontcha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?”
Benjamin: “Uncle Bob, get that dog out of the family picture, please.”
Chris: City minifigures aren’t really my thing, but this is a good cast.
Edwinder: I gotta agree with Chris on this one, the group photo looks like a happy family portrait.
Matt: Seeing this portrait causes me great pain because it reminds me of how I lost the female minifig on the left between two massive pieces of office furniture.
Dave: For Star Wars, I feel like this is a pretty decent line-up of minifigures. Honestly, this advent could be considered one of the most random LEGO Star Wars battle packs ever with all those unnamed crew members, pilots, troopers and droids. The exclusive older Luke and the Santa Porg stand out as the best of the bunch, though I’ll admit my favorite aspect of the Star Wars advent are the mini-builds which did not disappoint this year.
Lino: Whether you be a Jedi, a Wookiee, with the Rebel Alliance, the Empire or Separatists, we can all agree that Porgs are delicious!
Benjamin: No wonder Porgs are always frowning.
Chris: It doubtful many Star Wars fans need another Chewie, but other than this is a solid, if uninspired, lineup.
Chuck: Gotta have Chewie eating Porg meat to explain why Santa is so sad.
Matt: Despite all the hate, the Porg is probably the best figure in the set. It’s body consists of the 1×1 brick with studs on all sides in red — the first time this color has ever been used for the part in a commercially available set. Merry Porgmas!
Dave: We round out the 2019 class photos with the newest kids on the block from the LEGO Harry Potter advent calendar. When word first broke that there would be an advent from the Wizarding World, I was excited and hoped they would really do it justice. Turns out I didn’t have to worry because this advent is in my opinion by far, hands down, the best LEGO advent calendar of the year and perhaps the past few years combined. Five exclusive minifigures. Dozens of new prints and parts. Creative and ingenious mini-builds. But best of all it had a cohesive feel from beginning to end, making the entire advent feel like a single set opened day by day rather than a collection of 24 somewhat related polybags. I sincerely hope Harry Potter returns to the LEGO advent collection again next year!
Lino: Professor Dumbledore, you blinked, let’s take that shot again.
Benjamin: Why isn’t this picture moving?
Chris: The Harry Potter calendar wins this year’s minifigure roundup by a good margin. These figures are great.
Chuck: I wish McGonagall had a robe leg piece, but yeah, this is a great assortment.
Dave: I counted 185 extra pieces from all four LEGO advent calendars combined. That’ll keep me sorting until the next batch of advent calendars arrives next year!
Lino: In 2020 the advent calendar is going to go super-micro scale.
Benjamin: The black hole is just beginning to swallow up the colors.
Chris: That’s a 1×1 bonanza! But look at all those extra wands.
Chuck: The scarf is an interesting (and nice!) one to get a double of.
Dave: The majority of the Friends advent calendar builds were intended as ornaments, so here they are hung on a lit Christmas tree. We’ve analyzed them against the City, Star Wars and Harry Potter advent builds, but they obviously work best as a collective whole for their intended purpose as holiday arboreal decorations. Whereas last year’s Friends advent went all-in with bigger ornaments, this year took a slightly more conservative approach providing a mini-doll and smaller ornaments (more accurately, things with a handle that could be hung). I believe this year’s approach offered a bit more play value to kids who may not have hung them on a tree, but I enjoyed the Friends ornaments-angle for the second year.
Well, there you have it everyone, our 2019 LEGO Advent Calendar countdown has come to a close. We hope you’ve had as much fun with our side-by-side comparisons and mash-up hijinks as we did making them for you. Join us again next year for more advent calendar fun, but until then have yourselves a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at The Brothers Brick!
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