Hello again and welcome to the 2017 version of the Jay’s Brick Blog Star Wars Advent Calendar countdown! It’s been a tradition since 2014 to do a daily countdown of the LEGO Star Wars Advent calendar and it’s one of the things I look forward to every year!
NOTE:2018 Star Wars Advent Calendar Click the link if you’re looking for the !
If you’d like to check out previous Star Wars Advent calendars, here are the links to 2014, 2015 and 2016!
For those that are new, I will be counting down the 2017 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar on this post, with new updates posted every day with the contents of each window. I usually try to post in the morning but if it gets crazy busy at work, the daily updates might come in the evening but I’ll endeavour to post in the morning each day!
I’m opening each window up as I go, and have (mostly) been able to stay spoiler-free so this is hopefully as exciting for you as it is for me!
Do note that I’m based in Melbourne, Australia, so we’re ahead of most of the world (except New Zealand) so to avoid spoilers, try to come back to this post after you’ve opened your window and built the daily model.
PS: If you’re planning to buy any LEGO for Christmas and would like to support the blog, please use these links if you’re shopping on Amazon or LEGO.com! Thanks in advance!
Here’s a look at the 2017 Star Wars Advent Calendar box alongside my tiny Christmas tree. As usual, and this is something that really peeves me off, there are tons of spoilers of the builds – almost half the calendar spoiled on the box! Which I think kinda defeats the purpose of an Advent Calendar.
LEGO, please. Next year, just have generic illustrations or at least make it slightly more mysterious.
As you can see, this year is going to be heavy on the Sequel Trilogy, with plenty of characters and models from The Force Awakens, headlined by BB-8.
To make it easier for you to check out each day’s section, as this post is going to grow longer with every new window, all you have to do is click on the Day you want, and you will instantly jump to the corresponding section.
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Day 1 – The Ghost
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Day 2 – Sabine Wren
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Day 3 – The Phantom
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Day 4 – Blaster Cannon
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Day 5 – Taslin Brance
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Day 6 – First Order Transporter
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Day 7 – First Order Stormtrooper
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Day 8 – Weapon Rack
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Day 9 – Rey’s Speeder
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Day 10 – Unkar’s Thug
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Day 11 – Luggabeast
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Day 12 – Millennium Falcon
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Day 13 – First Order Snowspeeder
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Day 14 – First Order Snowtrooper
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Day 15 – Snow Machine (or Blower)
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Day 16 – Krennic’s Shuttle
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Day 17 – Imperial Officer
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Day 18 – Y-Wing Starfighter
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Day 19 – TIE Striker
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Day 20 – Imperial Assault Hovertank
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Day 21 – Imperial Ground Crew
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Day 22 -AT-ST
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Day 23 – Sled with Presents
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Day 24 – Santa BB-8
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Final Thoughts
If you want to follow my countdown, it’s best to bookmark this post to check back each day. You can also find a link to this post from the home page via this link in the top navbar. If you’re on mobile, you have to expand the burger menu (the button with the 3 lines) to find it.
You can also follow the Jay’s Brick Blog Facebook page, where I’ll be updating it daily at the end of the day to avoid accidentally spoiling people!
Like previous years, the front flap can be folded out to create a nice little playmat where you can arrange each of the day’s build under a backdrop of Starkiller Base and Jakku.
If you’re new to Advent Calendars, be very, very careful when opening each door. They’re made of cardboard and can easily tear if you force them open too strongly.
The instructions for the Star Wars Advent Calendar LEGO models are printed on each door. Some of them are easy to follow, but sometimes they can be pretty tricky and you’ll have to study the diagram quite hard to ensure that you’re building the models correctly.
The instructions for the Star Wars Advent Calendar LEGO models are printed on each door. They’re fairly easy to follow as most builds are only made up of a small number of pieces.
Without further ado, let’s kick off the 2017LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar!
Day 1
Day 1 of the 2017 Star Wars Advent Calendar was a big surprise, with The Ghost from Star Wars Rebels! Star Wars Rebels is an animated TV cartoon series set in between Revenge of the Sith and a New Hope. It’s not as well known as the movies, but it has a pretty decent following, especially amongst hardcore Star Wars fans, or younger fans that enjoy the cartoons.
There have been a few LEGO sets from this era, but like the TV cartoon, I don’t really follow them and have much interest in it – something that I expect most traditional Star Wars fans can relate too.
The Ghost is the flagship vehicle used by the good guys in Star Wars rebels, and is one of the most recognisable elements from the cartoon. It was also turned into a LEGO set in 2014 which some of you may own.
The micro model is a fairly faithful adaption of The Ghost with its signature colours, teal, yellow and red captured fairly well, as well as the transparent cockpit on the nose of the ship. I do like the thrusters behind, which make excellent use of the plate with ring.
Overall, it’s a good model, but as I’m not really familiar with Star Wars Rebels, the model didn’t really do it for me.
As with previous Star Wars Advent Calendars, we usually get several subsequent models from within the same movie or era, so it looks like we’ll have a few days of Star Wars Rebels builds. Check in tomorrow to see what Day 2 reveals!
Day 2
On Day 2, as predicted, it’s Star Wars Rebels-themed with a Sabine Wren minifigure! Sabine is one of the main characters in Rebels, and perhaps one of the most bad-ass ones, given her Mandalorian heritage – yes, she comes from the same planet as Boba Fett.
This version of Sabine Wren is from Season 2, and features her green, turquoise and green gradient hairstyle (she recolours her hair each season). As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t own any Star Wars Rebels sets, so I’m pretty happy to get her in the Advent Calendar. Her hairpiece is just wild and a great addition to my collection.
This version of Sabine is also fairly rare, having only appeared in one set previously, 75150 Vader’s TIE Advanced vs. A-Wing Starfighter. Fun fact, this set was never sold at Australian retail stores so it’s an extra bonus that she’s included in the Advent Calendar.
Prior to her inclusion, she used to be a pricey minifigure, averaging around $15-$20 on Bricklink, so hey, well done LEGO!
Sabine’s minifigure herself sports some remarkable details, with really intricate torso and leg printing that does a great job of mirroring the cartoon version.
Sabine also has a dual-sided face with an angry expression, as well as back printing which is always a welcome sight. She comes with a blaster. Kinda wish they included an extra blaster as Sabine is known to dual-wield blasters as you can see in the promotional image above.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with Day 2 despite my relative unfamiliarity with Star Wars Rebels. Sabine’s a cool character and it’s a unique enough minifigure that would delight most Star Wars fans, especially those that didn’t own 75150.
So that’s Day 2 so far! Wonder if the Star Wars Rebels theme will continue tomorrow. Check in again tomorrow to see what Day 3 reveals!
Day 3
Day 3 brings us yet another Rebels mainstay with the Phantom a small starfighter that’s piloted by the crew of The Ghost from Day 1. The shape is instantly recognizable, mostly thanks to the yellow plate in the middle, and the sloping wings.
Like the Ghost, it was also released as a LEGO set in 2014. There is a newer version of the Phantom currently available but it has a slightly different design and colour scheme.
Here’s a look at the Phantom from the side. Unlike Day 1’s Ghost, the shape doesn’t translate as perfectly as The Phantom kind of suffers from being too blocky. It’s a small ship, so it was probably a big challenging getting the model right at this scale.
The plate on top of the ship also looks a bit too blocky, and I think would’ve benefited if it was swapped out with a white tile instead.
For reference, this is what the Phantom looks like in the cartoons. At first, I was a little confused if the clip was supposed to jut out just like the photo above, but it felt a bit weird and the instructions does suggest that it should be tucked in beneath the cockpit.
Fun fact, the Phantom actually docks into The Ghost!
Here are the spares from Day 3. Always nice to get transparent grey cheese slopes and tiles.
So yeah, that’s Day 3 so far. A bit weak compared to the first 2 days but still relatively decent. From the comments and discussions I’ve been having, it seems like fans are pretty split on the Rebels models so far, with fans of the cartoon obviously elated but everyone else seemingly confused by the characters and ships.
Will Day 4 still see us in Star Wars Rebels territory or will we jump to a different setting? Let me know in the comments what the reception to the Rebels ships have been in your household so far!
Day 4
Every year, there are a few stinkers in the Advent Calendar and this year, it looks like Day 4 is one of those unmemorable builds. Day 4 gives us a pretty generic-looking Blaster Cannon. Mounted on a stand (quadpod since it has 4 legs?), the build is an attractive if otherwise unremarkable one.
Utilising a blaster with a clip and a long technic pin to extend the barrel, the Blaster Cannon employs some clever tricks to make the design work. It’s just a little boring and doesn’t really reference a particular movie, tv show or era.
So yeah, Sabine has a weapon to play around with, but she does seem pretty lonely! Hope we get another minifig in tomorrow’s window to make up for the slightly boring model in Day 4!
Day 5
For those of you who have been itching to move on from Rebels, your wish is granted on Day 5! Day 5 contains an exceptionally minor character from The Force Awakens, Taslin Brance a Major in the Resistance from the movie.
He’s really obscure and it took me quite a bit of time to piece his identity together as I had earlier assumed that we were still in the Star Wars Rebels era, but his uniform gave him away. Taslin had a small role in the movie, only uttering one line “A laser cannon?”.
I’ve given him the nickname “Star Wars Chris Pratt” as he uses the trademark “Chris Pratt head”, which we’ve seen in both Jurassic World sets and Guardians of the Galaxy. This marks Taslin’s first appearance as a LEGO minifigure, which is good news for collectors of obscure characters but bad news for those that aren’t hardcore Star Wars nerds.
The minifigure is decent, we get some nice printing on the front and back of his torso. The front contains an insignia which bears the rank of Major. He also has a dual-sided face with a slightly angrier look.
Taslin comes with a gunmetal grey blaster rifle, which is a pretty cool variant from the usual black blasters.
So yeah, that’s Day 5! This marks our foray into The Force Awakens builds which is neat as I had expected us to have Rogue One builds, but I’m not complaining! A change of scene is always a good thing.
It would’ve been nice if we had gotten a slightly more recognizable character, but as he’s thus far exclusive to the advent calendar, I’m not going to complain much!
Check in tomorrow to see what Day 6 brings!
Day 6
Sorry today’s entry is a little late! Had a pretty busy day at work. Day 6 of the SW Advent Calendar is a cracker of a build and one of the best yet – we get a First Order Transporter or Atmospheric Assault Lander which featured in The Force Awakens.
The Transporter is a mix of a hovercraft, armoured personal carrier and tank. It was also a LEGO set from the first wave of The Force Awakens sets.
I think the micro model, which is the largest model (by piece-count) so far mimics the original vehicle exceptionally well. I really like how well they shrunk down the details such as the top “cockpit section” and back thrusters.
Overall, I’m really happy with Day 6’s build – it looks fantastic and certainly benefits from being a lot larger than typical Advent Calendar models. The designers did a really great job capturing the overall shape of the First Order Transporter, and while it might not have the most memorable parts in the films (apart from unloading Stormtroopers), it makes for a pretty decent Advent Calendar model.
What will lucky day #7 bring? Check in tomorrow to find out!
Day 7
Momentum is really picking up with Day 7’s First Order Stormtrooper, arriving to beef up the ranks of the nefarious First Order.
Stormtroopers are quite possibly the best LEGO Star Wars minifigures so I can’t imagine that anyone would be unhappy with Day 7. It goes very well with yesterday’s First Order Transporter which is used to carry a whole unit of Stormtroopers.
The design is your typical First Order Stormtrooper, with the generic head and back printing. Some diversity with faces would’ve been nice, but it’s a really minor complaint.
I’ll nickname this guy Steve, and he’s got a grumpy look on his face because he found out that he’s rostered on for work during Christmas. Steve’s usually an easy-going fellow, who enjoys cocktails and warm weather days, but had to resort to terrorising the Resistance to pay the bills.
The only thing that’s truly lacking is some sort of weaponry for the Stormtrooper – which probably suggests that we have some sort of Weapons Rack coming in the next few days, if not tomorrow! He wouldn’t be a very good Stormtrooper without some sort of blaster!
So that’s Day 7 so far! A minifigure every other day is a pretty great rhythm. I just hope this keeps up for the rest of the calendar!
Day 8
As feared, Day 8 brings us the dreaded Weapons rack, a mainstay of each Star Wars Advent Calendar since the dawn of time. Weapon Racks are pretty much the most underwhelming builds each year and 2017’s version is no exception.
We get 2 clips, one which holds a blaster and a wooden crate which holds a wrench. That’s it.
We do get a blaster for Steve (the Stormtrooper from Day 7) which is nice, but it really should’ve been included with him. The wrench comes in handy if the First Order Transporter ever breaks down or falls apart?
That’s it for Day 8. Meh is the only word I can use to describe today’s window. Here’s hoping tomorrow’s window makes up for such a boring model!
Day 9
Thank the LEGO Star Wars Gods our pleas were heard. After the exceedingly disappointing Day 8 Weapon Rack, Day 9’s build gives us what is quite possibly the best model so far this year – a micro version of Rey’s Speeder!
Rey’s Speeder is quite possibly one of the most iconic vehicles from The Force Awakens that isn’t Kylo Ren’s ship and I was very happy with today’s model. The design captures the on-screen version brilliantly, from the dark red colour scheme to the overall shape of the Speeder.
Rey’s Speeder was released as a LEGO set in 2015, and I have very fond memories of building and keeping the full-sized LEGO one on display.
Rey’s Speeder looks great from all angles, and I love the attention to detail with the twin-turbojet engines on the back, and the grill piece on the base. Lastly, I love the transparent cheese slope for the windshield, which was also used in the 2015 LEGO set.
Looks like we’re back on track with the great models and I’m really encouraged by Day 9’s model and I think you will be too! It’s a Rey of sunshine after yesterday’s poor showing!
Day 10
Keeping the Jakku (sandy planet from The Force Awakens) theme going and to accompany yesterday’s excellent Rey’s Speeder, we have Unkar’s Thug, one of the brutish henchmen that give Rey and Finn trouble in the movie.
This is the exact same minifigure as the one from 75099 Rey’s Speeder, which doesn’t detract from the great design and printing – I especially like the flecks of sand throughout his body. The pearl gold crowbar is also a pretty cool accessory to have.
Here’s a look at the back print on Unkar’s Thug. Not exactly the most festive minifigure in the context of Christmas… but it goes great with Rey’s Speeder.
Here are all the builds from the first 10 days of the 2017 Star Wars Advent Calendar! I’m really digging all the minifigures so far – 4 out of the 10 days devoted to minifigures is nothing short of brilliant, and I hope we manage to keep this pace up in the coming days!
Day 11
Day 11 is yet another fantastic build, with a micro Luggabeast, one of the new creatures introduced in The Force Awakens. The armoured beast of burden featured prominently in the movie, ridden by Teedo, who captured BB-8 before he was liberated by Rey.
I had a blast building the Luggabeast – it’s definitely the most intricate and complicated build so far. The designers have done an amazing job getting the model to look so recognizable and I particularly enjoy the blue elements and the fact that its legs & head can be swivelled back and forth – it’s quite rare for Advent Calendar models to have some degree of playability and posability.
Here’s a look at the back of the Luggabeast which lets you appreciate its form and design. It’s a bold claim, but the Luggabeast could very well qualify for best LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar build ever, if not in 2017.
I really enjoyed today’s build, as it continues the excellent run of Jakku-themed Force Awakens builds and characters! Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
Day 12
Day 12 of the 2017 Star Wars Advent Calendar is a ship that needs no further introduction – the Millennium Falcon! Quite possibly the most iconic ship in the Star Wars universe, it’s great to receive an updated Millennium Falcon in the advent calendar (the last one was from 2015) and it’s safe to say that I’m a fan of this design.
The colours are clean – I love the uniform grey bricks and the use of the transparent cone for the cockpit. The dark grey cheese slope that’s meant to be the radar dish does look a little out of place given that it’s quite disproportionately large.
I also love the transparent 2×1 plate on the back! The use of the 1×1 round tile on the sides is also quite pleasing to the eye, accurately reflecting the details of the full-sized Millennium Falcon.
Day 12 continues the strong run of models and it’s hard to be disappointed with the Millennium Falcon. We’re officially at the halfway point of this year’s calendar and with 5 consecutive Force Awakens models, I do wonder if tomorrow’s window will stay in the same setting, or if we get to explore other movies.
Check in tomorrow to find out!
Day 13
Day 13 was a head-scratcher for me. When I built the model this morning, I was pretty perplexed – what could this oddly shaped mess of grey elements be? My first assumption was some sort of snow sled, but it didn’t seem festive and all. It then clicked that this was a First Order Snowspeeder.
A what? You may remember this (now retired) LEGO set from the first wave of The Force Awakens sets. Don’t remember seeing it in the movie? It’s not you. Footage of the vehicle was cut from the theatrical release and was only made available on the DVD versions via deleted scenes.
It’s a really oddly shaped and uninspiring build. The shape kinda matches up to the LEGO model but it’s really hard to tell. I can’t blame the designers, the original vehicle isn’t exactly the most distinctive or eye-catching hunk of metal.
We get a black hose element which is a decent consolation?
A pretty meh day for me, which is kind of a letdown after such a strong past few days. Call it a hunch, but I think we’ll probably get a First Order Snowtrooper tomorrow to go along with this vehicle. And no, that’s not really a spoiler since the Snowtrooper is featured on the cover of the advent calendar!
Day 14
As expected, Day 14 brings us a First Order Snowtrooper to go with yesterday’s shabby Snowspeeder. I don’t own this particular minifigure, which is an evolved version of the classic Snowtrooper so I’m pretty happy with the contents of today’s window.
The Snowtrooper has detailed printing across his body and comes with the new design helmet which I don’t really like – I far prefer the simple design of the original. I don’t know why, but the helmet reminds me of an upside down snail.
Here’s a look at the Snowtrooper without his helmet and back printing.
Kinda disappointing that we get the exact same face as Day 7’s Stormtrooper – some extra diversity would’ve been very much welcomed, especially since First Order soldiers are conscripted and come from a variety of different backgrounds.
The unofficial story I’m going with is that Steve has finally met his long-lost twin, Stephen. Unlike Steve, Stephen is a workaholic and was lucky enough to not be on Starkiller Base when the Resistance massacred an entire planet’s worth of First Order Snowtroopers. Stephen lost a lot of good friends that day and naturally isn’t a big fan of the Resistance, who has a kill-count that far outnumbers that of the First Order.
So that’s it for Day 14 so far! I’m really excited that I’m seeing The Last Jedi tonight – hope you guys get to catch it soon! I’ve heard that its sensational!
Day 15
Day 15 lightens up the mood a little with a fun, seasonal non-Star Wars build – a charming red snow machine! I kinda like the light-hearted build, it’s very well designed and introduces some more colour into what has been a very grey and white affair.
I do have to say that this was one of the trickiest builds yet as the intructions on the door weren’t too clear as you couldn’t really see one side of it. I’ve included photos of the Snow Machine from both sides so you can see how it’s done and where the red wedge plate goes. It might be especially tricky for younger builders.
I love the shape of it, especially the small bit of snow that’s emerging out of the front, and a chimney/spout that spits out snow to the side. My favourite bit of detail is the small black wheels on each side.
The Snow Machine also has handlebars, which allows yesterday’s First Order Snowtrooper to hold on and push it along. It’s really cute and I’m glad we get a model that injects a bit of fun into the Advent Calendar. That’s it for Day 15!
Day 16
I take it back, Day 15 isn’t the toughest build yet, it’s Day 16 which is Krennic’s Shuttle, which signals we’ve left The Force Awakens for Rogue One! Not to be confused with Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle which has a similar shape, Krennic’s Shuttle featured prominently in Rogue One, ferrying Krennic around the galaxy.
Like many other Advent Calendar builds, Krennic’s Shuttle was also released as a full-sized LEGO set last year.
I think the design of the ship does its job well – it captures the slightly blockier body of the ship and wings well. I also really like the clever use of the flag piece attached to a hose nozzle for the ship’s top fin.
I do think more could’ve been done to make the instructions clearer. I suspect most people and younger kids will have trouble making sense of how to build the ship’s wings, so I’ve illustrated it above. Like some of you pointed out in the comments, the black elements are really hard to make out on the flap.
It was also almost impossible to visually know that the light grey clip is attached to the black double cheese slope. Follow the photo above and mirror it for the other end (which is also obscured by the ship’s body in the instructions) and you should have no problem piecing Krennic’s Shuttle together.
Here’s the back of Krennic’s Shuttle. As you can see, the wings can be swivelled, but unfortunately, the angle is quite limited and they can be put in an upwards/landing position like how the set/ship is commonly depicted.
The model is also quite hard to display on its own, as it doesn’t balance on its wings well. I had to create a makeshift stand.
I’m pretty happy with Krennic’s Shuttle – the design could be improved but for what it is, it works for the most part. I’m more excited that we’re now about to explore the ships and characters of Rogue One, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what the next few days bring!
Day 17
Is it me or is this year’s calendar full of bad guys? Day 17 brings us a pretty neat exclusive minifigure, an Imperial Officer from Rogue One. As far as I know, the minifigure is exclusive to this set as his torso hasn’t been seen in any LEGO Star Wars set prior to the Advent Calendar.
The Imperial Officer is outfitted in your standard grey uniform and judging from his Rank Insignia, is quite a senior officer. He has a grumpy face with large sideburns and your typical Imperial hat. His face is also quite rare, having only previously appeared in the new UCS Death Star and the now-retired Imperial Star Destroyer.
Here’s a look at the details on the back of his torso which has some fabric creases and belt printed on. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any back printing.
The best part of Day 17’s Imperial Officer is the new weapon he comes with, we get our first small blaster pistol with him so our arsenal of blasters included so far is quite varied.
That’s it for Day 17 so far. For hardcore Star Wars fans, an exclusive Imperial Officer is a great addition to anyone’s collection, but for everyone else, I doubt it has the same appeal as a named character. That said, more bad guys aren’t necessarily a bad thing, as it means more targets for Sabine and Taslin to take out!
Day 18
Less than a week to go before the big finale of this year’s Advent Calendar and Day 18 delivers one of the the best builds of 2017 (so far) with this exceptional Y-Wing Starfighter! Bit of trivia about me, Y-Wings are my favourite Star Wars starfighters, and I especially enjoyed Anakin’s feats in the cockpit in the Clone Wars TV series.
Commonly used as assault bombers, Y-wings featured prominently in Rogue One in the Battle of Scarif, with Gold Squadron going on a superb bombing run, taking out the shield gate, and a Star Destroyer in the process.
I cannot state how much I love the design of this Y-Wing which is a massive improvement over the 2014 Advent Calendar version. The use of technic bushes with the grey antenna to create the Y-Wing’s Ion Engines and pylons (the two elongated bits at the back) is nothing short of superb.
The shape and proportions are near-perfect, with the only small flaw being the brown grill tile being used – personally, I think grey would’ve been a lot subtler.
Day 18’s Y-Wing build is so good, I really only had to take one photo to visually communicate how great it looks as a model. This just overtook Rey’s Speeder as my favourite build so far.
Day 18 is done and dusted so far! We’re in the final leg of the Advent Calendar journey and again, my hope has been restored and I’m genuinely looking forward to see what tomorrow brings!
Day 19
Only 5 more days to go! I can’t believe December has gone by so quickly. We’re at Day 19 of the 2017 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar, and like Day 18, it doesn’t disappoint as well.
We get a TIE Striker, the sleek atmospheric variant of a TIE Fighter from Rogue One. The remixed TIE Fighter sports a sharper, more angular and aerodynamic profile than its blocky cousin. I really love the design of the TIE Striker, the designers have yet again brought their A-game and shrunk down the fighter to micro-level without losing any of its distinctive features.
Like yesterday’s Y-Wing Starfighter, the TIE Striker was also part of the Rogue One wave of LEGO Star Wars sets that came out last year alongside the movie. Speaking of which, I need to add the Y-Wing from Rogue One to my LEGO collection.
It’s instantly recognizable if you’ve watched Rogue One and I really like the ingenious technique used for its angled wings. Here’s how it looks from the back. I really love the use of the grey “gold bar” element to smooth our the top of the TIE Striker.
If there’s one flaw, it’s that the instructions were yet again quite unclear. I don’t know why LEGO doesn’t invest or make the diagrams more legible, as I can imagine younger kids (and even some adults) might struggle with it.
In the photo above, I’ve highlighted how to affix the wings to the body, which I hope helps!
That’s it for Day 19! Made a fun little scene with some green lightsaber parts from my collection for this “chase scene”, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t come across any of these parts in your advent calendars. Speaking of lightsabers… Where are the Jedis in this Advent Calendar? ?
Day 20
We’re approaching the grand finale of this year’s Advent Calendar, and Day 20 brings us an Imperial Assault Hovertank, a vehicle that was used in Rogue One during the Imperial occupation of the city of Jedha, where we’re first acquainted with Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus.
The Assault Hovertank is used by Imperial forces to oppress local population. The LEGO micro model is just recognizable enough thanks to its blocky shape, with its inverted slope front and prominent orange brick at the back.
Like the other Rogue One vehicles and ships featured so far, the Assault Hovertank was also released as a LEGO set which was probably the base inspiration model for the micro version.
The most fascinating part about the model is the orange “gold bar” at the back, which is a storage container of sorts. It really pops against the drab backdrop of greys and dark greys.
As a fan of curious LEGO elements, I was pretty surprised when I came across this part – I didn’t know that LEGO made these in orange, so it was very nice to get one of these!
All in all, a pretty average Day 20. Nowhere near as close as the superb builds we’ve gotten in the past few days, but it’s nice to see the Rogue One contingent growing bigger and bigger day by day. Still no Jedi or main characters apart from Sabine. I’m beginning to worry.
Hope we get a neat surprise tomorrow as there’s only 4 windows left!
Day 21
Day 21 brings us yet another minifigure, an Imperial Ground Crew, a character from Rogue One that has a much cooler appearance than his name suggests. Seriously, his name suggests that he’s just some regular schmuck that potters around the landing pads and runways on Scarif.
I am unsure if this guy is Kent Deezling, the unfortunate Ground Crew that got incapacitated and had his identity and uniform stolen by Jyn Erso to gain access to the R&D Radio Tower on Scarif in Rogue One.
I don’t own one of these, so I’m naturally quite happy to add him to my collection. The printing on his torso is superb, I really love how detailed it is, all the way down to the textures on his legs and knee pads. This dude has what is the best printing out of all the minifigures in this year’s advent calendar so far.
The highlight of this minifigure is none other than his cool helmet, which has an over-emphasised jaw section. The moulding of the helmet is brilliant, and I especially like how it gives off a medieval knight vibe in addition to looking super menacing. It’s also super glossy which makes it look extra nice.
Here’s a look at Kent’s face, which has a neutral expression and a headset printed on it. A really useful face to have if you ever want to create your very own LEGO Call Center. You can also see his back printing.
That’s Day 21 so far! While the Imperial Ground Crew is a great minifigure to own thanks to its exceptional design, I am very disappointed that it’s not a Jedi. And very worried since there’s only 3 days left in this year’s calendar and to be honest, the front of the calendar has pretty much spoiled the 3 remaining builds.
Tune in tomorrow to check out what Day 22’s build is like in more detail!
Day 22
Almost at the end now and Day 22’s window hits us with yet another strong contender for best build with the AT-ST or All Terrain Scout Transport if you ever wondered what the acronym stood for. Making a brief appearance in Rogue One, the designers once again hit a home run in terms of design.
Not only does the shape and appearance do the real thing justice, I especially enjoyed the different articulated sections – you can tilt the head upwards and angle it different, and the legs can also be adjusted. I have to also call out the ingenious use of parts for the legs which so accurately capture the AT-ST’s legs remarkably well.
The laser turret and the front of the AT-ST which makes it look like a little cyclops is also brilliant. I like how the turret can be swivelled left and right to blast Ewoks or Jedha inhabitants out of its way. The turret’s movement isn’t exactly accurate as a the “real” AT-ST’s turret toggles upwards and downwards, but any form of minor articulation on a build this small deserves praise.
Here’s a look at the back. It has quite the THICC booty from behind.
I’m really happy with Day 22’s build. I think it’s a strong challenger to the Y-Wing as the best build in the 2017 Star Wars Advent Calendar. Like the Y-Wing, I wouldn’t mind building a small fleet of these cute, chibi-esque AT-STs for a mini-Endor diorama.
That’s it for Day 22! Hope you enjoyed the AT-ST as much as I did! See you tomorrow for the second last build!
Day 23
Day 23 is our first real festive Christmas build, with a simple Sled filled with presents. It’s nothing particularly fancy, with just a few coloured blocks to signify Christmas gifts. Like the Snow Blower/Machine, there’s no tie-in to Star Wars except for maybe the engine thrusters behind which makes it look like it could travel through space.
Here’s a better look at the engine thrusters from behind. Perfect for Santa who has to deliver presents to the galaxy far, far away.
That’s it for Day 23! Only one more day to go. I can’t believe how quickly December has flown by! I’ll leave you with Steve piloting the sled with poor Stephen having to push him around.
See you tomorrow for the finale of the 2017 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar!
Day 24
Here we are, the finale of the 2017 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar with this year’s festive, holiday-themed minifigure, a Santa BB-8. To usher in Christmas, the new hotshot spherical astromech droid comes with a Santa Hat and a dark blue snowboard.
Unfortunately, the Santa Hat is attached to BB-8’s head via a red stud. Apart from that, there’s nothing new with BB-8 and is the standard one that has appeared in a bunch of Star Wars sets. The snowboard is a nice-to-have as well as it’s not the most common accessory.
To be honest, I was dreading this day as it wasn’t really a huge surprise as BB-8 featured prominently on the cover. I think existing LEGO Star Wars fans will be sorely disappointed with this year’s “exclusive” festive minifigure. For those of you that don’t own a BB-8, you’ll probably be quite happy with him but even then, I suspect that there will be some people that would’ve wanted something a bit more special.
I have to say, it’s a bit of a letdown to not have an exclusive seasonal minifigure in this advent calendar. A BB-8 with an alternate head/dome printing would’ve been superb, or even some extra printed details across his body would’ve been a big game changer.
So there we have it, all 24 models of the 2017 Star Wars Advent Calendar! It’s been one heck of a ride and I’ve mostly enjoyed this year’s calendar. While I really wished that the finale was a bit more special, that doesn’t discount some of the fantastic models that featured throughout this Advent season.
I’ve summed up some of my thoughts on the themes, and minifigures that featured in this year’s Advent Calendar below.
Final Thoughts
One of the nicer surprises of this year’s Advent Calendar was treading new ground in properties never covered in an Advent Calendar, namely Star Wars Rebels, Rogue One and The Force Awakens. While we only had 2 models from Rebels, they were both designed really well and it was nice to see LEGO spotlight the cartoon series.
The Force Awakens featured very prominently as well and we got some sensational micro-models such as the updated Millennium Falcon, the Luggabeast as well as Rey’s Speeder which was one of my favourites in this year’s calendar. The First Order vehicles were some of the weaker entrants, but that can probably be attributed to their original designs which to be honest, haven’t been particularly memorable.
We have some notable ships missing such as Poe’s X-Wing and Kylo Ren’s command shuttle but we’ll probably see those in future Star Wars Advent Calendars. Overall, I was really happy with the models from The Force Awakens, except for the terrible blob of grey parts that was the First Order Snowspeeder.
The most outstanding theme is none other than Rogue One. The designers really brought their A-game here with some of the best builds in the entire calendar. They revisited and enhanced old classics such as the AT-ST and Y-Wing, two of are at the top of my list in this year’s calendar, and introduced us to memorable ships like Krennic’s Shuttle and the TIE Striker. Even the Imperial Hovertank wasn’t too shabby.
Every year, we get a mix of miscellaneous builds. My thoughts were mixed on these – there were some really standout builds such as the Blaster Cannon and Snow blower/Machine, but some stinkers such as the dreaded return of the Weapons Rack.
Seriously LEGO, just banish Weapons Racks altogether. You raised our hopes last year with a Racks-less advent calendar, so imagine my disappointment to see them make a comeback this year. Really liked the Snow Machine – I’d like to see more of these whimsical seasonal builds in future Advent Calendars!
My thoughts are mixed on the minifigures. A lot of commenters pointed out that there was a huge imbalance in “bad guys”, which if you line them all up above is really apparent. For LEGO Star Wars fans, getting exclusives or hard to find minifigures like the Imperial Ground Crew and Imperial Officer is always a treat, as is army-builder staples such as the First Order Stormtrooper and Snowtrooper.
I really liked getting Sabine and she’s probably my favourite minifigure out of the entire lineup.
I am really disappointed that we didn’t get a single Jedi, Sith or a lightsaber in this Advent Calendar. This is like the first Star Wars Advent Calendar that didn’t include a Force-user, and a Lightsaber which is supremely disappointing to me as they pretty much embody the appeal of Star Wars.
I think there was a terrible missed opportunity here to not include a festive Krennic, or Santa Kylo Ren at the very least. They’re probably saving Santa Kylo Ren for a future Advent Calendar but that’s really no excuse to not include Rey, Finn, or even Poe especially given how big the sequel trilogy is this year with the release of The Last Jedi. Massive wasted opportunity.
The seasonal exclusive that was BB-8 was also disappointing. Slapping on a Santa Hat on BB-8 does not make him any special in any way and LEGO could’ve done so much better. In 2014’s Advent Calendar, we even got an exclusive Christmas Tree Astromech Droid IN ADDITION to a Santa Darth Vader.
Due to that, I’d probably say that this year’s calendar has been the worst one since I started writing daily posts, and I feel like LEGO really let their fans down with Santa BB-8. The seasonal Star Wars exclusive minifigure is always the biggest draw of the set and this year, they just missed the mark. I have nothing against Santa BB-8, the concept is cute but it really feels like it should’ve been in an earlier window, not the grand finale.
Which is a huge shame, because I felt like this year’s Advent Calendar had the strongest showing of micro-models. I legitimately had a really good time building all the ships and characters, and if not for BB-8, this would’ve been one of my favourite Star Wars Advent calendars yet.
LEGO, you have a lot to do next year in terms of making up for 2017.
To everyone that has been following daily, or stumbled upon the blog halfway through, I’d like to extend a very Merry Christmas! I really appreciate all the support and the hundreds of comments that you guys have left. I really enjoyed chatting with you and I was especially moved to see so many new names and returning ones from previous years.
Thanks for making it such a memorable journey through this year’s Advent Calendar! Feel free to leave your thoughts on the Advent Calendar in the comments section as I’d love to hear what you think now that we’re all finished!
If you’ve enjoyed following daily, please do stick around for my other LEGO musings and posts as we head into 2018. 2018 is going to be an important year for LEGO, after quite a disappointing 2017 so I am optimistic for what these crafty Danes have in store.
Do check out some of my other LEGO Reviews if you want some light reading material. To stay up to date with the latest posts, you can subscribe with your email address in the right sidebar to receive notifications. You can also follow my page on Facebook where I update on a much more regular basis with news about LEGO. I’m also on Instagram as @jayong28 if you like photos!
Thank you once again, and a Merry Christmas to you! Hope you get a ton of LEGO under the tree tomorrow! Happy holidays!
They should do LEGO ninjago advent calendar
Ugh, totally. That’s such a good idea, which means LEGO would probably never do it. I’ve stopped wishing for a LEGO Movie Advent Calendar.
Hey Jay hope there is a u-wing next year. Also they could do a mini version of the ach to island training and last Jedi builds next year. Thank you for blogging. Merry Christmas!
Hey Jay hope there is a u-wing next year. Also they could do a mini version of the ach to island training and last Jedi builds next year. Thank you for blogging. Merry Christmas
I’m hoping we get some Porgs in this year’s one, haha.
Thanks Jay! Have loved your blog this Christmas! Happy New Year!
You’re welcome! It was a pleasure doing it daily. Happy New Year to you too!
Thank you for thoroughly explaining all of the models. I don’t follow the cartoons and non-movie productions much, so the characters were not all that recognizable to me.
You’re very welcome!
Thanks Jay, I really enjoyed reading your blog each day, it was a huge help in identifying and building the models
I agree with your comments, the mini figures were very one-sided, and we were disappointed with the lack of Jedi
It’s also a shame that the last three figures were all shown on the front of the box, so there were no surprises at the end
You’re welcome, I’m so glad you enjoyed the posts! Re: surprise, LEGO do this every year. I think with the main seasonal drawcard, you can’t really get away from that as it’s often the sole reason someone buys the advent calendar, but they should do a better job of making at least 80% of the builds more mysterious and suspenseful! I go to great lengths avoiding spoilers for the advent calendar and build them day by day, which really adds to the whole experience!
Nya nya nya
I would like to say a massive thank you for these daily posts. My son is 7 ans this is his first Star Wars Advent Calendar… And definitely not his last. He has really enjoyed waking every morning, building his thing and then running to me asking me to “read the man’s blog mum, quick…”. It’s been an extra treat having a write up each morning (luckily most of your posts were available before the morning school run here in the UK).
I hope you will be doing it again next year ?
We have the Lego Death Star to build… Santa has high expectation for my young Jedi master…
Merry Christmas (belated) and i hope your new year is a prosperous one.
X
You’re so welcome! I’m glad I was able to help and that he enjoyed this year’s advent calendar! Happy new year to you too and congrats on the LEGO Death Star! That’s going to take him awhile but I have no doubt that he’ll enjoy every bit of the build!
Finally catching up on this as was away on holiday for last ten days and wasn’t allowed to take my Advent Calendar with me (I’m 45 btw…) LOVE following your blog and agree with your BB8 comments, although loved the AT-ST and the A Wing. Can’t wait til December 2018…
I hope you at least got to open all 10 in one go when you got back! Yup, can’t wait for the next one. Hope LEGO picks up on all the feedback this year. Don’t think a lot of people were happy with BB-8 being the star minifigure. It should’ve been part of the calendar, but in the ones preceeding the big seasonal character.
I really enjoyed reading these posts over the past couple weeks; thanks for doing this!!
I didn’t purchase the calendar myself, but I agree with your assessment. I’ll probably be buying next year’s, as my son will be about three and a half by then and able to enjoy it properly.
Happy Holidays to you and your family!
You’re so welcome, I’m glad that you enjoyed the posts! Next year should be a much better calendar, fingers crossed! Happy New Year to you and your family!
Just came across your blog on Google while throng to figure out who/what some of the constructs were. Great job! I really enjoyed your pictures and brief explanations!
Hello Jay!
Thanks for your blog, really helpful to understand what were some of the trickiest builds to identify! Stumbled across tons of youtubers who were not knowing what they were talking about, so nice to read your thoughts about each build.
This year’s calendar was my third Star Wars one (2015 and 2016 I think) and I would that what was the worse overall… And you’re right, too much spoilers on the box :’-( ! Not sure if I’ll buy next one, but keep up the good work!
Seasonal greetings from France!
Bonjour! Thanks for the kind words! I just mirrored my own experience with the tricky builds, trust me, it was a challenge for me too!
Yup, I agree with you there, it didn’t come close to the heights of 2015 and 2016, although the micro models have been the best ones yet. Such a shame with the poor seasonal builds, as I felt that it overshadowed some of the great builds like AT-ST and Y-Wing.
With The Last Jedi fresh in everyone’s minds, and hopefully tons of feedback from fans and customers, I think 2018 will be good. LEGO have a lot to make up for!
Happy holidays!
Thank you for your daily updates! My son and I read them daily as part of his opening of the calendar routine. I appreciated your ability to keep us informed and entertained. Please keep up your excellent work! I believe that your discussion also helped us enjoy the Last Jedi more and I know it increased our enjoyment of the calendar. The additional help with the builds really came in handy as I am no help.
You’re so welcome, Leila! I’m glad that I could help with you and your son’s advent calendar journey. Hope you had an especially festive Christmas!
Merry Christmas Jay!
Yet again, thanks for the run through, as I’d not have realised what some of the models or figures would have been without you.
I agree about the finale let down, as much as I loved the festive BB-8, it’s more akin to the festive clone trooper from 2014 and an early window gift. I mean, in 2015 we had that brilliant Ralph McQuarrie Christmas card homage with C3P0 and R2D2 along with sled, making that a three day build, or the Astromech tree, Jedi fireplace and Santa Vader (sung to the tune of Santa Baby?) from 2014. Let’s hope 2018 gives us something special.
All in all though, this has been as enjoyable as all previous years, and I shall enjoy putting up another photoshelf to display them all. I’ve got four up so far, presenting 2011-14, so now have to buy another three to bring me up to date.
What’s your favourite year so far? I think mine is 2015, as I’m a 40-year old who remembers there being just the one film (even though ESB was out I didn’t know about it until RotJ was released, when I was six) and I love the original trilogy bias presented there.
Merry Christmas, Paul! Really glad to hear that I helped and that you enjoyed the daily posts. Yeah, they really missed out having BB-8 be a festive mid-point character like 2014. I thought it was a really odd decision not to have a festive Rey, given that there was a lot of focus on Jakku, what with the Speeder, Luggabeast and Unkar’s Thug.
My favourite is a toss up between 2015 and 2016. 2016 had tons of value and a Yeti Chewbacca but 2015 edges it out slightly because of the mini-location builds which I’ve really missed! It’s a shame we never got more of those.
I turned my builds into a nativity scene!
That’s brilliant. Did BB-8 play Baby Jesus?
Thanks so much for your blog… I lived your uodates and the ability to identify builds for my boys. Cheers!!
Hey Justin, you’re very welcome!
Awesome blog, followed almost everyday!
Thanks for the support, Aaron!
I agree that the BB-8 figure should have been more festive, especially since he’s one of the few things I recognised from the calendar. In previous years I’ve looked at this blog to check one or two builds that are less prominent in the movies, but I’ve found myself checking in almost daily this year. Given that I don’t like the stuff Disney’s released and have never seen the television series, I knew when I bought this year’s calendar that I wouldn’t recognise some of the builds. I underestimated just how many of them I wouldn’t recognise, however. Overall it’s been disappointing and I hope next year they find a better balance between new and old.
I’d also like to see some more colour next year – there seemed to be rather a lot of grey/black/white this time round.
Ah, sorry to hear that this year’s calendar didn’t do it for you. Definitely agree that LEGO needs to make up for BB-8 next year. Haha, unfortunately with colours, even looking at all the regular-sized LEGO Star Wars vehicles, most of them are just various shades or grey, black and white.
I was quite disappointed with this year’s advent calendar as there was no original trilogy stuff. There were two builds that could be used as original trilogy, but no significant ones. I am always happy to add to my first order army, as it is currently my largest one, but all in all, I think that this year’s advent calendar was quite disappointing. Such is life.
Merry Christmas.
We had plenty of OT stuff in previous years, but I know what you mean. I guess Rogue One could be considered a small compromise given that it occurs immediately before Episode 4. I really hope LEGO steps it up next year!
Hi. Greetings from South Africa. Thanks for your blog. I’ve really enjoyed catching up on old entries as this is the first time I knew about the Minifigure series and advent calendars. I couldn’t get a Star Wars one as it sold out almost immediately but I got a City one and have had a great time building it daily, even more excited than my kids. I see you’ve indicated 2017 has been a not great year for Lego. Is this in relation to the advent calendar specially or other Lego in general? I’d love to understand.
Hello, fellow Southern Hemisphere dweller! So glad you’ve enjoyed the blog and that you enjoyed the city one! It’s more for LEGO in general – I’m writing a post about this in more detail, but there were a couple of factors – sets got more expensive, there was a severe lack of innovation from LEGO and there wasn’t anything particularly new, interesting or refreshing this year, save for a few outstanding sets.
Again, I think the designers had kids in mind, not adult collectors. My grandson figured out yesterday that BB-8 was likely to be the final figure, after realizing that we had all the others pictured on the box. He was so excited! He kept talking about it, and first thing this morning he rushed to open it. He squealed, and danced around, and I can’t think of a minifigure that would have made him happier. I, for one, am glad that at the intersection of Legos and Christmas, they made it about pleasing children.
Thanks for this blog; it has helped us a lot with putting together some of the trickier figures and figuring out what the different ships were.
Yeah, you’re right hence my comment about how seasoned Star Wars and Advent Calendar fans would be disappointed. Based on previous years, you can make both audiences happy, which is why I felt that they missed the mark this year. But for the most part, everyone seems to have enjoyed this year’s Advent Calendar, so I still consider it a win for all.
You’re welcome. Thank YOU for the support and for following this year!
Thanks Jay for yet again a great Star Wars Advent Calendar blog. Me and my (now) 7 year old, Harry, check it out daily every year.
I agree with you on the models and the lack of surprise given that they’re pasted all over the front cover. Harry even wondered back at Day 17 whether the rocket powered sleigh would come out of Door 23 as shown on the pic, and he was right, it did! Our highlights were Sabine Wren (No. 1 favourite!) and the At-St and Y-Wing.
I also liked the inclusion is Taslin Brance – really nice when we get exclusives, and as you note, its a shame BB-8 didn’t have a unique print.
Biggest let-down for us was the Tie Striker as the bag had burst and the model is incomplete missing some bits.
Overall though, we’ve greatly enjoyed the calendar and your blog – looking forward to next year!! Many thanks! ?
Contact lego through their missing parts service, quoting the set number on the box. I had the santa hat missing from my festive clone trooper in 2014, and within a short while (I can’t remember how long exactly, might have been after Christmas) they posted me a replacement piece.
Hi Paul,
Took your advice and let Lego know about the missing parts through their website and they arrived today, free of charge, with an apology letter. Great customer service! 🙂
Hey Steve, you’re most welcome! Really appreciate you and your son coming back each year.
You guys picked some really great selections as your favourite. Hard to disagree with your to 3! Bummer about the TIE Striker, hope you’ve written to LEGO to request some replacements.
Happy holidays to you and your family!
Hi just want to say that your blog has been immensely helpful. This is my first year getting the calender and I decided to do a YouTube series for each day. I got stuck on the 5th and discovered your blog. It’s been very helpful throughout this month so thank you very much
Hey Jimmy, glad you somehow stumbled upon my blog, and I’m happy I was able to help! Happy holidays to you!
Agreed that BB8 isn’t a great festive figure and should have just been included earlier on (maybe with the other TFA builds). Since I don’t own a BB8 at all though I’m pretty glad to get one and I’ve just put the hat and snowboard away.
Thank you very much for the blog posts and I hope you and all the other readers have a lovely Christmas
Yeah, LEGO really missed out on a golden opportunity to have a festive BB-8. Oh well, there’s always next year. Good to hear it’s your first BB-8!
Thanks so much for all your support and for following daily. Happy holidays!
Great job as ever Jay!! Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this.
Merry Christmas!!
Thank you! I really enjoy writing the daily posts, so it didn’t feel like much effort at all! Happy holidays!
Hey Jay,
My sons and I really love your daily blog. We are big Star Wars fans, but you provide such interesting and in-depth details which truly enhance every build!
Thanks again,
The Middlemist’s from Arizona
Hey Scott, so glad to hear that you and your sons enjoyed the daily posts! Hope they also had a great time with this year’s calendar! Happy holidays to you and your family!
Thank you, Jay! I stumbled across your blog looking for an ID on Taslin Brance (who is standing in for Poe Dameron in my personal collection regardless, because he shares that “Chris Pratt” face) and have enjoyed checking in every day since whether I knew what the build was or not. Since I haven’t seen Rebels, the explanation of those windows was also much appreciated. As an AFOL who has only recently discovered that that’s a real thing to be :), I’ll be back!
Happy holidays!
Robin (from the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Hey Robin, so glad you somehow stumbbled upon me and that you enjoyed the daily posts! Hope to see you around too! Happy holidays and an especially Happy New Year!
Great blog again Jay
Merry Xmas
Thanks, Wayne! Hope you had a brilliant Christmas!
Thanks for doing this. Look forward to reading this every year! It also helps with some of the trickier builds ?
You’re welcome! Thanks for following!
I came across your blog when I was trying to find out what the builds are.
I am not a big Star Wars fan nor a Lego fan for that matter.
Being Catholic, I always make an Advent calendar for my son but last year my husband found out about the Lego Star Wars Advent calendar and decided to buy one for our son though they started late.
We bought it early this year and your post are so helpful.
I was able to tell my 5 year old what the build is.
He is so excited for every build and especially happy for BB8 even if he had one already from the other Starwars Lego builds he have.
Thank you so much and will be looking forward next year.
Merry Christmas to you and your family and a blessed New Year!
Hey Dixie, I’m really glad to hear that I was able to help you navigate this year’s Star Wars Advent Calendar and that it sounds like he had a great time! Hope to see you again next year too and that you and your family had a great Christmas!
Hi Jay!
Thank you SO MUCH for this blog!
I only started buying the advent calendar last year but I began reading your blog at the same time. While the advent calendar might’ve lifted the winter blues a little on its own, the enthusiasm in your writing has really been a game changer in how much fun I have every day getting to know these new pieces.
I know a good amount about Star Wars but almost nothing about LEGO, but all the information you provided both as to the significance of the pieces in the Star Wars universe and as LEGO pieces really made me love and appreciate each piece more than I would have otherwise.
It was also always nice to be able to double check with someone if I built the pieces right!
I ended up making little videos in my Instagram stories every day of the pieces I received, and I used your blog everyday as ‘research’ to help choose scenes from the movies that would beat showcase the piece. (I would play the audio in the background, while acting out the scene with the piece).
I really can’t thank you enough, or express just how fun and engaging your writing style is!
All the very best!!
– Sara
hey Sara, thank YOU for all the support and kind words. I really enjoy writing each year so this is something I look forward every year as well!
Thanks again for following this year. Happy holidays and an especially happy new year to you!
My husband and I were a little disappointed with this year’s set. It was fun, and we enjoyed opening each little ship or figure each day, but it seems like there just weren’t as many figures as there were last year.
Also, our BB8 was missing a piece. No head. Has anyone else had this problem?
And yeah, there’s definitely fewer minifigures than last year, 8 (including BB-8) compared to 9 (including the battle droid) but last year was an exception to the rule. Oh man, sorry to hear about your BB-8. You should write into LEGO to ask for a replacement one.
Hi Jay,
This has been my first (but won’t be my last) Star Wars calendar. I would just like to thank you for this fantastic blog, I will definitely stick around and look forward to your posts throughout the year.
May I wish you and my fellow readers a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
John from Blackpool, UK.
Hey John, thanks for following. Sounds like you had a positive experience with this year’s advent calendar.
Hope to see you around next year! Happy holidays and a very happy new year!
Thank You! This was so helpful for my 9 year old son as he went through his first Star Wars Advent Calendar. Merry Christmas from White Oak, WV, USA!
You’re so welcome! Hope you and your family had an awesome Christmas!
Thanks Jay, Merry Christmas! ?
Thank you, happy holidays to you too!
I hope Santa Kylo REN is next year. That would be so awesome!
I’d be happy with a Santa anything from The Force Awakens, but yeah, Santa Kylo Ren NEEDS to happen.
I like the advent calendar. Thank you for writing about it every day! Merry Christmas! (Finn, age 6.5)
Hey Finn, thanks so much for following along! Hope to see you around. Happy holidays!
Merry Christmas to you! Thanks for a fantastic recap for each day. My kid and I had fun reading your posts (and helping when we were stumped)
My kid says: “ I love all the Starwars you build” ha, he liked your little set ups;)
Cheers!
Happy holidays to you too and thanks so much for following along!
We watched the Last Jedi. Our favorite was Porg!
Same here! Hope we see them in more LEGO sets!
Awesome job as usual Jay. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Thanks Mark! Hope you guys had an awesome one too!
Hi Jay
We love your blog,
See you next year
From Charlie
Hey Charlie, thanks for the kind words and support! See you next year. Happy holidays and new year!
Really enjoyed reading with my boys on a daily basis as we opened up the windows, have a lovely Christmas break
Thanks Niamh, really glad to hear that you and your boys enjoyed the daily updates! Happy holidays to you and your family too!
Thanks Jay following the blog with my 4yr olds first lego calender.
It’s got him into star wars having watched the movies
(4/5/6 and 1- got to see them in the release order I think.)
I knew most models with a few as mentioned a little more tricky to identify.
Merry Christmas to you and Happy New year too.
Thank you so much for doing this again this year, Jay.
I am from Denmark, the birthplace of the bricks, and it is a pleasure to see people from around the world getting into Lego.
I have to agree with Jay that this years calender was a bit weak compared to last years calender. And the BB-8 was a huge letdown but we in turn got some great minis; Falcon, Ghost, Y-Wing, TIE Striker, Krennicks Shuttle and my absolute fav: the AT-ST.
I’m not overly happy with this years calender but i am content and will def be back on the adventbricks next year.
Thanks again, Jay, for your work \m/
Hey Johnny, thank YOU for all your support and following along! LEGO is a such a global phenomenon, and combined with an internet, has allowed me to “meet” and connect with so many other fans of the brick.
Yeah, you pretty much echoed my thoughts – the micro models have been so great that I’m actually really excited for what they do next year. Hope to see you around. Happy New Year!
From Liam (7) in Ottawa Canada: I think this is a really great blog. My mum and I enjoy reading it every day. Merry Christmas and Thank You!
Hey Liam, thanks for following! Merry Christmas to you too!
Thank you so much for this daily update on the calendar. I’ve been building along in the UK and had a google on the 2nd to find your blog explaining the rebels models!
I’ve really enjoyed the insight and care put into each of these posts so kudos!
Have a very merry Christmas and I look forward to reading more lego updates from here on in!
Hey Anders, thanks so much for the support and I’m glad to hear that I’ve added to your experience! Happy holidays and Happy New Year!
Thanks Jay for taking us though the whole calendar 🙂 We’ve been checking in every day to find out the details of the builds and what you thought. My five year old would like me to say that he thinks that the Imperial Ground Crew guy is really goodie in disguise which balances things out a bit 🙂 He’s been thrilled with the whole calendar as he doesn’t yet have a lot of the minifigures – I can see how things are a bit different when you already have a good collection. His two favourite windows were the ground crew guy and BB8 so we ended on a high 🙂 Hope you have a great Christmas!!
You’re so welcome! I’m so glad to hear that you guys enjoyed following every day, thanks for making me part of your Advent Calendar journey! Your 5 year old could be right. He could be a secret Rebel spy embedded on the Imperial Outpost 😉 That said, I’m really happy to hear that his minifigure collection has grown! Hope you have a Happy New Year!
Thanks for all the daily updates, I have really enjoyed reading your blog this year along with my calendar, agreed there were some crap days but overall I loved it, you are now my favourite Australian ? Don’t tell Adam Hills, Have a very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year when it comes, All the best ???
Hey Jordan, thank YOU for following along! I don’t deserve the honour, Adam Hills is a way better bloke! Happy holidays and a very happy New Year to you too!
Thanks for sharing the journey once again, Jay. Wholeheartedly agree with your summing up – even as someone who didn’t yet own BB-8 it felt like a huge anti-climax: Lego really need to also work on their box art so it doesn’t give everything away!
Re: the AT-ST/AT-DP “controversy”, I have have a couple of comments:
1) the micro-models usually tie to large models Lego has already done. I’m not aware of them having produced an AT-DP, but I know they’ve done a Rogue One AT-ST because it’s currently sat on my bookshelf!
2) Lego’s own product description of the product in their online store describes it as an AT-ST – so whether it actually looks like one or not, that’s clearly what Lego want it to be.
Thanks again, Jay, and already looking forward to joining you for next year’s journey – with hopefully no weapons racks and some extra-special Christmas mini-figures!
Hey Tom, thank YOU for following along! I really appreciate the support and yes, hope LEGO steps it up next year! They have a lot to make up for! See you again!
We found your blog at the start of December and have really enjoyed it everyday. We will be back next year! Thanks very much. George (age 5)
Hey George, thanks so much for following the blog! Hope you enjoyed this year’s calendar. Looking forward to see you back again next year! Happy holidays!
A great blog Jay, me and my son have been following all month. Needed your help to identify some of those slightly more obscure builds!! Have a cracking Christmas! Catch you next year!
A Pom form the south west Uk.
Cheers, from Down Under and happy holidays! Thanks so much for the support and I’m glad that I could help out with the Advent Calendar this year!
We read your blog as a Christmas tradition now Jay. We’ve had a major disappointment this end. The final door, door number 24 was opened this morning, and instead of getting our Christmas BB8, we just got a bag of spare blocks. So disappointing!! My 7 year old is beside himself. Gutted!
Contact Lego customer service and they will send you the figure. Angie x
Thanks so much for making my blog a part of your Xmas tradition, that means so much to me! That’s really horrible, LEGO’s QC with Advent Calendars seems to be getting worse – so many others had wrong windows/parts as well as you can see in the comments section. Do write in to LEGO’s customer service and they’ll have a replacement out to you in no time.
Thanks for helping us identify all the ones we didnt recognize (mostly Rebels figures). Cheers!
You’re welcome! I had a blast too. Happy holidays!
It’s been an incredibly fun Advent season, Jay. Thanks for all the blog posts and putting a smile on everyone’s face. Merry Christmas.
You’re welcome, I had a blast too. Thanks for following along and happy holidays!
Thank you for the informative and fun blog. Every day after the build I enjoy your comments and explanation of what it is.
Looking forward to next years builds and blog.
Hey Richard, thanks so much for the kind words and for following every day! Hope to see you again next year!
Awesome review and some great tips on the wings of the fighters. Thanks. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
You’re welcome, thanks for the kind words! Happy holidays to you too!
Hello, I’ve been enjoying the Star Wars Advent Calendar and following along with your blog. I just wanted to point out that the walker from a few days ago is an All Terrain Defense Pod, rather than an AT-ST. The AT-DP was featured on Rebels.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/All_Terrain_Defense_Pod
Keep up the blog I love it!
There have been many comments going over this. It is hard to get the differentiating features into the model at this size. The fact that it was in amongst all of the other Rogue One builds makes this an AT ST. The lack of defining features allows you to use the walker as either, but it was intended to be an AT ST.
I hope that makes sense, I feel like it was very poorly written.
Hey Jason, you make a compelling argument but it’s definitely an AT-ST as that’s what’s listed in the product description. Also, it appeared in the Rogue One block of sets, not Rebels. The extra panelling on the side is also quite exaggerated, which looks more like an AT-ST. That said, it could definitely double as an AT-DP, though!
Thank you for doing this!! My son and I reference you to make sure we’ve got it right pretty much daily. You’ve got me cracking up with Steve and Stephen. Keep up the great work, it is VERY appreciated!
Thanks so much for the kind words! I really appreciate the support from you guys as well! Happy holidays!
Just wanted to say “thank you”! This has helped my 5yo son and I identify several we didn’t know. Happy holidays!
You’re so welcome, I’m glad that I could help! Happy holidays to you too!
Keep up the good work!!!!!!
Thank you!
Còooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
BUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Everyone who read the post today was mooned by AT-ST .
I plead ignorance, haha.
I think day 22 may actually be an All Terrain Defense Pod. They have featured heavily on Rebels, and I think the monocular look, single large gun barrel, and smooth sides make it look closer to that mech than the AT-ST.
It’s definitely an AT-ST as it’s listed on the product description. Also, the Rebels “block” was far earlier in the calendar.
Thanks for doing this! I hadn’t bought the calendar the past couple years and just bought one again this year to open at work. It’s been a lot of fun making the builds and trying to figure out (sometimes with your help) what each one was supposed to be! Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas!
You’re very welcome! I’m really glad to hear that you had an awesome time!
Anyone else get a mixup? I opened today’s (Day 22) with my son, and he was so excited to get a walker. However, the package is a repeat of the pieces for the First Order Snowspeeder (Day 13). I guess we have two of those, now?
I got the same… super disappointed. Any way to fix this?
Contact Lego (email link on main site) and they will send you replacement parts to make missing day, same happened with my daughters city calendar, takes a few days though
Yeah I had a similar issue with hover tank , got a second weapons crate instead.
Contact Lego the customer service is fantastic.
You can go to the Lego website in the missing parts section and type in the pack number 75184 and tell them what’s missing. They’ll post it out to you I believe.
Sorry to hear that. LEGO’s quality control with Advent Calendars are quite poor. You should write to them to request a replacement. Kinda sucks that you got 2 of the worst builds. At least it isn’t an extra Weapons Rack!
I am liking this advent calendar. I just wish there was more good guys. Pretty good compared to 2015 and 2016. I think LEGO is trying to celebrate the new movies.
Only rebel remaining is BB8
Yup, completely right! I think Jyn Erso, or K2SO would’ve been great additions. Definitely need more good guys!
Loved this build today, as a first time buyer of the advent calendar I have been impressed with the quantity and variety of mini figures, besides the weapon cache each day has been quite enjoyable to build and goes well with my other Star Wars Lego sets 🙂
Really glad to hear that you’re enjoying your first Advent Calendar! The mini builds have been sensational this year!
I think that’s not an atst, those have two turrets. Maybe it’s that light atst seen in rebels. It had one central turret and different cockpit.
An AT-DP, all terrain defense pod
At this small scale, I think they’d look very similar. Because of the shape of the feet, I think AT-ST is right. It’s cool trying to figure it out each day.
It is an at-st only that they couldn’t fit 2 turrets.
Definitely an AT-ST, as LEGO listed it in the product description.
I loved the AT-ST’s head, but the legs were just too bulky for my liking. At this scale it would be impossible to get the true “chicken legs”, but I found the squareness are bulkiness of the legs too much for me to really like it.
Yes, the legs don’t walk as a chicken would, therefore, I dub them “sparrow legs” as the lack of knees and individual legs force the “walker” to hop, rather than walk. I think that I missed the point, as you were complaining about the bulkiness of the legs, but it would be hard to get the legs to be less bulky without them being right up against each other.
Yeah, it’s a difficult compromise to get it completely accurate, but at this scale it does the job.
We are loving your blog! My sons need to know all the details each day and your links to real images are perfect! Thanks for doing this.
You’re so welcome! Thanks for your support and for following along!
I think maybe Sabine,s printing is a bit better. Or Unkars thug.
Sabine definitely has better hair 🙂
Still only one Christmas build so far!
The advent calendar is definitely full of bad guys this year. We don’t have any main characters from the two Star Wars movies that they put into this years advent calendar!!! What is up!?!?
Yup, this is a really valid criticism. Army builders and baddies are nice for older LEGO fans, but for casual fans, it leaves much to be desired!
After thinking about it, It makes sense that there isnt a Jedi due to the heavy rouge one theme.
Yeah, but that doesn’t make an excuse for The Force Awakens! Speaking of Rogue One, now that I think of it, it was a waste not to have a main character feature – imagine a Christmas-themed K2SO, or even Jyn Erso in the Imperial Ground Crew minifigure would’ve been great!
Honestly Jay, you don’t know what is in tomorrow’s box. So technically it’s kind of a spoiler.
The last 3 doors were easy to predict: all three items are pictured on the box and we already knew which items are in 24 and 23 (23 is shown opened on the box art with the item shooting out).
The imperial ground crew guy has some serious underbite problems.
I can’t unsee that now!
Hm. Apparently we should have watched Rebels and Rogue One, because most of this years’ calendar is foreign to us. Nice little builds nonetheless.
Rebels is apparently really good, I’ve had so many people ask me to watch it. Rogue One is one of my favourite Star Was movies, you should definitely watch it!
Today’s character is actually quite nice like you said the printing is superb. I actually tuned in the first of December like Mark and you cover everything about the build and character. 3 more days to go! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Loving this blog. Thanks for sharing. My son was keen to know what each piece was so was thrilled when I found your blog. Annoyingly he’s opened day 22 today instead of 21. I won’t spoil it for you but we’ll have to miss your reveal today ?.
Thanks jay, I love your information it is really helpful to us. From Nick
You’re very welcome!
Just wanted to say thank you Jay for writing this blog. This is my first lego advent calendar and I’ve found your blog very helpful for some of the trickier builds and for identifying some of the ships that I wasn’t too familiar with.
I have also really enjoyed your daily commentary. When I opened today’s build I told my husband “Oh Jay’s going to love this orange piece!” Found it quite amusing to then read today’s post and find out I was right.
Thanks again and Merry Christmas!
Four days left and cover shows three of those in Sledge, Walker and BB-8. Bit gutted we haven’t got any more goody characters. This is my first lego advent and may be my last.
Ugh, you’ve pointed out what I was dreading :/
I haven’t been paying attention to the cover on purpose. I have mixed feelings, but I’ll see when I get to the end how I feel about the whole calendar.
Cool build today awsome
I had a leftover flat square black piece and leftover flat square clear piece from previous builds. I attached them underneath the hovercraft to make it slightly more balanced. I also replaced the round piece on top with a square the same shade as the slope and topped it with a flat round piece to resemble the covers from the movie. I love the bright orange crates piece!
My weapons rack is getting crowded. It now has 3 blasters and a wrench.
Never complain about extra blasters!
I just wanted to drop a message and say a few words.
I found your blog by googling Star Wars Advent 2017. From the first day of December I’ve been reading daily because of your take or opinion mixed with some humor and your excitement and enthusiasm has been fun to read. For the most part your take on each day almost mirrors my own.
I have also valued your help and guidance with some of the harder builds. I’ve relied on this blog once or twice because the build diagrams were unclear. It has been much appreciated.
Enjoy your holidays.
Hey Mark, thanks for the kind words! I’m really glad to hear that you’ve been enjoying the daily posts. It helps make the advent calendar so much more interactive and I also love the conversation here, hearing from different people about their own experiences. Hope you stick around after we’re done if you’re into LEGO!
That Hovertank is so cute!
I did enjoy the sideways build!
Disappointing, I got another weapons crate inside pack of door 20 instead of tank pictured.
Lego mistake!
Won’t get that mini now till after Christmas or New year.
Oh no. Sorry to hear that. Just write in to LEGO and they’ll sort you out. Their quality control with Advent Calendars are pretty bad. This happens to a small minority of people every year.
My son and I love reading your SW Advent Calendar blog each day after he does the build. Keep up the good work! Just curious, it appears your Ghost and Phantom II have been missing from the photos since Day 16. Did the Steves crash them and put them in the shop?
hey Edward, thanks for the support! Glad you guys are enjoying the daily posts, I’ve been enjoying writing them too!
Steves definitely have something up their sleeves 😉
My only disappointment with the tie striker is the clear tile for the cockpit, wouldn’t the standard tie fighter cockpit piece (like from last years) look better and more appropriate? Haven’t tried it yet myself.
What’s the standard piece?
Think that would be a bit too big as a cockpit piece.
I actually tried it from last year’s TIE interceptor, but It didn’t make the TIE striker even on the ground. To make it even again all you would have had to do is put a 1×2 transparent plate under the build
I believe this one is actually called the Imperial Combat Assault Tank. Lego used the incorrect “Hovertank” name for the larger set (probably because the name hadn’t been finalized in the movie), but it has since come out that it was incorrectly named.
Ah yes, you’re right. It’s always stuck as the Hovertank for me because of the LEGO set. I do like the name though. Sounds a lot cooler than Combat Assault Tank!
Maybe tomorrow??.☹️☹️
Nope 🙁
I have loads and loads of spare parts, do you have the same?
Yes same here.
Yes, that’s pretty normal. You can expect tons of studs, tiles, cheese slopes and a hose nozzle or two by the end of the advent calendar!
My first thought when I saw the bag for day 21 was that it was Jyn, but that’s definitely not her face. Hahaha!
Checking your blog has become part of our morning routine as it has been instrumental to our completing the minifigurines from the advent calendar. Thank you for providing clear, brief, precise instructions along with some narrative about what we are constructing. We also appreciate your sharing your opinion and (sometimes) excitement about each piece.
Hey Simona, thanks so much for making me part of your routine! I really appreciate the support!
Agree that some of the instructions are terrible, particularly for young kids. My 5 year old son is great at following Lego instructions and loves building but yesterday and today have handed it straight over to me to build.
Quick hint, Lego have printed all the instructions in a handy document: https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/help/products/themes-sets/star-wars/lego-star-wars-advent-calendar-building-instructions-408100000008024
Just be careful not to look at a day you’ve not opened yet!
It’s the 1 picture instruction that my son is having trouble with.
But handy to know I can save all the instructions for future reference. Do others keep the box afterwards?
I agree 100%. I mean if adults like me are struggling with making out some of the instructions, I can’t think how much trouble younger builds might have.
Keep up the good work! I’ve got my advent calendar at my office desk and every morning when I come to work I make that day’s build. Then I always head here to read about it!
Cheers, mate.
Thanks for the support! Oh that’s a really good idea. I think I’ll have to have an office advent calendar too. Does it get a lot of attention from your workmates?
Thanks for your help with Krennic’s Shuttle and the TIE Striker, I don’t think I’d have been able to figure them out myself (and I’m 32!)
You’re welcome! Took me longer than usual to figure it out!
Why would you want more jedi?
Cause Jedi are cool and I love lightsabers? 🙂
I’ve struggled with some of the instructions so tried the tip mentioned by another reader – I used my phone to take a photo of the instructions on the calendar which allowed me to zoom in to the picture. It was a huge help and one that I can thoroughly recommend
Great tip! My phone is pretty old and the camera is quite lousy so I can’t do that.
Loving these posts. Our 6yr old loves coming on here to check he’s named the ship/weapon/character correctly. It has become part of our morning routine before school. Keep it up
Hi Kelly, so glad to hear I’ve been able to help your 6 year old. Thanks for the support and hope you guys are enjoying the Advent Calendar so far!
Hey Jay – where’s day 19? It’s my birthday advent day!!!!!
Just went up! Sorry it’s a little late, oh and Happy Birthday!
Day 19 post typed wrongly as Day 20 bro
Ah yes, thanks for pointing that out. It’s been fixed!
Mine too! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Happy birthday to you too!
I’m hoping for something REALLY good for day 19, it’s my birthday.
We swapped the brown grill with the grey one on Rey’s speeder. Rey’s looks better with the brown!
Oh yeah, great idea! The brown certainly fits the rusty look of Rey’s Speeder better!
Today was my favourite so far, love the y-wing and was great to build. I found your blog a couple of days ago and I’ve been really enjoying It, keep up the good work 🙂
Yay, more Y-Wing fans! Glad you somehow stumbled on the blog and to hear that you’re really enjoying it! Hope you stick even after the calendar is finished 🙂
Loving your blog Jay! Thanks for the daily updates! I view your blog after I’ve opened my window and the build is complete. Keep up the great work!
Thanks so much, Darren! Your support means a lot to me! Hope you’re enjoying the calendar so far!
Like Jay, I’m a Y-Wing fan. We’re a rare breed, eschewing the trendy, zippy X in favour of an ungainly, ponderous beast of a ship.
It’s a bit like preferring the Hawker Hurricane (the true workhorse of the Battle Of Britain) to the Supermarine Spitfire…
I prefer the B-Wing.
Aww yeah! Gold Squadron represent! Great tidbit about the Battle of Britain too! Never knew that and I spent half an hour diving into Wikipedia to learn more about the Hawker Hurricane!
Hi Jay,
My 5 year old son and I have really been enjoying your posts. You have been our morning tradition here in the USA these last few weeks. Keep up the good work mate.
Hi Joe, really glad to hear that! Thanks for joining so far and I’m really honoured that you’ve made it a morning tradition! Happy holidays from Down Under!
I knew what day 18 was the minute I opened the flap LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I believe the brown tile is used because the recent Y-wing build used brown pieces in the same area of the ship.
Excellent blog Jay, your helpful details make this by far the best SW calendar review site. Its also nice that you are half a day ahead of me in the UK so that I don’t have to wait to see each day’s review. Just don’t mention the cricket!!
I think Day 17 is Moradmin Bast. The sideburns and the rank match……
Scratch that, the rank insignia is wrong
Aw man – I got another Sabine instead of the Y-Wing. Thanks for a detailed post so I know what it was -supposed- to look like.
I got the same double.
Might be a common issue; I’ve pinged the guys at Lego a message to see if I can get a replacement. Probably would have been my favourite model so far, so I was hugely disappointed.
I love the Y-wing too – my favourite piece of trivia is that it’s the only craft shot down by Darth Vader in the original trilogy that was also piloted by Anakin Skywalker (in, as you mentioned, the Clone Wars). Outstandingly accurate build and it’ll fit much better with my full size Star Destroyer than the mini Y-wing and X-wing ships I currently have – they’re just much too big!
Hi Jay!
This is the first year of following your blog on the Lego Advent and I love it! But I did want to comment on the fact that our Imperial Officer seeemd to hve come with an extra weapon. I know you mentioned Sabine Wren would have been better with a second blaster so I added the extra one to her figure! Just wanted to share my excitement.
Kids boring for Christmas so far.
Sorry Jay, but his insignia has 4 red and 4 blue not 3 red and 3 blue.
He never said there were only three….
I’ve noticed we only have one Christmas related build so far in this calendar. it seems like 2015’s calendar was all about the Christmas builds!
Yeah, this year seems much more serious! Santa Clone Trooper was great.
We agree that day 16 was hard therefore they should make better directions.
This happens every year. They should really learn to make the instructions clearer for younger kids.
Do you not think its General Hux from The Force Awakens?
It’s an Imperial uniform not a First Order one
Nope, Hux has different sideburns!
I haven’t even watched Rouge 1 yet LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
You need to get on it! It has one of the best space battles in the entire Star Wars universe!
Jay – We love your blog and consult it every year. Thank you for your hard work.
How can one tell the difference between a First Order Snowtrooper and a First Order Flametrooper? They seem to have the same helmet.
Thanks!
The flame trooper has printed lines on the helmet and less detailed chest plate.
Thanks so much for the support year on year! I really enjoy this so it doesn’t feel like work at all. Stuart pretty much answered your question, the Flametrooper has thin lines on the helmet, whereas the Snowtrooper has a plain design.
The Imperial officer seems to be a Colonel (four reds above, four blues below, two rank cylinders).
That’s the case in Legends, but in Canon, it could either be a Commodore, Major or Colonel according to the SW Wiki.
Wow! Day 17 has an *AMAZING* exclusive – what a fantastic incredibly obscure choice…took me hours to figure it out and properly identify.
Not sure if sarcasm.. haha.
Thanks! I could figure it out lol
I rebuilt Krennic’s shuttle with the wings reversed and it is sooo much better! By inverting them so you see the back of the lego bricks and with the hinge at the top, the wings rotate and lock into both the vertical landing and perfect angle for flight positions. Swap the double and single cheeses over and it looks much better (closer to the film) and configures better and stands up slightly easier!
Would you please post a picture of what you did.
I’m not sure how to add a photo but here’s step by step, it isn’t very complicated:
1. Build as instructed
2. remove all 4 cheeses
3. Reverse the wings hinge so the hinge is at the top
4. Reverse the wings themselves so the back of the lego bricks is where the front was. The shape doesn’t change
5. Check the wings go all the way up and down
6. Replace the cheeses only now with the wide ones on the front and back and the single ones on the side
Done!
Thank you!!!
Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
Alan’s tip below was right. It looks more better if you remove both of the double cheese slopes on each side. ? Day 17’s build will definitely be related to Rogue One!
It would be really cool if we get Krennic in day 17’s window!
It would’ve 🙁
I’m annoyed! For Day 14 I got another stormtrooper, not the FO Snowtrooper. Is there any recourse I might have?
Call lego
Hi, sorry to randomly comment but I think I have the answer you are looking for! If you go on to the Lego Website and then proceed to the missing parts section; type in the special Lego serial number (you’ll find it on the front of the advent calendar box). You will be taken to a list of parts (although not sure how this works with it being a surprise every day) and can request a new stormtrooper.
Thanks Els (and Joe, above) – I’ll give that a go. Will post back with progress (if any!).
Well that was easy. But if you feel like being nosy (or getting on Santa’s naughty list) BE WARNED – all sorts of parts are available from 75184, including some we’ve not seen yet. I had to skim past them really quickly while looking for the Snowtrooper’s 4 parts. Let’s see what arrives in the post – if anything…
If you didn’t want to manually go through all of the parts, alternatively, you can just send Lego Customer Service an email; I got another Sabine Wren mini-fig instead of the Y-Wing – and got in touch to see if they could rectify the issue.
There amazing customer service team got back within a couple of days to say they’d send the parts out – they’ve just left the warehouse, so I’m super happy – and very impressed by the customer service too!
After a couple of days’ Christmas-related delays, I’ve just submitted my replacement request. No real hurry, after all, and it’s a minor niggle in the grand scheme of things. I’ll see what happens…
Hope LEGO managed to help you out! Their customer service is exceptional and I’ve never had any issues with them replacing parts.
For day 16, you can remove both of the black double cheese slopes to make space for the wings so that it will be in landing/parking position.
Yeah I tried that. Looks quite weird but it does work. Thanks for sharing the tip!
A huge thank you for the photos of the wing assembly, I’m still puzzled by the design of the large black brick with the odd protruding bit.
I thought it was a piece that just got stuck…i was wrong!
You’re welcome! Glad I could help!
Great breakdown as my 6yro daughter and follow along at home. I do have to say as I saw The Last Jedi last night on opening night and today being opening day. The day 14 & 15 build could have had more significance in the Star Wars Saga then just a snow trooper and snow blower. They are clever and fun but should have not been opening day.
It’s pretty hard to time these things. With LEGO’s design process, it’s likely that they designed this set way before the official release date of TLJ was announced. Also, different countries open on different days, so it would be pretty confusing if it did. Neat idea, but quite difficult to implement in practice!
Day 16 – Krennic’s shuttle. Probably the hardest build yet. It captures the shape and dimensions pretty well but it’s annoying that the wings can’t fold vertically and you can’t even look at it without it falling over when the wings are deployed.
Yeah, pretty unhappy with that bit. Not the prettiest looking ship at this scale, but I’ve tried a few mods to allow the wings to properly fold and they do a decent job.
Hi Jay,
At home we have a Lego Star Wars Force Awakens Xbox game, in it there is a scene where the snowtroopers use the snow machine to fire snowballs at you. The build probably came from this scene, even though it is a minor part. It looks pretty similar in the game to the build.
Thanks for being able to identify some of the other builds which we weren’t able to recognise.
Oh interesting! I’ve never played the Star Wars games. Do the snowballs come out from the spout? Thanks for pointing that out!
Pro tip for Day 16: use your phone to take a photo of the instruction picture and then you can easily enlarge it on-screen.
I had trouble making out all the detail with so much black in this build, so I needed a larger image. I’m a fan of the movies and recognised this vehicle but it’s still tricky to put together. (I won’t spoil Jay’s thunder and reveal the vehicle.)
Great work Jay! Been following this since the start mate. Cheers from Brisbane!
Yes, I do this with almost every build now having had to resort to it several times last year. Definitely helped with yesterday’s and today’s builds.
I really don’t get why the people who made the advent calendar included a build that wasn’t Star Wars related.
It’s fun. I think I’m also one of the few who likes the weapons racks as all blasters have to be put away before the Christmas truce and the mugs of hot chocolate are handed out.
This is my 4th year doing the calendar and following on Jay’s blog. Love it.
Thank you so much for doing this! It’s our first year with the calendar and I’m planning on doing both this one and the City one next year with my kids. The snow machine has been the most difficult so far (even for me!) but it’s super cool. Our favorites have been the Luggabeast, the Millennium Falcon, and the Stormtrooper. I personally loved getting Sabine, we watch the cartoons and I’m always a fan of getting more female characters in the mix!
You’re welcome! I definitely think LEGO could’ve done a better job with the instructions for the Snow Machine/Blower. Sabine is great! She’s probably my favourite minifigure so far!
I was very confused with some of the Rebel’s stuff as I don’t watch Rebels.
Thank you so much for explaining all of the builds! Helped me so much!
I’ll be checking in every day from now on!
Thanks!
I just saw The Last Jedi last night. I think the Porg is my favorite character!
Can’t argue there. They were so cute!
And they looked rather tasty too! I’m with Chewie on that one.
Can’t blame him. They look like a delicious mix of fish & poultry.
I was very confused with some of the Rebel’s stuff as I don’t watch Rebels.
Thank you so much for explaining all of the builds! Helped me so much!
I’ll be checking in every day from now on!
You’re welcome! Hope you enjoy the next few days!
Day 15 was tricky to figure out. I love it though. My first thought was “I know why Stephen is mad, he has clear the side walks and driveway.” ( :
I love your comments, they make me laugh. ( :
Haha that’s great! Poor Stephen.
Snow blower gang…not a snow machine.
You’re definitely right. In my defence, I’ve never lived anywhere with snow, haha.
Me too Jay, I’ve only seen snow three times in my life so this one really had me stumped – I thought at first it was something you’d find in an ice rink, like a kind of ice-iron or something. I don’t even know if those exist!
An ice-iron sounds fantastic, haha.
The first holiday build is day 15 with the snow machine! Very exciting!
What kind of camera are you using with what kind of lens? And what kind of white and black backgrounds are you using for your portraits? They look quite professional.
I use a Canon 70D with a 24-105mm lens. I also use a small portable light box called the Foldio 2 for the photos. The black background one is a makeshift light box using felt!
Maybe it’s a regional thing, but here in northeast USA, we’d call today’s build a snow blower. A “snow machine” is a vehicle, aka snow mobile.
we call it a snowblower in midwestern USA too. We don’t really call anything “Snow Machine.
Ahhhh, yeah, now that you’ve mentioned it, it’s probably a snow blower. I’ve never lived anywhere with snow, so it’s all quite alien to me!
Feel like I’m coming late to this. But I’m the UK where I live we’d say Snow Machine!
Haha, I feel slightly vindicated then, since I default to British English!
A Snow Machine would be a machine that makes snow, like they have at indoor Snow Centres etc.
This is definitely a Snow Blower, which is something that sucks snow up and blows it some distance away to clear paths etc.
Professor I.C. Balls
Centre for Snow Studies
Nottingham University.
I.C. Balls, hah, You’re probably right – I don’t live in a country with snow, so I have snow-idea about various snow equipment.
I had a dream last night where you said it was a “Vow.”
The snow machine was very tricky and I’m only 7 years old!?
I’m 43 and I had trouble constructing it too!
If it makes you feel any better, it took me a while to figure it out too ?
I was surprised how much I enjoyed today’s build. Very neat little thing
Yea, loved how charming it is! Apparently, it’s not a snow machine but a snow blower. Woops.
Thanks so much for keeping us updated, I read your blog everyday with my 5 year old son.
You’re very welcome! Hope you and your 5 year old are enjoying the advent calendar so far!
My Snowtrooper came with a blank yellow head! At least yours has an expression!
What, really? Wow, that’s really bizarre. I’d write in to LEGO to request a replacement head.
Oh no, say it ain’t so, Day 15!
Haha, I kinda like how cute it is!
I’m seeing the Last Jedi on Sunday!
Awesome! As a person who’s seen it twice already, you’re going to have an awesome time!
I would really like the Snowtrooper to come with a blaster although he does have one on the Snowspeeder.
Yeah, agreed. LEGO are really stingy with the blasters this year.
I’m going to watch it on Saturday… can’t wait!
Hope you enjoy it! I had a blast and have watched it twice!
I had an extra blaster from yesterdays build, so my Stephen is armed!
I must be the only person that didn’t get a spare!
Day 13 resembles set number 75166. The First Order Transport Speeder.
Ah yeah, good spot. Possibly!
Nice, pity we got a repeat of the day 10 thug! Disappointed son, Lego are aware!!!
Wait, really? I would write in to LEGO to request a replacement.
Having just rewatched Force Awakens last night on the big screen as part of a double-header for the midnight premiere of The Last Jedi, I was on the lookout for any sign of the snowspeeder – which also baffled me, but as I’m in NZ I have to wait ages for you to open your calendar window and therefore usually have to research what these things are before you can post!
Anyway, there is a shot of one if you look carefully – it’s in the background and visible through the doorway of the control complex which Finn and Rey break into to open the doors for Han and Chewie to enter the main base and plant their detonators. Very fleeting glimpse but there it is.
And this mini version sucks big time!
Ah, I’ll have to go back and rewatch it. Sounds like one of those blink and you’ll miss it instances.
Yeah it definitely is – I only saw it because I was specifically looking out for it.
Thank you so much for your daily “analysis”. My wife gave this to my 7 year old son and I can’t figure out what some of the builds are supposed to be, not being a big Star Wars fan.
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You’re very welcome. I’m happy that I could help. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
At least with the weapons rack, you could tell what it was supposed to be…
This really doesn’t match the vehicle (or larger Lego set, which I’ve built) at all. Maybe it’s supposed to be something else? Or the designers were really limited on the number of bricks they could use.
At least tomorrow should be good!
I think the designers were mainly hamstrung by the vehicle’s poor design to begin with. Not much they can do when the vehicle was so unappealing that they cut it from the movie.
I was looking through the extra pieces from previous days to improve on the Snowspeeder. This is the first day I’ve felt like it isn’t quite right. I don’t have the pieces I’m envisioning yet, but hopefully I’ll get them later.
I want the piece to center the gun on the front, and something different than the large sloping piece in the middle. Maybe just a second grate piece where the top of the sloping piece is and nothing where the bottom part is, leaving 4 squares to seat a figure?
If you have spare parts, a jumper plate might work in centering the gun. It’s the tile with the singular hole in the middle.
I don’t know, but the Snowspeeder isn’t an appealing vehicle at all, so I doubt you could do much to help it.
Interesting – your day 13 is different than mine (I’m in the US). I got a First Order Snowtrooper, not the speeder. I wonder why?
I’m in the USA also and I got the snow speeder. Weird.
I figured it out. I opened day 14, not day 13. DOH!
My son was scratching his head too. He said looks up Jays Brick Blog and see what he says this is. Lol.
Definitely uninspiring.
Haha, your son’s opinion is right on the mark. Not a lot of people were impressed.
I just want to thank you for this blog. This is our second year doing the Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar with our 5 year old. Checking this blog every day has become part of our tradition. He builds the model and then immmediately asks what the blog says today. I would never be able to make out what each build is without it!
You’re very welcome! So glad I could be part of your tradition! Hope your 5 year old is enjoying the builds so far!
Our day 13 also came with (what I could best identify as) an Imperial Ground Crew minifig, which doesn’t seem to fit with the theme of the toys so far…?