Update: Looking for the 2019 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar countdown? Follow along for daily reveals!
Hello and welcome to the Jay’s Brick Blog Daily daily countdown of the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar! Follow daily for a reveal of each advent calendar window. This has been an annual tradition since 2014 and I look forward to this every year.
Whether you’re new, or you’re a returning reader, I’d love for you to hang out and follow along as we count the days to Christmas!
If you’d like to check out previous Star Wars Advent calendars, here are the links to 2014, 2015. 2016 and 2017!
This year, I’m also doing the LEGO City Advent Calendar, which you can follow along as well!
If you’re new here, I do daily updates on each window of the 2018 Star Wars Advent Calendar. I usually post updates in the morning, but sometimes if I get too busy at work, updates will be posted in the evening. I’ll update this post each day, as I don’t really enjoy the practice of creating new posts for each day as it keeps it so much cleaner.
Unlike other sites, I’m actually opening each window as I go, and I’ve been able to be relatively spoiler-free to be as surprised as I can get. All reviews, thoughts and reactions are live as we go along, there are no pre-planned photos or thoughts!
Do note that I’m based in Melbourne, Australia (GMT +8) 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 especially if you’re located in other timezones like the US or UK.
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, Amazon Australia or LEGO.com! Thanks in advance!
Here’s the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar next to our Christmas tree for that extra festive touch.
Year after year, LEGO commits what is possibly the biggest cardinal sin ever by spoiling nearly HALF of the Advent Calendar on the box design. Dear Advent Calendar and Star Wars team, no one likes this and please just use generic illustrations and do a better job at keeping it a surprise – which is the point of Advent calendars.
From the box, you can see that this year will be a mix of Original Trilogy, Sequel Trilogy and a bit of the short-lived Freemaker Adventures which I’m not too familiar with.
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 – Landspeeder
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Day 2 – Rose Tico
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Day 3 – The Arrowhead
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Day 4 – Republic Fighter Tank
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Day 5 – IG-88
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Day 6 – Cloud City
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Day 7 – Naboo Starfighter
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Day 8 – Battle Droid
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Day 9 – General Grievous Stargfighter
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Day 10 – Laser Turret
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Day 11 – Rowan Freemaker
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Day 12 – Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter
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Day 13 – Imperial Troop Transport
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Day 14 – WEAPONS RACK
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Day 15 – Death Trooper
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Day 16 – Rathtar
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Day 17 – Guavian Death Gang Soldier
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Day 18 – First Order TIE Fighter
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Day 19 – AT-ACT Walker
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Day 20 – Zeta-class Cargo Shuttle
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Day 21 – Speeder Bike
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Day 22 – Christmas Moisture Vaporator
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Day 23 – General Antoc Merrick
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Day 24 – Rebel Pilot Snowman
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Final Thoughts & Wrap-up
While you’re here, please also subscribe to the blog if you’d like to find out about other posts which cover LEGO news, reviews and random musings!
To follow along, 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 (in the US) to avoid accidentally spoiling people!
The front of the Advent Calendar folds out to transform it into a playmat that you can use to display each day’s builds. It’s festive-themed as usual, and usually gives you clues of locations we’ll be visiting this year. Lots of ice, which should mean Hoth and some rocky, desert terrain for Jakku (from The Force Awakens).
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.
Without further ado, let’s kick off the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar!
Day 1
Day 1 of the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar starts off really strongly, with a Landspeeder, which I assume is Luke’s Landspeeder from A New Hope. The build captures the curve of the Landspeeder well, and I really like the blend of colours – the tan, dark red, and grey look really good together.
I do like the singular grey engine thruster which matches the movie version, with the exposed bits.
It’s been 4 years since we last got a Landspeeder in an Advent Calendar, so here’s a comparison with the 2014 version. As you can see, the grey wndshield, and larger engine thrusters gives it a much more movie-accurate look, and is quite a decent update to what is already a great build.
That’s it for Day 1. Starting with an Original Trilogy vehicle build is always a good thing and I can’t wait to see what we get tomorrow.
Check in tomorrow for Day 2’s build!
Day 2
Day 2 was a surprise as out popped Rose Tico, from The Last Jedi. I wasn’t expecting it to jump so quickly to the Sequel Trilogy, especially after we started with yesterday’s Landspeeder, but here we are.
Rose is a spunky maintenance support worker for the Resistance, who gets swept into the thick of battle after encountering Finn in The Last Jedi, forging a bond with him that will take them from the casino city of Canto Bight, to the salty plains of Crait as they get face to face with the First Order.
Rose is the same version as the one from 75176 Resistance Transport Pod which I don’t own, so I’m quite happy to add her into my collection. She’s dressed in a dark tab-coloured Resistance uniform, which has quite a lot of details printed on it which I like. She also comes with a small blaster which is always welcom.
She has a really nice face, with a handy angry/annoyed alternate facial expression.
Another great thing about Rose is her unique hair-piece which I believe is currently only exclusive to her.
Rose might not be the most popular new character introduced in the Sequel Trilogy, but her minifigure is really well-designed and does a great job capturing her movie appearance. I do wish that LEGO had a slightly different skin-tone to match her Asian skin-colour, but unfortunately that doesn’t exist just yet.
As I don’t own the set that she was in, I’m also pretty happy to get her in the advent calendar – for those that do, the prospect of doubling up on Rose minifigures might not be so welcomed.
That’s Day 2 so far! Didn’t expect them to jump from Original to Sequel trilogy so soon, but I guess it’s good that we’re kept on our toes. I have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring at this rate! Maybe a prequel character or ship?
Check in tomorrow for Day 3!
Day 3
The 2018 Star Wars Advent Calendar continues to spring yet another surprise. When I assembled today’s build, it took awhile for me to figure out what it was. Day 3’s build is The Arrowhead, from The Freemaker Adventures.
The Free-what? The Freemaker Adventures is a 3D animated cartoon series by Disney and Star Wars, made in the same vein as the LEGO Star Wars video games and cartoons which debuted in 2016. I’ll be honest, I have not watched a single minute or own a single set from this theme, so I have absolutely no connection to this property at all.
The Arrowhead is also available as a LEGO set – perhaps this image will jog your memories?
The model itself does an okay job of replicating the ship’s look – I do think the pointy snout is a little too blunt and should be a little longer, but at least the colours are fairly accurate.
The transparent stud atop the ship, and studs used for the engine thrusters are a nice touch, giving it a bit of a spacey vine and I also do like the cannons that flank the body.
Featuring The Freemaker Adventures is a really perplexing move on LEGO’s part. I don’t know if the cartoon resonates with a lot of people (why they didn’t feature Rebels instead which has a bigger fanbase, I will never know) and I bet you a ton of kids and parents will be left scratching their heads when they finish building Day 3’s model.
I feel like how Rose looks in the photo above. Really bizarre choice from LEGO, as this doesn’t appeal to me one bit. Here’s hoping Day 4 brings us back to more familiar territory!
It’s also quite crazy how the start of this Advent Calendar is jumping all over the place – I simply cannot predict where we’ll end up next! Bring on some prequel builds!
Day 4
Please excuse the typo – had a brain fart when I was editing the image and only just realised that I got the name wrong!
Day 4 of the Star Wars Advent Calendar gives us a micro Republic Fighter Assault Tank, in yet another leap to the Prequel Era. Glad I guessed that one right!
The model is based on a still-available LEGO set which I loved (read my review) and for the most part, I really like that the designers managed to capture the Fighter Tank’s twin dark red prongs, and even the large cannons at the side.
I wish they managed to get the prongs to end in a curved slope piece but given the scale that they’re working at, and the LEGO elements available, they’ve done a decent job replicating the look. It is a little stumpy and I do think they could’ve extended is slightly so it looks less blocky.
I’m a big fan of the Star Wars prequels, and this was one of my favourite sets from last year, so this is a big tick in my books. All we need is a Christmas Aayla Secura minifigure, but that’s probably wishful thinking!
Hope everyone’s happy as I am with today’s build! Check in tomorrow to see where we end up next – we’ve had an Original Trilogy build, a Sequel Trilogy minifigure, a Freemaker non-canon model, and now a Prequel vehicle. Maybe we’ll get an extended universe Weapons Rack tomorrow? KIDDING.
Day 5
Day 5 of the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar gives us a familiar face, everybody’s second favourite bounty hunter from Empire Strikes Back – IG-88. Who? He’s the cool robot-looking Bounty Hunter that was despatched by Darth Vader to hunt down Han Solo.
IG-88’s gunmetal grey colour scheme is really nice, and he comes with a printed 1 x 1 round brick for his face which is another nice touch.
(IG-88 is the guy on the right)
IG-88 recently made an appearance in the Bounty Hunter Battle Pack and this minifigure is MOSTLY the same except that he has a different gun. IG-88’s status in the Star Wars fandom is quite high, as all Bounty Hunters are, so fans should be quite happy to get him in the calendar.
For me, as I already have him and he’s in a relatively cheap battle pack, I’m not too excited about him, but for casual LEGO Star Wars fans, today’s window will undoubtedly make them quite happy.
I do wish that we got a slightly more festive version somehow, maybe by adding a Santa Hat or something.
So yeah, that’s it for Day 5. Can’t complain with a fan favourite, and more blasters are always great to have!
Day 6
Okay, we’re 6 days into the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar and I’m thoroughly impressed. Day 6 brings us a micro Cloud City which is all sorts of awesome.
LEGO skipped out on location models in last year’s Advent Calendar, which were some of my favourite builds from 2016 so I’m absolutely delighted that they’ve brought them back this year.
Cloud City, which is a gas-mining colony floating in the clouds of the planet Bespin is unmistakable with this micro-model, with its dish-shaped structure and long thin shaft that extends down towards a transparent dish.
To make things extra special, the designers also included a mini Twin-pod Cloud Car attached to the stem. Cloud Cars are iconic to Cloud City and this inclusion, which is made out of a red Technic axle and pin connector is all sorts of genius.
I’ve always loved these location-based models in Star Wars Advent Calendars and couldn’t be happier that they brought it back in 2018. This is my favourite build yet, and I suspect, will be one of my top favourites when we’re all done and dusted.
Again, I cannot stress enough how much I love all the surprises that have emerged out of this year’s Advent Calendar. Mixing things up really helps keep things exciting as I simply don’t know what’s going to come next.
Come back to see what Day 7 brings!
Day 7
So sorry, but there were some issues uploading the photos from today, and I only realised when I had left the house! Please forgive me for the lack of photos today, I’ll try re-uploading when I get home!
Day 7 gives us a Naboo Starfighter, from the Prequel Trilogy. The design is the most intricate so far in this year’s Advent Calendar, as there are some unique and clever building techniques employed.
In my opinion, the Naboo Starfighter is one of my favourite ships from the Prequel Trilogy, and remember what a huge deal it was when The Phantom Menace came out in theatres.
The model does a decent job of replicating the Naboo Starfighter’s look, and is probably the best micro-rendition so far.
That said, if the model looks familiar, it is – I believe that the Naboo Starfigher is near-identical to the one from the 2012 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. I cannot for the life remember if we’ve ever got the same model recycled (Battle Droids don’t count!) but I was quite surprised that the designers decided to just copy paste the 2012 version.
I would’ve liked some sort of enhancement, but I guess the design being so good is really hard to improve on without creating new moulds or elements.
That’s it for Day 7. Again, so sorry that the photos got messed up today! I’ll try to get it fixed up when I get back to my computer.
Day 8
For Day 8 of the Star Wars Advent Calendar, we seem to be reverting to some sort of pattern with the emergence of a B1 Battle Droid minifigure! These standard issue Battle Droid the rank and file members of the Droid Army and are commonly used as cannon fodder due to them being relatively useless, but the vast numbers available do give them some sort of advantage in the Clone Wars.
In the Cartoons and Movies, they’re also used as comic relief characters (Roger, Roger!) to inject some humour into battles.
Being so ubiquitous in prequel-era Star Wars sets, you can never really get enough Battle Droids as they look great when amassed into a large army.
Droids aren’t bad, but this far in, I would’ve preferred to get a proper minifigure seeing as how we only got IG-88 a few days ago. Check back in tomorrow to see if we still remain in the Prequel-era!
Day 9
Day 9 of the Star Wars Advent Calendar is yet another fantastic prequel build – General Grievous’ Starfighter! Also known as the Soulless One, this was General Grievous’ personal ship that kinda looks like a space cadillac.
The model does a really good job capturing the Starfighter’s unique look, and I really love really prominent features such as the transparent cheese slope used for the cockpit, as well as the use of tan and dark brown elements to match the colour scheme of the original.
Here’s how it looks from the side. The designers clever employed a transparent round brick at the back to enable it to be propped up without flopping over. I believe 2012 was the last time we saw Grievous’ Starfighter in an Advent Calendar, so a refresh has been a long time coming, and I’m glad to say that this design is a massive improvement over 2012’s blocky design.
Yet another solid build from the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. As you can see above, the designers have absolutely nailed all the ships and vehicles so far, and I’ll be honest, outside of some recycled builds, or plain minifigs like the Battle Droid, this Advent Calendar has been killing it in terms of the quality of the designs.
Come back tomorrow to see what Day 10 brings!
Day 10
I’m normally not a “I hate Mondays” kind of guy, but boy, when this terrible build popped out the Day 10 window, it really put a dent in my day.
Day 10 gives us one of the most boring and uninspired builds yet, a plain, vanilla laser turret. It’s essentially a stud shooter with a handle and a targeting reticule which fires red 1 x 1 studs. That’s it. I don’t know if there’s a Star Wars tie-in to this turret at all, and I can’t be bothered to research.
This is a terrible, terrible build and such a waste of an Advent Calendar window. It’s frankly just lazy and will undoubtedly disappoint thousands of eager fans.
You know, I (and a whole bunch of you in the comments) often joke about Weapons Racks, but at least Weapons Racks had some personality. They were terrible, but at least they were self-aware about it.
I would’ve much rather get a Weapons Rack than this Turret. Man, I am so disappointed and let down. Tomorrow better make up for this! ?
Day 11
Hurray, finally a proper minifigure! Day 11 of the Star Wars Advent Calendars gives us Rowan Freemaker, the protagonist of the Freemaker Adventures. I don’t know much about him, but from my cursory reading, Rowan is a young, force-sensitive boy who isn’t quite a Jedi, but more like a Jedi in training?
The Star Wars wiki describes him as an “adventurous twelve-year old boy who had a knack for getting into trouble. He was playful, friendly, loyal, and a solid moral compass.”
The minifigure has an okay amount of detail – I like his tan jacket, and brown skin-tone. He also has a blue lightsaber, which will be a delight to just about everyone. The hilt is metallic silver, and you get a spare which is always handy.
Here’s a look at Rowan’s back printing, which has the Freemaker crest on it, which is a nice touch.
This minifigure is fairly rare, as this version of Rowan has only appeared once, in the 75185 Tracker 1 set, so if you don’t own the set, you should be pretty pleased with this!
All in all, Day 11 is a VAST improvement over yesterday. Getting a minifigure is great, and getting a not-quite-a-jedi-but-at-least-he-has-a-lightsaber minifigure is an added bonus.
Come back tomorrow to see what Day 12 brings!
Day 12
Like Cloud City, my face broke into a big grin when I popped open Day 12’s window and realised that I was about to build. Day 12 gives us a beautiful micro-model of Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter.
The design is instantly recognizable, with its yellow and grey colour scheme, and unmistakable sleek triangular profile.
The used of the angled curved slopes on the wings are a brilliant design move, and I also LOVE the white stud in front of the cockpit, which represent’s Anakin’s trusty Astromech droid – R2-D2 which slots in neatly in front of the cockpit.
There’s so much to love with this build, which has truly given me a huge sense of anticipation each day. With previous Advent Calendars, I’d always look forward to the minifigures or Star Wars characters, but with the 2018 version, I’m left wanting more micro-models.
That’s it for Day 12. Unfortunately for Prequel-haters, Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter won’t likely do much, but I think the design of the ship is such that all Star Wars fans will be able to appreciate it.
Can’t wait to see what Day 13 brings! Bring on more starships!
Day 13
Day 13’s build is a bit of a curious one – it took me a while realise that it was an Imperial Troop Transport, a vehicle that’s used to transport the Empire’s Stormtroopers around the galaxy for deployment in combat zones.
Think of it as Star Wars’ take on an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC).
It’s a pretty good rendition of what is a pretty boring vehicle design. It’s grey, blocky and doesn’t really have many interesting features, though I like the sharp corners and curves of the vehicle, as well as the little cockpit section.
It’s just pretty plain and average and doesn’t particularly excite me at all.
Day 13 is a bit of a blip for me, and we’re now officially more than halfway through the Star Wars Advent Calendar!
Hopefully, tomorrow’s build is a little more interesting than the Imperial Troop Transport!
Day 14
AS THE PROPHECY FORETOLD, Day 14 gives us what every Star Wars Advent Calendar fan has been clamouring for – a GLORIOUS weapons rack!
To be fair, I’m not being sarcastic with this, but it’s actually not bad for Weapons Racks. It does have a bit of an interesting look, with the ominous-looking transparent red 1 x 1 round bricks, and I do like the sand-blue base – which is a pretty rare colour/element.
Getting two large blaster rifles is also not too shabby. More guns = more smiles.
So you know what, today’s Weapons Rack isn’t the worst thing in the world. Unlike the boring stud-blaster build from Day 10, at least Weapons Rack have that heritage and reputation of being a staple in Star Wars Advent Calendars, so like the prequels, I guess I’ve learned to ironically like them.
Hope everyone isn’t too disappointed! What do you think of today’s Weapons Rack? Let me know in the comments!
Day 15
Day 15 gives us another minifigure, which is always a nice surprise when you open an Advent Calendar window. We get a Death Trooper, an elite commando-type Stormtrooper that we got acquainted with in Rogue One.
This variant is the same as the one found in the Imperial Trooper Battle Pack, so if you missed out on getting it, this is a great inclusion.
The Death Trooper has a really cool, stealthy helmet which is sleeker and more bad-ass than a regular Stormtrooper, and I do like the intricate printing on his body.
Underneath the mask, we get the generic Stormtrooper face.
And here’s a look at his back printing.
All in all, I’m pretty happy to get the Death Trooper. It’s really cool, and much more interesting than a regular Stormtrooper, and he makes pretty good use of the blaster rifles from yesterday’s Weapons Rack.
I believe this is the first model from Rogue One, which I’m really happy to see make an appearance, as it’s one of my favourite recent Star Wars movies and I wish we’d get way more sets from the movie.
Pretty stoked about Day 15 and I hope you enjoy the Death Trooper too!
Day 16
Day 16 of the Star Wars Advent Calendar has us building a Rathtar! You might remember this gigantic, space cephalopod thingy from The Force Awakens when Finn and Rey come across Han and Chewie aboard the Millennium Falcon.
It’s easily recognizable, which is a hallmark of a good Advent Calendar model and I do like the earthy mix of colours used, and the little red beak-like mouth of the Rathtar.
Kudos to LEGO for attempting to translate Star Wars creatures into micro-models, which I believe this is the first time that they’ve ever done? I could be wrong, but I definitely think this is the first.
I do wish that the Rathtar was slightly bigger, but I really appreciate LEGO taking risks and doing something fresh instead of rehashing an old model. Love the variety that’s coming out of this year’s Advent Calendar! This may not be my absolute favourite, but I do love how different it is!
Day 17
Continuing on The Force Awakens models, Day 17 gifts us with a really cool minifigure, a Guavian Death Gang Soldier! You might remember them from The Force Awakens, when rival gangs attempt to hunt down Han Solo, before yesterday’s Rathtar is set loose, causing chaos.
There’s something really cool about the Death Gang’s design. It’s very alien and they give off a cyborg-like look. I don’t have the sets that contain this minifigure, so I’m very happy to get one of these.
The printing details on the soldier are brilliant, with some really complex designs on both sides of its torso, and also the cool head-piece.
This is by far the most exciting minifigure yet, and I think will be well-received by most Star Wars fans. I wish they had more of the Guavian Death Gangs in the movie as their unique appearance really gives off an air of mystery, and I would’ve loved to have seen more of them, or learn about what they’re about.
That’s it for Day 17! Only a week left of the Star Wars Advent Calendar, can you believe that?
Day 18
On Day 18, we remain in Sequel Trilogy territory with the First Order TIE Fighter, which is pretty much a regular TIE Fighter for all intents and purposes, except that it has white/greyish wings and villainous red markings on its body and cockpit.
As a TIE Fighter, the build is pretty solid and this model is undoubtedly the most recognizable ship yet of the Advent Calendar, and will also appeal to old school Star Wars fans, given the aesthetics of the First Order version don’t stray far from the original.
For variety’s sake, this is a decent build, if a little plain – just like a TIE Fighter. It would be great if we get some sort of Rebel ship for the TIE Fighter to chase in the upcoming days!
All in all, a decent model that will please Star Wars fans of all shapes and sizes. Check in tomorrow as we approach the final leg of the Advent Calendar!
Day 19
Wow, what a build! Continuing on a really strong run of Rogue One models, Day 19 gives us an AT-ACT Walker. AT-ACT stands for All Terrain Armoured Cargo Transport, and you might recognize it as a distant cousin of the AT-ATs from Hoth with its camel-like look.
The AT-ACT is essentially a cargo-carrying walker, and is easily recognizable from its sibling thanks to its bright orange storage hull. Other than that, it mostly looks the same, and has the same standard features such as being very susceptible to being taken down by towing cables.
I love all manners of Walkers, so this is an easy one to like, and I appreciate the abundance of Rogue One models that didn’t quite make the cut in last year’s calendar.
The AT-ACT is also quite poseable thanks to his legs, and you can place him in all sorts of funny poses.
Again, yet another strong entrant in this Advent Calendar and a great variant to own for Star Wars fans.
Only 5 days remain in this year’s Advent Calendar, so we’re almost at the end! Let’s hope the Advent Calendar finishes strongly and that there are more cool surprises on the way!
Day 20
Did anyone ask for more Rogue One ships? Day 20 gives us a Zeta-class Cargo Shuttle which featured fairly prominently in the movie, transporting Kyber Crystals from Jedha, and also being present on Scarif.
It’s a clunky-looking ship, as its design is meant to transport big loads of cargo and its design is easily recognizable thanks to its four large wings. The wings are pointed upwards when its docked, but in the movie can be folded as its in flight. Unfortunately, in this build, the wings are rigid.
Like yesterday’s AT-ACT, the Cargo Shuttle also has a bright orange load of cargo, which is attached to the bottom of the ship. I also really like the use of wrenches for guns in this build.
A cargo ship isn’t the most exciting thing in the galaxy far, far away, but it’s another Rogue One build and one we haven’t gotten before, so it’s not too shabby. I think out of all the ships we’ve built so far, this one is probably tied with the Troop Transport as one of the weakest in terms of design.
Check in tomorrow – only 3 days left remaining in the 2018 Star Wars Advent Calendar!
Day 21
So sorry for the delay! I was travelling today for the Christmas holidays, and I got stuck with some flight delays and only just got to my computer! Also had some website issues, but it’s been fixed now!
So I was wrong in one of the comments I made – it does look like we do get a Return of the Jedi build after all with Day 21’s Speeder Bike! I certainly wasn’t expecting this so I was really happy to build what is one of the more iconic vehicles in the Star Wars universe.
This isn’t the first time that Star Wars Advent Calendars have tackled Speeder Bikes, with the last being 4 years ago with a festive-themed Speeder Bike.
This version is slightly more grounded and features an improved shape thanks to newer parts being made available. I do like the curves and the two blasters up front. I also love the “base” and the transparent 1×1 round brick used to ‘suspend’ it in the air.
One thing I didn’t like is how short and stubby the Speeder Bike looks. When I picture Speeder Bikes, I do expect them to be quite long but the shape of this one doesn’t really work for me.
The Speeder Bike is a little disappointing to me, as the shape just feels a little off. It’s a shame as it’s an otherwise great build and Speeder Bikes are one of my favourite Star Wars vehicles, so it’s a bummer that the design of this one just didn’t quite do it for me.
Day 22
Christmas is nearly upon us and we’ve gotten our very first festive-themed build on Day 22! We build a Christmas Moisture Vaporator!
It’s a cool nod to A New Hope, where we’re first acquainted with the Lars family, who adopted Luke Skywalker. On the planet Tatooine, they work as Moisture Farmers who use these Vaporators to draw moisture from the arid air.
This Moisture Vaporator also doubles as a Christmas tree and is a fun little remix of a well-known Star Wars structure. I really do love the colours used – we get three different types of green elements which go remarkably well together and I also like the star adorning the top of the tree.
I think it’s a fun little build and it’s a huge welcome to FINALLY get a Christmas-themed model. It’s a fun remix and it should start you getting into the Christmas mood!
Only 2 days left remaining! It’s not exactly a surprise what comes next (thanks, spoilers on box), but let’s try and keep the surprise going as much as possible!
Day 23
We’re here at the second last day of the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar and we culminate the last few days of Rogue One love with an unexpected, but very welcome minifigure – General Antoc Merrick.
Antoc Merric is best known for his exploits as Blue Leader and leader of Blue Squadron in Rogue One, where his heroic actions were instrumental to supporting the Rebels secure the Death Star plans.
His on-screen time was comparatively brief, but he personally left a mark on me thanks to his charisma, bravado and fantastic moustache.
As an added bonus, this is Antoc Merrick’s debut as a LEGO minifigure, and is so far exclusive to this set, which is quite a big deal as LEGO rarely if ever uses Advent Calendars to debut new minifigures.
The minifigure is a pretty accurate depiction of General Merrick, with his sandy blonde hair, and imposing moustache. His age is represented by the many fine lines on his face, and his flight suit has all the details you’d expect from an X-Wing pilot, except in dark blue.
He also has an alternate face, with a much more jovial grin, and back printing is all accounted for. 
As a massive fan of Rogue One, I’m very happy with the inclusion of Anton Merrick as I’ve always felt that it was quite weird that he hasn’t showed up in a set till now.
The fact that he’s exclusive (for now) to the Advent Calendar is a big bonus, and really does help justify this being a must-buy for any LEGO Star Wars or Rogue One fan.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure if he’s as well known to casual Star Wars fans and younger kids who are expecting a much more recognizable character.
If you’re unaware of Antoc Merrick’s exploits, I highly recommend watching this video which goes in-depth into Merrick’s history and exploits on Scarif.
Only one day left to go! Come back tomorrow to find out the final build of the Star Wars Advent Calendar and my overall thoughts on this year’s Advent Calendar!
Day 24
Here we are at last, Christmas Eve which reveals the final build of the 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar! It’s not much of a surprise given it’s been plastered all across the front of the calendar, but we get a Snowman dressed up as a Rebel Pilot.
Or more technically, a Snowman with a Rebel Pilot helmet.
It’s a little basic, and while matching the Wintery season that is Christmas (for you Northern Hemisphere dwellers), I have to say I’m a little underwhelmed.
While it’s not as bad as last year’s disappointing BB-8 with a Santa Hat, but it’s nowhere near as close as previous years where we’ve gotten main characters such as Yoda, C3PO, Darth Vader and Chewbacca dressed up in fun, festive costumes.
That said, there are some positives about the Snowman. Firstly, the printed Snowman face is currently exclusive to the Advent Calendar, and it’s really brilliant.
It’s something that I’d expect out of a LEGO City Advent Calendar, or even a Winter Village set but it’s quite puzzling that it’s shown up here of all places, but hey. I’m not complaining.
Secondly, his helmet. If you were disappointed that yesterday’s Antoc Merrick didn’t come with a helmet (given he spends most of his screen-time in an X-Wing), it’s because the Snowman’s helmet actually belongs to him! You can tell by the markings on the helmet.
So yeah, pretty cool that we sort of get two exclusive parts in the Snowman, but to me, it loses points for not being as impressive a finale as previous years. If you’ve been doing Advent Calendars for awhile, you’ll know what I mean.
It’s almost criminal that we don’t have a Santa Kylo Ren, and or even Old Luke Skywalker, who would be perfect!
Final Thoughts
So here we are at the end! First of all, for those of you who have been following all throughout December – thank you SO, SO much!
It’s been a blast as always counting down the days till Christmas and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed chatting with everyone in the comments and hearing about your experiences with the Advent Calendar.
For those of you who have been following for years, I’m beyond grateful that you’ve stuck around and I hope, as always to make this time of the year extra special!
So here we are at the end. I have to say that this is one of the strongest Advent Calendars that I’ve put together in awhile.
The highlights for me were the mini ship and vehicle models which have been the star of the Advent Calendar this year. The LEGO designers have been absolutely on fire this year with the designs and I couldn’t wait to build micro model after micro model.
This year, we got 8 minifigures in the calendar, but it honestly felt like less. If you only count ‘real’ LEGO minifigures, we only got 5 which is a little on the low side.
While the variety of characters was really balanced and included many minifigures that I’ve not owned before, I felt like the lineup lacked really big and iconic Star Wars characters. Like a Jedi. Rowan is decent but he’s from a LEGO Animated Star Wars series, which isn’t as well known as the movies.
The lack of a Jedi or Sith character was sorely felt this year. That said, I’m super pumped that they included Antoc Merrick as this year’s exclusive character and I’m willing to bet that many Rogue One fans feel the same way too.
Here’s a look at the builds and models from the Sequel Trilogy, with Rose Tico being the only entrant from The Last Jedi.
Personally, I would’ve liked to have seen more from the Sequel Trilogy, but the highlight from this group is undoubtedly the Guavian Soldier, followed by the Rathtar! 
I felt that it was really brave for LEGO to include the Freemaker Adventures. Rowan is sort of a Jedi, but not really at the same time.
As I’m not too familiar with the cartoon, I didn’t really have that strong of a connection to these two builds as I have with nearly everything else in the calendar.
It felt like there was a ton of Rogue One but it turns out there are only 4! All 4 are great, and I especially like Antoc Merrick’s minifigure debut, and the AT-ACT as well as the Death Trooper.
Always good to have Rogue One featured!
The sequel trilogy group had by far the best ship designs. Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter is an absolutely inspired build, and one of THE best Advent Calendar ships of all time.
The re-issued Naboo Starfighter is also nice for those that didn’t own it, and Grievous’ starfighter and the Republic Fighter Tank were also very nicely designed.
The original trilogy builds were a bit of a mixed bag. The Landspeeder is brilliant, but vastly overshadowed by the ultra cool micro Cloud City, which has to be the best location model in Advent Calendar history.
So all in all, I’m really happy with this year’s Advent Calendar, and I think LEGO has redeemed itself after last year’s one which was the weakest in a long time.
It isn’t perfect, and I would’ve loved to have more recognizable characters and at least a core Jedi or Sith character included.
The lack of a festive minifigure (the Snowman absolutely does not count in my eyes) is disappointing, but I think the overall strength of this year’s models makes up for it slightly.
I really enjoyed the day to day journey and also the randomness of the early part of the calendar. I really loved the unpredictability of the early part of the Advent Calendar and I hope they repeat that for next year’s.
LEGO, I know you guys read my blog – please, please, please do a better job at keeping some of the mystery of the Advent Calendar. Plastering the box with illustrations of nearly all the builds and minifigures just takes away from the surprise and mystery that you expect from an Advent Calendar.
So yeah, those are my thoughts of this year’s Star Wars Advent Calendar!
Thanks again to everyone who was following along and everyone who silently lurked, as well as left comments! I’ll try to get to everyone soon!
Let me know in the comments what your favourite days or builds were, and what you hope to see in next year’s Advent Calendar!
For those who are new to the blog, I hope you stick around for LEGO news and reviews. Next year is going to be an exciting year for LEGO with The LEGO Movie 2 and I’ve got a ton of content planned for the coming months.
Please consider subscribing to get updates on new posts via email or follow me on Facebook or Instagram !
Thank you so, so much and I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It’s been a blast and I hope to see you again for next year’s Advent Calendar countdown!
I have the most recent Luke’s Landspeeder set, and the micro version is almost perfect, despite one minor flaw. The seats are black!!!! C’mon Lego! Y’know, someone at Lego HQ is probably talking to his buddies about how the advent calendar flaws and how nobody’s gonna notice.😄 I am Jewish, and I don’t really do advent calendars, but I’m really in it for the micro builds. Do you think that most of the pieces I could find in my collection?
Oh, good spot! Maybe black would look a little too hard and contrasty on the model.
Most of the pieces should be easy enough to find if you have a large enough collection – you might have to harvest some of them!
I’m selling my LEGO collection so I need to find out which characters belonged to which advent calenders and had which accercessories (probably butchered the spelling XD) and these blogs are incredibly helpful/useful. Thanks for these! ?
You’re most welcome, glad I could help!
Great reviews. We give or son a regular Lego advert calendar before Christmas and save the Star Wars one for 24 days before his birthday. Just opened the snowman – I too felt like they phoned this one on. The White Chewbacca is a favorite in our house.
Your pics are great – they help him with the trickier builds. But he doesn’t get to look ahead!
Thanks Roy, glad you enjoy the reviews! Looking forward to what we get this year 🙂
Hi Jay
I am a Mum of a 10 year old boy who is Star Wars crazy ! We followed your blog for the first time this year and really enjoyed it. My Son got to open the calendar each day, but I got to put them together ! I didn’t get to do the last few, and have just finished them. Overall, I think they’re pretty cool, and I’ve loved doing it. I’m a big Lego fan too and just love seeing the finished product. I wish I had more time to make things ! Anyway, hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year, and thanks for your daily blog !
Hey Olivia, thanks so much for writing in and great to hear that you enjoyed building the calendar models! I did have a great Christmas – hope 2019 is off to a good start for you and your family as well!
Sorry for commenting so late on this, sick kids and traveling for the holidays… This is my first year buying the LEGO advent calendar and I really enjoyed your review each day and plan on following your future reviews! My son and I absolutely love the mini ships that came with the calendar. I was wondering if you know if LEGO makes other mini things similar to the ships? Weather they are Star Wars or not wouldn’t matter. We would just like to start a mini collection of vehicles of various types and I haven’t been able to find anything in my searches. Thanks for any help you can give!
look for “lego promotional” or “polybag” on amazon. i’m doing the same thing with my son. :). there are lots of mini-scale star wars ships that came out with the movies. another great thing to look for is the monthly mini builds that they do at lego stores.
There is a midi scale millennium falcon that I bet you could get on eBay if you wanted to.
Hi Jay, and thanks for another great advent calendar blog. I’ve returned for a third year to follow the blog (and help identify some of the builds!) I totally agree with your comments about wanting Lego to keep more of the contents a mystery, but it’s the age old problem of would folks buy a £25 advent calendar ‘blind’ with little idea of its contents? If it stated the contents as say 18 minibuilds and 6 minifigs and had generic illustrations on the box someone would complain about something on the box that’s not included in the contents, I’m not sure how it could be done. Overall I’m happy with this years offering, a decent mix of minibuilds and minifigs, slightly annoyed that my local store after selling out very fast last year and having to source one from toys r us (not an option this year ?) my local Lego store had reduced them to £20 well before December 1st. If I wait. Next year for a reduction they will sell out lol.
Cheers for another informative blog, both for the info on the various models and clarification on the builds for some of the trickier builds where the single image build instructions can be a bit confusing
See you next year!
Hi Mark, thanks again for following! I think LEGO has had a great track record with Advent Calendars – if it was a completely new product, I can understand the need to reveal the contents, but most people would get the gist by now.
And they don’t need to obscure 100% of the contents, they can still reveal a few spoilers on the box, but not the majority of builds! Also, they can have photos of the contents on the website, for people who are researching and making purchasing decisions based on the contents. Just keep the packaging relatively plain!
Sounds like a great reduction, I was able to get them for 50% off which was awesome.
Hope to see you for the next calendar! Have a great 2019!
Another great Star Wars Advent Calendar review Jay, and following your site at the same time continues to be an integral part of the experience for us and we’ve been doing the calendars since 2012.
Love the Final Thoughts and Wrap Up as well, and agree with your points and observations. Agree its definitely not the strongest year for the calendar and the Christmas Tree Moisture Vaporator and Rebel Helmet Snowman Christmas themed twin-set doesn’t really compare with previous years’ offerings which tended to have two strong characters in the last 4 days (with 2012,2014 and 2015 having them both as Christmas themed).
Favourite figure builds for us were General Merrick, the Guavian Death Gang Soldier, IG-88 (we don’t have any sets with him in!) and the Death Trooper.
Favourite vehicles for us are the Landspeeder, Gen. Grievous Starfighter, Naboo Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter.
We even quite liked the weapons rack this year (and glad it has the traditional weapons and not the stud shooters!)
We were most disappointed with the snowman and the Christmas themed moisture vaporator, more so as they are the specific Christmassy builds in the whole set!!
This has been a strong year for vehicles and for next year we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some strong day 20-24 Christmas themed iconic figures, and maybe some more location builds like cloud city.
Thanks Steve! Sounds like you really enjoyed the calendar and our lists of favourites are quite similar!
This year is the 20th anniversary of LEGO Star Wars, so I hope we get a camera that reflects that!
Thanks Jay, I really enjoyed your blog. I have been following here in the UK since I found your site when trying to identify one of the Star Wars builds in the 2015 advent calendar. But since then I have come back to your blog each year to see the daily builds,comments and share in the build reviews for each of the days.
I think your spot on with your summary review and over all a lot of creative and exciting builds and some nice exclusives. Like you I really liked the Rogue One builds this year. I was most surprised and impressed with Cloud City location build and hope LEGO might try some more location models in the future. A bit difficult with so few bricks I know, but thats down to the design teams ? . The only thing I think LEGO could try is to maybe have a double door day 24 with a few more pieces to offer a opportunity to create something a bit different for the last day. But apart from that thank you LEGO and keep up the good work.
See you next year Jay!
Thanks so much, Chris! I’d LOVE more location models – hopefully a Death Star one day!
A double door would be great, but all I want is more Santa Star Wars characters. And more legit Jedis. Hopefully they keep all this feedback in mind!
I “corrected” my speeder bike by moving the brown back parts one stud back…looks much better that way.
This was my first LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar and I had a joy opening each figure each day and then checking out your blog everyday. I too am a little disappointed that there wasn’t a Kylo Ren Santa but getting General Merrick’s helmet with the Rebel Pilot Snowman is cool because like you said; it is getting two exclusives in one set. Overall, my favorite figures and minis were the Naboo Starfighter, Luke’s Landspeeder, General Grievous Starfighter, and the First Order Tie-Fighter. I can’t wait to grab next year’s calendar and to do this all again.
Merry Christmas!
This is my second year following this calendar blog. Thanks for filling me in on the ships and characters that I wasn’t familiar with. I love your commentary as well.
By the end of the month even my spouse would take a look and exclaim “oh boy, what is Jay going to say about this one?”
Thanks Jay, I enjoy reading your commentary almost as much as I do the build
Thank you, Jay – your blog (as much as the Star Wars advent calendar itself) has become a Christmas tradition in our house 🙂 Have a great Christmas and a happy and successful 2019
Merry Christmas Jay. Really enjoyed your blog and all the comments. It made so much more of the Lego advent calendar. Hats off to the Lego creators, I love the skills of turning a very small number of bricks into a characterful recreation of a Star Wars ship or vehicle.
Please do it all again next year
Hello!! This is our second year with the star wars calender and our second year with this blog. We love your commentary! It’s been a fun calandar, we look forward to next year. Merry Christmas! Cheers!
Great “final thoughts” summary Jay … couldn’t have put it better myself.
And, to top it off I got the Lego Millenium Falcon from Santa (my wife) — can’t wait; just gotta work out where it’s going to go in the house once built!
Thanks again for a great posting for the overall Advent Calendar summaries – well done!!
Countdown in effect for 2019!
Thank you so much, Jay, for helping me to pretend to my friends and family that I’m more knowledgeable than I am about Star Wars canon. You are a poser’s dream!
My only complaint it I would have liked a few more Christmas-y builds. I think with an advent calendar they can have some fun with this world and give us more droids in Santa hats and Christmas tree weapons. But this year’s Weapons Rack has grown on me since one of your readers pointed out it looks like a crazed reindeer if you pose the weapons just right.
Once again, you and the whole Jays Brick Blog community really added to this experience. Thank you everyone and as Yoda would say, “Merry, may your Christmas be, young starfigher.”
Thanks Jay
For yet another year you’ve been part of my Xmas buildup
Have a very Merry Xmas
Very, very VERY great job on your blog Jay. This is the first year reading it and is also the first time my son and i have opened up a Star Wars Advent Calendar. He and I have REALLY enjoyed the surprises, reveals, and selections LEGO came up with. My ultimate favorite is Cloud City followed by the Speeder Bike and the Rathtar.
I haven’t read through ALL of your followers’ replies and your feedbacks but I had an idea for Day 3: The Arrowhead and minor insights for Day 10: Laser Turret and Day 13: Imperial Troop Transport.
Day 3: The Arrowhead – I think LEGO could’ve somehow attached a ski pole underneath the ship with the point of the ski pole facing forward slightly extending from the front of the ship to resemble the “battering ram” part of the ship.
Day 10: Laser Turret – You mentioned that this build has no tie-in to the Star Wars Galaxy. But isn’t this the Laser Turret that was on top of Jabba the Hutt’s Sail Barge used by one of Jabba’s guards shooting at the Desert Skiff?
Day 13: Imperial Troop Transport – When I saw this build it reminded me of the transports that were used in the show Star Wars Rebels.
Have a great day and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Jay. Same time next year. X
Thank you so much for your blog! This is my first time opening a Star Wars Advent calendar, and it was really helpful to have some of the pieces identified. More importantly, it was fun to read your posts because you were so clearly having fun as well! Merry Christmas from Canada!
Jay, my son and I have really enjoyed your blog. It has been very useful in identifying some of the items and so adding to the enjoyment of what has been a ver6 good Lego advent calendar. Your blog is very well done and we look. Forward to catching up with further updates and builds. Happ6 Christmas from here in the UK.
Great job as always Jay, thank you for taking the time to do it- you are an invaluable source of SW identification knowledge and without you, I would had thought we got a Sarlac pit monster, 2 ships I never seen before and a character with a light saber that would have had me baffled?
Hopefully see you next year for another ‘weapons rack’ opening and have a Merry Christmas down under! (Hopefully no hail stones!)
Cheers ?
Thanks Jay – always love your blog! Every morning I open my window and build whatever is waiting for me then go onto your site and see what you think! Have a great Christmas!
I would of liked some rebels characters but overall have loved my first advent calendar
I actually think the snowman is kind of cool. I like how General Merrick’s helmet was included in the snowman. That adds a cool aspect of fun for me. My least favorite was General Grievious’s Starfighter. Merry Christmas!
Thanks for your simply awesome blog Jay. As if the advent calendar wasn’t enough to keep us looking forward to each new day in December, reading the layers of detail about the Star Wars Legoverse in your blog has been a bonus to catch up with each day. Thanks so much for bothering: your excitement and positivity each day (even with the weapons rack!) has been brilliant.
This is not our first Advent Calendar. I have bought these for my son in the past. This year I bought it for selfish reasons. I wanted the Merrick figure for myself. I made it clear to my son. This is my set, I get Merrick and his helmet, my daughter gets Rose (one of her favorite characters and he can build everything and have everything else. :p
I’m never really overly critical of the builds as i am always surprised had well something can look with so few pieces.
My big disappointment was this last set. Not because of what it was, but because the helmet did not have a visor. Did not realize it from the box at the time, and I only when I put the help on the figure.
I have watched the Freemaker series. It is entertaining but it never compelled to buy sets. I wish they would have merged two of my least favorite sets together, the battle droid and a Freemaker series figure (Rowan) and done R0-GR. This way you got room for a more desired mini figure.
Like Jay, I really enjoyed the Rogue One items. I hope to see some Solo items included next year.
When Merrick wears his helmet, the snowman’s going to look rather odd sporting Merrick’s hair 🙂
Thanks for your blog again this year Jay, at times you are my Obi-Wan!
We want a K2SO next year. Maybe in a Santa hat.
Merry Christmas and Happy Other Stuff too.
My son and I love your blog and look forward to it every year! We begin taking about it some time around Halloween here in the States. Thank you so much for all you do with this! It helps make out Christmas season bright!
We really enjoyed coming to your site everyday to check on the build. My son and I would read your blog as he was building the Lego of the day from the Star Wars aAsvent Calendar. This is our second year visiting your site and have just signed up to get updates, news posts, and reviews from you. Keep up the AWESOME work and Merry Christmas!
Thanks for blog! This is my first year and I am for sure coming back next year!
Thank you so much for your blog! We have been following it for four years. It’s been a big help for the trickier builds, and we like learning more about each day’s treat. Maggie builds before breakfast, I admire and offer help if needed, then we check Jay’s Brick Blog!
Merry Christmas,
Josh and Maggie
Norman, OK, USA
Well, 2nd year both following your blog and doing the advent calendar. Definitely an improvement over last year, didn’t need your help identifying as much stuff this year. I do like that, bar Solo and Resistance, every screen representation of Star Wars is included. Hoping we get some Solo and Last Jedi stuff next year
This is my third year reading your blog as I went through my advent calendar, and as always it was a real treat, and made the calendar more fun, and made me feel connected with others who were having similar reactions to the pieces as I was. Thank you so much for all your hard work! It’s so appreciated 🙂
I know this a labour of love but thank you so much for all that you put into this, year after year. It really does elevate the experience of the SW Advent calendar into a festive event shared by the fans who follow your blog. I’ve needed more help than ever identifying some of the builds and characters! I agree on the strength of the minibuilds; Bespin was the highlight for me and the twin pod cloud car from a single element was genius and instantly recognisable. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
We are so glad we found you as we opened our first ever LEGO advent calendar. We loved being able to double check that we were right s about what we built and when we didn’t know what it was, you did! We loved your honest commentary about each days build. Thanks for all the work you put into this! Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much, Jay! This is my first time using the blog and my 1st/favorite advent calendar of all. Whenever I couldn’t figure out what the build was for that day, I would turn to your blog. I’m going to get one next year, and I will ever so definitely use your blog. Thank you again!
I haven’t known about your blog until December 5th 2017(I was doing your least favorite(2017 star wars)advent calendar at that time)! We had no idea what the builds were. When we tried to look it up, we finally found your blog!
Nice one Jay! We’ve been following here in the uk for a couple of years now and definitely grateful for your deciphering of the more obscure builds!
Here’s to next year ?
Happy Christmas! ???
This Advent Calendar (and 2011s Advent Calendar since I was doing that too) have been a blast. I enjoyed following along with you in this Advent Calendar. Besides, I just opened up Santa Yoda from 2011 and he looks so cool! Another great Advent Calendar, and I wish you a Happy Holidays Jay!
Didn’t get my Zera Class Cargo Shuttle on day 20 got another Battle Droid instead must of been a mistake at the factory apart from that really impressed with my 2nd year opening this calendar.
Thanks for another great year of commentary Jay.
I took a step back today and looked at the complete advent calendar with all the builds next to each other.
And I think it’s been a good year… not the best but as you said, not as bad as last year’s.
I completely agree with all your comments in your rap up and I hope LEGO do take note.
Merry Christmas mate.
The final window is open, the calendar is finished 🙁
I’ve certainly enjoyed most days builds and minifigures, give or take the ‘cannon’ and weapons rack and a couple of duplicates, Rose and IG-88. The opening day Landspeeder and Cloud City were the main highlights in the first half and then the quality really improved from day 15 with three brilliant minifigures, Rogue One vehicles and the Rathtar.
Many thanks to Jay for your work on the blog, it’s been nice to be back after a few years. Happy Star Wars Christmas to you and all the commenters and readers.
wow
Thanks, as always, for your excellent commentary and support for the month of December. My kids are aging out of this (they used to alternate windows but now it’s just for the younger one ? )b but we always check your blog for info at the end of the year. Merry Christmas to you and yours and I hope 2019 is healthy and excellent.
Thanks Jay, your help in putting names to the various builds and figures over the month has been much appreciated. Looking forward to opening the last door tomorrow…
Thanks for the link to the video Jay, as I had no idea who this guy was, and he felt a little anticlimactic when we usually get festive variations of old favourites. It helps to know that he’s the best buddy of who I think is the “stay on target, stay on target” and “they came from behind” pilot from A New Hope, and I will notice him more on a future viewing of Rogue One now.
We have followed you for a few years now for each day of the Star Wars advent calendar. We really appreciate you honest opinion of each day, your descriptions, and your spoiler free approach. Just wanted to say thank you for your blog. Our family looks forward to reading it every day in December!
I LOVED opening Day 23 to get this figure of Antoc! Makes for a great exclusive figure!
My family gets the LEGO Star Wars advent calendar every year. We’ve been arguing over what the day 9 ship was supposed to be forever. My mom and brother were convinced it was a vulture droid, glad to know I can finally one up them with a conclusive answer.
Also, builds from a LEGO Star Wars Disney animated series? Who would’ve guessed? I could not figure out what that ship was or who the little Jedi kid was.
Thank you for your blog. My son and I weren’t sure what some of these ships were. Have a great Christmas!
The Christmassy moisture vaporator is a nice little build. I particularly like the shades of green, which I am not used to seeing (I probably do too much spacey Lego). Overall my favourite so far is still Luke’s speeder from day 1, it captures the original well.
Day 14 is not only a weapon rack, but also a rain deer head. Rudolph to be exact.
I consider you a hero among humans. This blog is awesome, thanks so much for doing it!
If anyone wants to improve the speeder from Day 21 you can use some spares to extend the front forks.
The ‘gun’ on the Day 20 shuttle (same piece as speeder forks) can be added to black lightsaber handles at both ends and the brown fins moved down. Works great. If you have two spares.
Thanks for blog btw. My little boy loves checking with me as he doesn’t know all of the films.
Ah so speeder bike wasn’t as good as I thought one of the brown studs with handle just snapped .
Make a claim for a missing piece through the Lego shop, as broken is as near to missing as makes no odds.
Thank You. I have and they are sending it out
I live this speeder bike, it’s my favourite of the year so far 🙂
I have contacted you about this on Facebook
The tie fighter is a 1st order special forces tie not just a first order
You can see as it has a red strip on one side
https://www.google.com/search?q=first+order+special+forces+tie+fighter&rlz=1C9BKJA_enAU666AU666&hl=en-GB&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwicttiq1LLfAhUNeCsKHbw0DtsQ_AUoAnoECA0QAg&biw=1024&bih=659#imgrc=J7pCCMtDBm2pnM
You are right.
Day 21 was empty for us! I contacted LEGO via their online chat. The rep was so kind and sent out multiple replacements for our kids (even though we just have one calendar). Very impressed!
I know it’s a matter of taste, but I disagree with your opinion about its ‘stubbyness’’ being a disadvantage. If we look at Lego’ized world its ‘stubbyness’ is a charming characteristic, thanks to the blocky nature of the toys. Minifigures are stubby, models are stubby, Death Star is the perfect example of it – it’s because the thickness o one stub is not in proportion of the wall to the real life buildings. If we would be looking at scaling down exact real proportions and dimensions it would’t have the same appeal.
there, I said it 😉
Hi Jay,
thanks a lot for your dedication and all these posts, TLG couldn’t have better salesman to promote their advent calendars 😉 as now, I’m quite interested in it, just wait for the discount sales after the new year to hope to get one cheaper.
Totally endorse your comments Jay. Great to have a speeder bike but my first comment after I made it was that I was not sure which speeder bike it was,… I know that there is only so much that you can do with bricks but I felt that the proportions were off and so it is slightly disappointing to think that they meant this to be the classic sleek 74-Z when it seems, quite frankly, a bit stubby.
Uh oh, there’s only three days left, and all three upcoming models are displayed on the box, which means that, as opposed to my theory that the grand finale will finally be a surprise, it’s going to be that boring, unmemorable General Merrick guy that had about a quarter of a minute of screentime and died at the end of it.
Day 21 is not showing anything 🙁
I’m guessing day 21 is a Speeder Bike as you haven’t posted it yet ?
Dear Jay, when ever I build my little lego build or person I look at your blog , but when I get up and see this blog I don’t see the correct one. I hope this is not making you fell bad but just to let you know that. plus I live in Virginia and I don’t know if it’s something with the time. Bye Jay
Jay is here in Australia so we are a lot of hours ahead of you.
Is this ship not rogue one?
I loved today’s speeder bike. It was great fun to build and looks ace. Whole calendar has been awesom
Day 21?
So close now the tension is building!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not sure I understand the engineering decision by the designers with the Zeta class shuttle. When its wings are down in flight it kind of looks like a swimming turtle and it would have been cool to have that. In my opinion, this could have been achieved very easily with only a small number of changes and 4 extra pieces.
All that would have been required is for the four grey 1×2 brackets (part 99780) to be replaced with the modified 1×2 plate with handle (part 2540), then four of the modified 1×2 plates with horizontal clip (part 11476) added to each wedge plate (wing) piece – which, by the way, I’d have made a 4×2 (part 41770) as opposed to the 3×2 (part 43723) provided. This would allow the wings to move up and down for the cost of only four extra parts.
That does seem a very easy way to have made the shuttle poseable. Perhaps they made it solely in the landed position because that was how it was seen for more of the important scenes in the film.
That does seem an easy way to have made the shuttle poseable. Perhaps they chose to make it in the landed position because that is how it appears in more of the important scenes in the film?
Day 20s shuttle could have used hinged wings.
I thought it was an Imperial Toilet, from the Holiday Special.
So today (day 21) is the first time ever I’ve had a piece missing from a build in 8 years. It was only a a brown 1×1 square stud (which I have a spare)… it’s odd as there were a ton of extra pieces in the bag, way more than usual.
I’ve had a good run lol.
I really like today’s build.
Hope you do too Jay.
Interestingly I had my first ever missing piece with day 20. I was missing on of the shuttle’s wings.
The important thing about this cargo shuttle is that it is the type of craft “Rogue One” was. I was surprised how little love the namesake of the movie recieved. It’s the first time Lego has done the craft in any form.
Don’t get ahead of yourself, Jay – it’s the 20th today, so there’s four more days left of the calendar!
Star Wars Exhibition was very cool …. included an interactive fit-bit style bracelet that allowed kids to build their own Star Wars character by swiping certain values/decision points for their character! 🙂
QUESTION to all – Day 20’s Zeta-class Cargo Shuttle …. did anyone else not get a nose-piece in their pack?
My Shuttle now unfortunately looks ‘stubby’ at the front! Oh well ….
4 days to go ….. for a 24-day Advent Calendar the time definately flies by!
Me, me! I definitely wanted more Rogue One and this cargo shuttle doesn’t disappoint. It’s another really accurate design with so few pieces and I’m very happy with it to go with yesterday’s AT-ACT and the Death Trooper. As I saw you point out further down Jay, a K2-SO would really be the icing on the Rogue One cake! He’s only in the Krennic’s Shuttle set and was such a popular character that I think he’d be so well received in a calendar for everyone who doesn’t have him.
Four days left but only one surprise, unfortunately, if the box is accurate. I have enjoyed the calendar a lot but the combination of the calendar and your blog Jay is what turns it into a total experience. Reading you posts and all the comments over my morning coffee make me feel there is still hope for humanity. Internet has turned into such a dark place but here is joy and excitement. On a bad build day, a bit less excitement, but joy all the same.
Thanks!
I love this mini kit, about time we got a decent many piece build.
My 7 year old came up while I was building #19 and she immediately recognized it as a walker (despite it being largely assembled) and got really excited!
Nice, it’s always an exciting affair to get a walker 🙂
Loved the build today!
One of the more complicated models to figure out from the single-panel instructions, but a rewarding build nonetheless.
2015 was the only year I sat the calendar out, consequently I don’t have the AT-ST from that set, so I’m happy to get it this time 🙂
Sad that there’s only 5 more enticing doors to go!
Yeah, I loved it! You can now add a Walker to your collection!
The AT-ACT looks better if you flip the rear legs so the studs face forward. And I’m not sure they’ve done the best job with the head that they could have, it feels truncated and blocky. A two-stud head would probably look too elongated however, so I’m not sure that’s the solution.
I agree with Jay, you can’t have too many walkers! This is identical to the 2015 version apart from the orange cargo bays and orange leg clips. It looks fine as it is but I wonder what two of those ingot pieces, if they even come in orange, would look like attached to the sides to make the cargo bays smoother and stick out more realistically? I don’t have any to try.
If you want to make this build more Christmassy, use the spare grey neck bracket from the day 4 Republic Fighter Tank and the spare round trans-red stud from yesterday’s TIE Fighter to make a good red nose for Rudolph the AT-ACT! If you have the brown antlers from 2015’s R2-D2 then even better!
Great idea! Though I don’t have the antlers so it feels a bit lacking…
What I did find however is that the neck piece, combined with the spare one-stud sloping grey piece from Day 7’s Naboo Starfighter, makes for a more convincing walker head/command module.
I kinda like the blocky look – it’s distinctively lEGO that way.
It’s probably supposed to look like 2015’s AT-AT.
Not the first walker we’ve had over the years but this one is pretty cool. Really stands out.
Love the orange part – it really pops against the drab grey.
Hi there! So…I’m sorry to be that guy, but that Tie Fighter is not simply the First Order one (Tie f/o) but actually a Special Forces Tie (as indicated in the wiki link you provided). Its difference is indicated by the “red shoulder”. It’s a fascinating model, the only 2-seater Tie-Fighter and provides turret fire front and back! 🙂 Ok, I’ll go back to my room now…
It’s also equipped with a hyperdrive for long range missions! a fighter that size that *could* get this deep into space on its own! It’s a miracle of fictional-space-engineering that they managed to squeeze a hyperdrive, another seat and such heavy weapons on a fighter so small and nimble.
I was coming to the comments to say this. 🙂 You are not alone. 😉
(Did you know this because you are also a Battlefront player? “They weren’t expecting Special Forces!” Heehee!)
You’re totally right, thanks for sharing that info. I ALWAYS get confused between the two!
Thank you thank you for this blog! You’ve saved my life 2 years running. My 7 year old son insists on knowing exactlynwhat things are, and while I’m usually pretty good at identifying things, some stuff just escapes me. So thanks for this!
You’re so welcome, I’m so glad that I can help! Thanks for following and for the ongoing support!
Hey there!
About this tie-fighter, I believe it’s a Special Forces Tie, as denoted by the “red shoulder”, where the regular Tie F/O would have only the reddish cockpit!
Ah you’re correct, thanks for that bit of info! I always get confused between the two!
As much as I like all the original and sequel content we have been getting, I want more prequel builds!
This is why we get so much variation, everybody wants different! Personally, I wouldn’t choose to have any prequel or cartoon inspired days! It’s been all over the place this year and has lost the themed runs of consecutive days bring based on the same location or film. It seemed a shame to only have Rose from The Last Jedi, it would have been nice to have a micro transport pod or something. In the future they have to do some Solo builds such as micro Landspeeders, Conveyex or Dryden’s ship. A Christmasy Lando would be quite snazzy too! With such a wide amount of inspiration to draw from, it seems strange there are a multitude of repeats this time, and not really things that are particularly popular.
Yes, to more Prequels!
Am I misunderstanding something, or is one of the wing-attachment studs red and the other is black? Is there some precidence for this in cannon?
It’s based on the Special Forces TIE Fighter model: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE/sf_space_superiority_fighter
The red flash by the cockpit marks the TIE fighter out as the Special Forces model http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE/sf_space_superiority_fighter
(Also the link isn’t working for it from the list at the head of the page)
That’s what I was thinking!
Ahhh, it seems that you’re right! I’ve updated the link to point to the correct page! Thanks for sharing that knowledge!
Love the blog, but I have to disagree with what you called a turret that doesn’t fit into the Star Wars universe. It’s a blaster cannon. That’s why it has handles. And it’s very common in the Star Wars Battlefront games. In my humble opinion anyway, which naturally must be argued with because, well, that’s what people do on the internet.
Regardless, happy building!!
No worries at all, thanks for sharing your thoughts! It’s not a specific cannon, and it’s just not particularly interesting to me that’s all, but hey, it’s pretty subjective, so I’m glad that you like it and feel that it fits in well!
Couldn’t agree more with your comments about Day 15: Great to see Rogue One (my favourite of the recent films) getting some love!
There’s SO much Rogue One which is brilliant. Would’ve LOVED a K2-SO, but that would’ve been a bit too much to ask for!
The abundance of Rogue One builds has been a very welcome early Christmas present! K2-SO would be amazing! Or a festive Orson Krennic ? Maybe next year!
Hi Jay! This is year 3 for me, so apologies for not saying how great this blog is before. The day 17 red soldier is something I would never have ID’d without your site! Your knowledge and insight are great, it really is my daily tradition now to build then come visit here. I wasn’t sure what the black stormy was a couple of days ago- my instant reaction was oooh ISB, cool… Death Trooper sounds even better!
Hi Paul, wow, thanks so much for following for three years! I’m really grateful for the ongoing support, and one of the things I really enjoy is helping Star Wars fans or even newbies decode some of the more obscure builds/characters in the Advent Calendar!
Hope you’re enjoying this year’s Advent Calendar! I think so far it’s been a massive improvement over last year’s.
Hello There
General Kenobi!
General Kenobi!
GENERAL KENOBI
You are a bold one.
Minifigs are cute, but unexciting. I like them best in retrospect when sorting out my shelves, just not on the day. I think I like the “what on Earth’s this!” of getting a bag of bits best.
I think the minifigs have been decent. A bit too many Droids for my liking, but so far it’s not particularly disappointing. Good bits of variety in this year’s calendar and lots of minifigs that I don’t personally own.
Yeah you know about thst “rathtar” you said day 16 was well look on your tv on netflix for star wars the clone wars at seson 4 episode 1 “water war” at 4:58 seconds anf youl see its not a rathtar
It’s a rathtar. It’s a mini version from the Rathtar escape set.
I definitely agree, the model looks more like a Mon Calamari troop transport ship, but Lego.com identifies the model as a Rathtar.
I’m 100% sure it’s a Rathtar. Be careful of spoilers, but if you read the product description on the LEGO website, you’ll see that they mention the Rathtar.
No spoilers*
But day 17 is awesome. I was literally just looking at a review of a set last night and I was going to buy it solely for what we receive behind today’s door.
Very happy.
Yup, what a cracker of a minifig!
Ever since the Day 14 Weapons Rack I’ve been singing. “God rest ye merry Weapons Rack, let nothing you dismay…” as I do my daily build.
But that leads to my criticism this year that except for the red tones in the Weapons Rack, nothing so far is very “Christmasy”. I love when they give Darth Vader a Santa sack or turn a weapon into a Christmas tree. It gives the advent calendar gifts a nice whimsical flair.
I know the storm trooper snow man is coming thanks to the spoilers on the box, but I like to have this out for my house decorations so I’m taking some pieces from past years to dress it up. So hello Darth Santa
I agree. I’ve been really disappointed that there’s been nothing Christmassy yet.
Yes, nothing particularly Christmasy has been quite frustrating. I think the BEST Weapons Rack in recent times was that one with the Santa Hat, which I thought was a clever in-between.
Really surprised they haven’t hit us with a Santa Kylo Ren yet.
Day 16! Adding on the creature model thing you stated, there was that Luggabeast model from last year.
Oh yes, totally forgot about the excellent Luggabeast! Thanks for reminding me!
Are you sure it is a rathtar and not a sarlacc?
It could be both.
Positive that it’s a Rathtar. I don’t think we’ve gotten a single Return of the Jedi build this year.
Here we are day 16 and there are only 2 mystery windows left. I completely agree that a generic packaging would be better than spoiling so much of the “reveal”.
Love your blog.
Every year I pray that LEGO would keep it more mysterious, and every year I don’t get my wish. I just try my best to be oblivious and try to ignore the box art!
Two thirds through and I think the Bespin one is still my favourite, closely followed by the landspeeder.
Nice! My Top 3 is currently Bespin, Naboo Starfighter and Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter!
I think there is a sarlac in a previous advent calendar.
Yup! Totally forgot about that! And the Luggabeast as some others have mentioned!
Its definitely a Rathtar & an awesome build at that! We got a Sarlacc a few years ago that was pretty creative with the tentacles coming up from a sand colored pit.
Love the blog, its become a tradition & as much fun as the builds themselves ?
I thought the Death Troopers were cyborgs or something, as they speak electronically. But as they’re human here, do the helmets translate standard into code and back again?
Death Troopers were elite recruits who were required to exceed the standards of other Stormtroopers. They were then better trained, subjected to strenuous physical tests and given classified surgical implants to increase their ability to a level beyond human. To keep communication between Death Trooper squads secret, the helmets contained voice scramblers as well as advanced sensors and targeting equipment.
Thanks! Nice to have a bit of info. I read that in Pablo’s voice as if I was watching Rebels Recon BTW 🙂
A rathtar? Ohhhh… I thought it was one of those big ships in the clone wars used to grab and kidnap other ships. The one with 4 arms hanging down? That one.
Which ship?
Is was a ship shown for a few seconds in the beginning of the clone wars movie. It grabbed a hutt sail barge I think.
*It
Sarlacc was the first creature I’ve seen in 2015
https://jaysbrickblog.com/2015/12/01/lego-star-wars-advent-calendar-2015/#Day2
The first creature was a sarlacc…maybe 3 years ago?
Sarlacc appeared in the 2016 calendar (75146) and was a flatter, sandier colour. My first thought on opening this one was rathtar as well
Rathtar? Sarlacc? … maybe a Graboid from Tremors 😉
Good comments, well made. Following your blog is part of my Christmas build-up with my grand daughter. Thanks for the continued effort
Ohhhhh…..a rathtar! Good god, I was just looking at it for 10 minutes thinking….what?? What is this??
Thank gooodness for your blog- would it hurt for Lego to print what it is on the inside of the doors?
A Rathtar? My first thought was that if you stand it facing upwards, it looks more like the Special Edition RotJ version of the Sarlacc, the one with the head added……
100% a Rathtar. It lacks the Sarlacc’s teeth and has way too many tentacles! Also the dark red colour scheme is a dead giveaway!
Are you sure that is a rathtar? Looks more like the sarlacc from episode 6.
Definitely a Rathtar. Spoiler on box as it’s after one of the Guavian Death Soldiers. Enjoying the calendar this year, couple duds but my son and I enjoying the builds.
100% positive its a Rathtar.
I found 2 bags inside… the Rathtar and the Xmas tree in the same container.
I hope it’s an extra bag but I think it’s just a shuffle in the box.
Huh that’s weird! Seemed like the contents got mixed up. Or maybe you got two builds in one!
Hey Jay, I think this is the Sarlacc from Return Of The Jedi, the one that eats Boba Fett, great site by the way!!
It’s definitely a Rathtar. We had a Sarclacc a few years back, and judging by the shape and colour, and tentacles, it’s not likely to be a Sarlacc.
Is it a Rathtar or is it the Sarlacc? The colours are sandy
Is this a Rathtar or is it the Sarlacc? The colours are more sandy
Definitely a Rathtar
Still prefer the cannon (Day 10) to he weapons rack (Day 14). Entertainment value of a firing cannon cannot be beat.
Always good to shoot at pesky Battle Droids.
I really like the death trooper. I like the cool design of the helmet. I think it is cool after yesterday’s OK weapons rack.
Yup, definitely one of the coolest minifigs in this Advent Calendar.
If look at day 14 looks like a reindeer
So many people have pointed that out!
I really like your blog. This is my first star wars lego advent calendar and really enjoying it. Your blog helps when I don’t have a clue what something is. Particularly like the grievous ship and naboo ship.
I’m so glad that I could help and that you’re enjoying the calendar so far! Thank you and happy holidays!
Are you sure that’s a death trooper? It looked more like a first order tie fighter pilot to me.
Compare the helmets. It’s a death trooper.
It is a Death Trooper, TIE Pilots are completely different!
Thank goodness we got someone of real quality to use yesterday’s blaster rifle! Brilliant!
The best thing anyone can do with their Death Trooper, and any other helmeted Imperial, is to replace the flesh head with a black head. The ugly flesh colour showing from the side or back really spoils the fully armoured look of the different variants of Stormtroopers. I doubt anybody wants to display or play with the ‘angry clone’ heads on show so I don’t know why Lego doesn’t supply plain black heads for these minifigures.
LEGO probably made MILLIONs of these clone heads. Yeah, I really miss the ones with the black silhouette – but I guess the printing on those were quite iffy. They never really did get the face colour right.
Pretty sure that’s a death trooper. The helmet and torso details in particular give it away.
… and now I want to watch a Star Wars movie again.
Definitely a Death Trooper from its distinct helmet.
I love your advent calendar descriptions and I am getting into liking Star Wars now because of your advent calendar. Thank you, 5 year old Alex
Hey Alex, thank you so much for the kind words! Glad you’re getting into Star Wars, there’s never been a better time to be a Star Wars fan! Merry Christmas!
Rogue one… What a film. Any link to that is quality.. Great opening today.. Just saw the film again two days ago.. For I don’t know how many times.. Rogue one is one of the best star wars movies.. But I love them all in their own way.. FYI.. This is my six year old calender and he knew what it was as he has the same passion.. Cant wait for the next days ahead!
Yeah, I agree. Rogue One has aged really well, and I always have a good time when I put it on. That pay-off at the ending is so, so, so good!
I was a day behind with my calendar but when I opened day 14, imagine my surprise and disappointment to find another day 10 laser turet!
OH NO. That sounds dreadful. Like doubly painful.
I’d write to LEGO to get a replacement. That said, I’m not sure if you’d really want to go through all that trouble for a Weapons Rack.
This is the first SW advent calendar I’ve had no idea as to the identity of some of the builds…troop transport, Freemaker ship, Grevious’ ship. Thankfully, you are here to enlighten me ?
Wow, I thought you of all people would be pretty well-versed in all things SW!
About that Day 10 Turret, I was scrolling through some Lego Star Wars sets online and happened upon one that looked a bit familiar. Check out set 75197 – First Order Specialists Battle Pack. Similar appearance and color scheme, plus both shoot red studs. I’m not suggesting this discovery should change anyone’s opinion on the surprisingly controversial build, but it’s slightly interesting and may be worth a look.
Ooooh, that’s interesting, you might be on to something. I do think the legs are missing – it would’ve been cool if it had those claw-like legs.
I’m laughing because my 8-year-old son just yelled, “Jay is going to hate this one!” from his bedroom. Imagine his surprise when he read your post for today. He thinks the turret was better.
Haha, I think from doing Advent Calendars for so many years, I treat Weapons Racks like visits to the dentist. I know it’s going to happen, and it’s not going to be the most pleasant experience, so best to make light of it!
I know weapon racks are a staple of Lego Star Wars advent calendars, but I don’t understand who these weapons are even for. Every figure so far has already come with an appropriate weapon or two.
Well they can always get larger guns!
Weapons rack a bit of a let down. We rather liked the stud blaster though – had some entertainment from that
I agree. The stud blaster was pretty cool. The weapons rack, well, at least it looked pretty cool. Also, am I the only one who plays with the builds?
Weapons Racks are always a let down, but sometimes, you just gotta accept it as what it is and make light of it!
I actually thought the laser turret was better than the weapons rack and can’t believe you’re talking so positively about it. At least you can shoot things with the laser turret and have a little fun with it. (Even if it’s not very relatable to Star Wars.) The weans rack is lame.
Haha yeah, the post was meant to be partly ironic in the – its a weapons rack, I know it’s not going to be ideal, so how can I make the most out of it sense.
My kids love the weapon rack because they think it looks like an evil reindeer with red eyes! I was like…that’s Christmassy I guess…
Haha, they’re not the only ones to make that observation!
In our set, the weapon rack and turret were swapped, so I have been in suspense to see the infamous laser turret…
Oh, that’s so bizarre.
Hi Jay. I think today’s weapons rack is better than previous weapons racks. Like your blog.
Agreed. Last year’s was ghastly!
Thank you for this great blog. Your knowledge is vast and I so much enjoy reading this with my 4 & 9yo!
you’re very welcome, I’m glad I could help!
I’ve been waiting for this for two weeks! Finally! I think it looks cool, but I wish it opened.
My son was less than thrilled by the weapons rack, he does appreciate having two more blaster rifles but he is hoping that one day he’ll open the little door to find the Millennium Falcon ?. He did find it funny tho, when his Mum pointed out that the weapons rack looks a bit like Rudolph….
Haha, his mum isn’t the only one that made the reindeer comparison!
My son though the weapons rack looked like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer ?
Some people pointed out it looks like an evil reindeer!
I don’t think a weapons rack is a bad idea since the army builder pack omit them for stud shooters. Probably a lot of kids like the stud shooters but I tend to like something that replicates actual blaster weapons.
Yup, agreed, which is why I didn’t really mind the weapons racks. Blaster rifles are becoming quite rare, replaced by stud blasters so I’m always happy to get rifles.
The ultimate insult will be a weapons rack with a stud blaster, yuck!
While the laser turret might be a dud in your eyes, my kid discovered that it’s great for launching the battle droid! ?
Haha, that’s brilliant. Glad he’s putting it to its intended use!
I bloody hate weapons racks, shows a lack of imagination!
It’s almost a recurring joke at this point.
I like day 14’s Weapons Rack – looks a bit like a satanic reindeer!
Haha, that is a brilliant observation – Imperial reindeer Christmas decoration! Maybe it has a redeeming feature!
That’s a valid observation!
My 7 year old and I wanted to thank you for this blog Jay. We’re on our third year now and his first question every day is “what does Jay say about today’s build?” ?
My 5 year old asks me the same thing every day!
Thanks so much for the support, I should be thanking you instead for being on your third year! Hope the both of you are enjoying the advent calendar so far!
I missed out on the Imperial Troop transport – I got a duplicate IG-88 instead. Is this a common thing? If so, has anyone successfully contacted Lego to claim their missing build?!
I had a missing Santa hat four years ago, ending with with a slightly unfestive clone trooper. Lego have a missing parts service on their website, you just enter the pack code (on the box) and select the missing parts. Only thing is, it might be a bit tougher when it’s a whole build you need to claim, when you don’t know which bits it has. Email me if you need a photo of the bits.
Thanks, I’ll try the missing pieces suggestion on the website – hopefully I can work out the pieces from the inside of the door. Cheers!
Oh yikes – that unfortunately happens, albeit very rarely. You should try getting in touch with LEGO and they may be able to replace it with the correct models.
Day 14, what day 14? I couldn’t find it….move along, this is not the day you are looking for.
LOL
Jay… don’t even open day 14 mate…. it’ll ruin your day… ??
Totally agree! Waste of time day 14
🙁 A 7 piece rack for two blaster rifles! Jay, your enthusiasm for this weapons rack must be bordering on craziness 😉 I know these things are a staple of the calendar but I’m sure Lego must have received or seen enough negative comments about them to finally give up and put the blasters in with the minifigures, as we actually saw up until now with Rose, IG-88, Battle Droid and Rowan.
I have a bit of a theory based on two minifigures I know are still to come this year: if the minifigure originally came in a set with a stud-shooter instead of a proper weapon then it comes in the calendar minus a proper weapon too. This looks like it will be the case with the two forthcoming minifigures that the weapons in this rack must be for.
Yeah, I was quite surprised to see the Weapons rack, but hey, it’s much, much better than last year.
I thought with the Cannon, we’d do away with the Rack this year, but hey, for two long blaster rifles, it isn’t too bad.
Hahaha! Look, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but I certainly didn’t expect a Rack after the Cannon, and the Battle Droid which is obviously a glorified Weapons Rack.
Judging by the pattern, tomorrow might be a minifigure.
I’m in New Zealand so I open stuff ahead of the rest of you (because of the dateline and all that stuff), and I can tell you that you may be right.
It’s better than the boring cloud city.. (nice idea).. But not for a six year old!.. This is the next worse.. Just a big grey block.. Meh!
Hey at least the grey block has a mini cannon above it!
What’s cool about the Imperial Troop Transporter is that it was first seen as a Kenner toy to accompany their iconic range of character figures. Here’s a link to more info:
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=39611
I first noticed it on screen in the very early Star Wars Rebels episodes where it doubled as a prisoner transport. Anyway, this gets coolness kudos for starting life as a toy and making its way into the canon 🙂
Oooh, that’s some really interesting Star Wars trivia, thanks for sharing this!
I am really enjoying the calendar this year especially the models. I think I have managed to block out of my memory the ‘spoilers’ on the box. Really wish they wouldn’t do this…
Hope everyone on the Brick Blog is enjoying the calendar so far. This is only the 2nd year for me so a really enjoyable experience.
Love reading all the comments. Thanks for doing this every year Jay.
John.
Same here! I try to visually ignore any images and I think I’ve done pretty good so far in that each new days still feels like a surprise.
Thanks for the support, John!
The lego star wars calendars are getting more and more boring each year. There is not as many figures either so far is there?
I used to love and got excited for each day to open a new window. Now, I sometimes forget that this calendar exists and skip like 4 days without opening a window.
Oh well, hope your day is going well and thank you for running this blog x
Yeah, I’d really like more minifigures, but the great quality of the ships and micro models this year has been the best thus far, so that’s a small win.
Sorry to hear you’re not enjoying it as much as previous years – hope the next few days redeem themselves!
I actually quite liked the Imperial Troop Transport. They feature quite often in “Rebels” so I knew what it was right away. Granted a grey block is quite bland, but I’d compare it to the First Order Transporter from 2017 – that was predominantly a grey and black block, but what could you do for an Imperial/First Order? They’re not known for their imaginative painting 🙂
Like with Luke’s landspeeder, this is a repulsor vehicle, so I added a couple of spare round 1-studs from other days in the bottom and it gives the impression of it hovering just above the ground
Ah that’s great to hear. Yeah, it’s not a bad build, but compared against all the fancy starfighters and ships, a grey block has a huge uphill battle.
That’s really clever! LEGO should really add those extra studs as as a standard for repulsor vehicles!
Jay many thanks indeed for your advent calendar posts, my seven year old and I check daily – I am not much of a Star Wars fan so love your posts explaining what the heck we’re building! We quite liked the troop transport but waiting on a minifig we actually recognise. Keep up the great work and merry Christmas!
Hey Alex, you’re so welcome! Really honoured to be able to help you and your seven year old navigate the calendar. Merry Christmas to you and your family too!
I love the Imperial Troop Transporter’s design. It’s definitely New Hope era rather than Star Wars Rebel.
Glad you like it! Isn’t Rebels sort of in the New Hope era?
Hi. Thanks for this. I haven’t got a clue what most of these were!
You’re welcome, I’m happy to help!
Interested to know what you get for today (day 13), I was gutted to find they made a mistake in mine, I got a duplicate General Grievous’ Starfighter! While it was a nice mini I’d prefer the actual one, no spoilers…
Oh no! So sorry about that – can get in touch with LEGO’s customer support, who may be able to send you the right one.
Our day 10 didn’t even come with the right pieces to make the terrible laser turret!! Even more disappointing!?
Oh no, so sorry to hear that. If there are missing/wrong pieces, you can get in touch with LEGO’s customer support, who may be able to send you the right ones.
Whilst this doesn’t completely capture the unbroken triangular wedge shape of the actual ship, it is a sleek and well designed little model. As I don’t have the old one, my only problem with it is that it is the second yellow and grey ship from the prequels in a few days. With such a wealth of inspiration to draw from, the designers for this year have been a bit unimaginative by repeating prequel designs plus the ubiquitous Battle Droid. You can almost hear them saying; “people will want stuff from Last Jedi or Solo but let’s get rid of another of those useless droids and those spare yellow bricks will make another Anakin ship, everyone loved Ani!”. How do you come to that conclusion Lego?! A Resistance Bomber, Snoke’s Star Destroyer, micro Ahch-To – there is plenty they could have done to make interesting new builds.
Really good points! That said, I will fight you about the prequels – they’ve aged really well, and the Clone Wars series has really cemented my love for that era.
But yeah, really disappointed that we didn’t at least get a few Last Jedi builds. Seems like they’re saving it for next year.
Oh but hey, we got Rose, so she technically qualifies as being from The Last Jedi…
Yes of course, I forgot about Rose because she is a minifigure, along with IG-88, that I already had. She was not a very popular character for many, although I couldn’t see why she generated so much hatred and all the vile bullying of the actress. Maybe Lego thought they would cut their losses and get rid of a stockpile of unsold Rose minifigures?
Absolutely gorgeous model, Day 12’s Starfighter! Browsing my shelves, I see what looks like another rendition of the same ship in 2014, but rather primitive and blocky compared to today’s sleek example of Lego craftsmanship. Now this is how to repeat on previous builds without disappointing long term collectors, make them better than before!
Yes, it’s quite possibly my favourite build yet of the calendar! I also have a really soft spot for Clone Wars-era anything.
Good job. I really enjoy this website. It helps me when I don’t know some of the lego builds. Thank you! ?
Thanks Steve, I’m really happy to help!
Jay, I anticipate your words more than Santa himself! Thank you so much for doing this! Loyal fan of yours for the past 5 years.
James
Ah James, that’s really high praise! Thank you SO much for all your support over the years – it really means the world to me!
I haven’t really gotten into the Freemaker Adventures but with the presence of them in this calendar I will have to. I did like the Soulless One build but the battle droid was neither here nor there and the Monday cannon… yeah it was a disappointment but it wouldn’t be a Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar without a random firing element… haven’t struck the weapons cache yet!
Sounds like LEGO’s gamble to include Freemaker Adventures will have paid off if it gets new fans to watch the cartoons 🙂
Yeah, Battle Droids are almost lazy. They really are glorified articulated weapons racks when you think about it, haha.
Haha what a great comment about the turret. My 5 year old was very disappointed by the handle bar width preventing a character from holding both
Yes, very poor design!
I get that LEGO wants to push their own property, but as there were *two* major films released since the last calendar, I’ve been disappointed we haven’t had more The Last Jedi or Solo pieces yet. I hope that wil half the month left, we still will.
I wouldn’t hold out any hope for Solo or Last Jedi this time, it has taken several years until the films make it into the calendar, for example Force Awakens characters only appeared last year.
I imagine they want the minifigs at least to have some exclusivity in any sets linked to the most recent films or telly series. 2017 was the first calendar to feature models from 2015’s The Force Awakens (and Rebels) with the previous two years having a strong original trilogy theme, so if we assume a two year wait, then… Ah, my argument breaks down, as it *has* been two years this year since The Last Jedi! Oh well, probably next year we’ll see Kylo Ren in a Santa hat and cloak 🙂
The Last Jedi was released one year ago. (I know, it’s been a long year!) But we have gotten Rose Tico in this year’s calendar, and she was introduced in TLJ.
Yeah, Last Jedi is a conspicuous absentee. Solo, I can kinda understand as they rarely include builds from the current year’s movies in Advent Calendars.
I was really hoping for a Porg! It’s almost the perfect Advent Calendar model!
My Aunt Debbie bought this Advent Calendar for my boy, Max.
What a great gift!
Glad Max is enjoying it!
This advent calendar has gotten way too predictable. It seems to keep following the pattern of 2 models, then figure, 2 models, then figure, etc. That takes the surprise out of it and I kind of wished they had mixed it up more.
That’s a good point. There’s always patterns, and I think previous years were a lot more blatant in terms of sticking to particular movies/eras for long blocks. I do like the slightly more randomised builds this year, although a strong pattern is starting to emerge.
My main beef is LEGO spoiling nearly all the builds on the box art!
Before this year’s calendar, I never heard of the Freemaker Adventures. I still don’t know anything about it, except there’s a ship called the Arrowhead and a kid named Rowan. Of all the stories to draw from, I’m disappointed that Disney and LEGO went in this direction. What about Rogue One? The Last Jedi? Rebels? The Clone Wars? Solo??? So far I’m not too crazy about this year’s calendar. I hope things get better. I was excited to start this year’s after the debacle that was the 2017 calendar.
I can only think that because The Freemaker Adventures is already a Lego property they’ve chosen to promote it through the calendar? Like you, I’ve never heard of it before now, so in that sense it’s done it’s job…
2017 was my first calendar so I have nothing to judge it in really apart from Jay’s old write ups. Looking back it feels to me the real standout pieces came later in the cycle, whereas this year we’re only halfway through and we have two already, the Naboo fighter (even if a repeat) and Cloud City. Do feel they could still up thrust game however.
Thrust?! UP THEIR. Bloody iOS autocorrect….
Yeah, it’s definitely one of the more unknown Star Wars properties, but from the comments here, there seems to be quite a number of younger kids and families that really enjoy it, so I can see why LEGO included it in.
We are also getting some Rogue One and Force Awakens builds, so it’s not all too bad. I reckon we’ll see The Last Jedi and Solo in next year’s calendar.
Each day I revel at a Star Wars ship, figure, or scene captured in miniature form…. until this morning when I sadly built a giant stud shooter. Sigh, at least it ended up being a good day anyway.
Ahhhh, well. There’s always duds.
As a parent of a 4 year old I disagree, my son loved this thing that he can shoot with! ? Btw, this was the most difficult to build so far, one picture instruction just isn’t enough. Thank you for this blog, we read it every day! Greetings from Finland ?
I agree, you were very overly critical of Day 10. I can understand your frustration but don’t assume everyone is going to hate it or push your own agenda too hard. I enjoyed the build and don’t mind receiving something that isn’t a limited edition piece now and again.
That being said, this is my 3rd year using this blog and I just wanted to say keep up the good work ?
Merry Christams
Glad to hear that he enjoyed it! Finland is a beautiful country, I hope to visit one day.
Thanks for following along every day, really appreciate it and hope you’re enjoying the advent calendar so far!
Can not wait
I like that it shoots.
Lots of people seem to like the shooting parts 🙂
1 weapon is allowed surely, little kids will love shooting 1×1 red dots all around the place. We will have to wait and see if we get any more.
This is the truth. Boring as can be for me but my six year old building partner is currently having a ball shooting that poor battle droid.
Wanted to say we love the blog! Being in the US, you’ve always updated by the time we build, so it’s nice to check stuff I can’t place!
I have to agree. My 3-year-old is loving it…albeit the frustrated SW fans.
Jay, we love reading your daily updates!
Now I have something to do with all the extra studs from the calendar.
Oh yeah, I have nothing against weapons, but felt it was pretty plain. It should’ve been at least snow-themed (firing white studs instead) to at least give it some seasonal significance.
That cannon is not canonical:)
Nice
Share your disappointment, but thanks for building it though, as I tried to turn it into a sled first because of the handlebars, lol.
Haha, smart move!
Yes my son is just as disappointed as you with this turret. He didn’t even know what it was. This advent year has been a let down overall so far. What is going on Lego??
Sorry to hear that it’s been a let down – there are always dud days in each advent calendar, but I think this year has been particularly strong.
My son was complaining that his parts today didn’t match the instructions. He sort of figured it out anyways, and I am not making this up: weapons rack!
So I guess you have that to look forward to…
It wasn’t SO bad after all.
Thank you Jay! You are spot on every day! This is my first calendar so I have been happy so far but I agree with you today was a let down.
Although I do consider myself a Star Wars fan I had to search the internet to identify some of the builds and that is how I found you. And I thought the tank was an oddly painted snowspeeder at first. I guess it takes a few builds to get the hang of the simplicity of these tiny models. I put my Lego away some 30 years ago and a lot has happened since then… Now, as somewhat of an adult I am rediscovering all the fun!
Play Well!!
Hey Annika, thanks for dropping by and I’m glad I could help! Some of these are particularly tricky, so I’m very privileged to help Star Wars Advent Calendar fans navigate their way through some of the more obscure.
Isn’t it amazing, rediscovering LEGO again as an adult! Hope you’re having a fantastic holiday season, and I hope you stick around after the Advent Calendar is concluded!
I would have to agree with Jay about today’s, Day 10, it’s plain and boring. There’s literally thousands of ships that Lego could have built, but no we get a turret.
We could’ve gotten a better turret too! We’ve had some good Hoth machine guns, and even a Turbolaser but this one was quite uninspired.
Thanks for the blog Jay! Like many I come here every year both for helping me understand what the builds are, but also for your great commentary. This year Jack’s doing Star Wars and his little brother Frankie (2 1/2) is trying to do City. ? Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks Matt, for all the support over the years! Hope Jack and Frankie are enjoying themselves with this year’s calendars!
My 6 year old son and I whole heartedly agree with the terrible Day 10 Gun turret!
Bummer! For an Advent Calendar that has been so strong thus far, it’s a bit of a letdown, but we get duds every now and then!
Dude…the laser ACTUALLY SHOOTS! Push down on the toggle piece right behind the ammo load (red cap). I just hit my wife with it.
I love it when pieces have actions!
Please don’t fire LEGO projectiles at your wife! Haha.
I have to say, I disagree with you on the day 10 build. I thought it was really cool looking, dispite the not-so-obvious tie in to a movie. Then I found out it actually shoots…
Glad you enjoyed it! They’ve done cooler turrets or cannons before, which is why I’m slightly disappointed. But hey, as long as you love it, that’s the most important thing!
Jay, this is our first year on your blog and my eight year son absolutely loves when I read your comments.
He really loved day 10 and when I read your comments he said “well tell him I loved it!”
Anyways, sending our thanks from Arizona, USA
Hey Frank, welcome on-board and hope you’re enjoying the Advent Calendar so far! His comments have been taken on-board. It seems there’s plenty of fans of the stud blaster cannon! Hope you’re having a great holiday season!
Love the site. I’m son and I have followed along 3 December’s in a row now. Thought I’d chime in to say my 7 year loves the canon, anything that shoots is a win for him. I’m with you, though.
Glad to hear that he loves it! What 7 year old can resist a cannot that fires LEGO studs.
I would guess it’s from The Force Awakens’ Starkiller base, as it was pretty well fortified, and black and grey was the colour I mainly remember from that. I have been half expecting some builds based around both Jakku and Starkiller, as those are the worlds depicted on the box’s ‘playmat’ thing. I’m not terribly excited about it either, but I am a good few decades older than the primary target, who might enjoy the added playability.
I would LOVE a Micro Starkiller base.
I loved the laser turret I wonder why you didn’t like it.
I think for me, it was a little plain and generic. I also don’t appreciate stud blasters as they look pretty clunky.
Ha, my 8 year old loves the turret!
All 8 year olds love turrets and guns that fire stuff 🙂
In all honesty Jay I gotta disagree with you here, I quite like this one! It moves up and down, it’s got a good handle set up, stick some snow troopers behind it and it’ll be a nice accessory. Tricky build as well! Can’t please everyone all the time I suppose…
Tricky build?! It’s only got a handful of pieces! 😉
The problem with these simple generic cannons (and the dreaded weapon racks) is they have nothing to do with actual Star Wars items. A child might like a stud-shooter cannon but at least make it fit with the theme of Christmas or Star Wars or just add a couple of white ones with the minifigures for a snowball blaster. So far, Cloud City aside, it seems that the ideas weren’t flowing when they designed the calendar.
Really great idea with the snowball blaster – we had some of those in previous years and they were really well received.
But we don’t have Snowtroopers! Glad you enjoyed the cannon though, that’s all that matters 🙂
I agree that today’s ‘cannon’ is a really poor choice for the calendar and by far the worst thing so far. It’s not a specific weapon and is very badly designed, any pressure on the handles breaks the back end off because it is only attached by one stud. It seems they were desperate to include a stud-shooter and couldn’t be bothered to think of a Star Wars weapon to modify to feature one. I can see why they felt the need to put one in for children to play with (although how many would really need one or want to fire them any more?) but at least design it properly and make it relevant. If not a Star Wars weapon then they could easily have made it Christmas themed because we haven’t had anything so far. Very poor by Lego.
Yeah, you can barely get a minifig to grip it which is a little frustrating.
I would’ve much rather had stud shooters as weaponry for minifigures, instead of allocating a whole model to it.
My 7yo daughter actually liked it but we would’ve been struggling to put it together this morning without your picture. Thanks
Glad I could help!
I agree with the quality of the mini builds, they are very good (even if I have to consult the blog to identify some of them!) but this years calendar seems to be a bit light on mini figs, previous years have had a decent selection but this year we’ve only had one so far (I’m not counting the battle droid and I’m reluctant to call IG88 a mini fig) but I’m enjoying the builds so far. This is only my 3rd year of building the advent calendar and I’ve followed the blog every year (but my first comment!) cheers for an excellent blog ??
I’ve been trying to avert my eyes away from the ‘spoilers’ on the box, but have noticed a fair number of minifigs depicted. I think they are going to be arriving thick and fast, probably from the 11th, as Day 10’s build is crying out for a companion piece.
Yeah, the two Droids didn’t really sit well with me. The number of minifigs tends to fluctuate each year, but getting two droids so early on cannot bode well.
Thanks for commenting, and for following! I really appreciate the support!
I’m going to be disappointed if I don’t get a weapons rack soon. Preferably something with a large square box.
I think we can all agree that what we need is a Lego Weapons Rack Advent Calender each year. 24 days of festive weapons racks.
Everyone would like the Lego Weapons Rack Advent Calendar, apart from the two or three days when you get minifigs and spaceships 🙂
Haha!
I’m loving this years builds, it’s only my second calendar so I am a newbie (57). The Naboo fighter is my favourite ship anyway but the Grievous ship runs it close. Not sure what the protocol is, but if you put the transparent block in the rear hole of the grey body she sits perfectly?!
It does sit better with the transparent brick moved forward under the main body.
I always get a bit disconcerted when there are so many bricks left over, but judging by Jay’s pictures I didn’t miss anything out.
Oh great, don’t consider yourself a newbie! Glad that you’re enjoying it so far and I do agree, the Naboo Starfighter and Grievous ship are really nice. All the ship models are really good this year.
Our Naboo fighter is tan, not yellow. Isn’t that funny?
Love this series, Jay. We follow it every year. Thanks for the great work.
Huh? That’s odd – it shouldn’t be tan. Did you get the wrong pieces? I’ve never heard about the wrong colours in models.
Thanks for following again this year, I really appreciate the support!
Just had a close look at my advent calendar shelves. Oh dear! Does anyone have any dusting advice?
Not sure for lego, but for my model kits (with fine details) I use a small woolly duster designed for car dashboards. Mine has too ends; one woolly for large areas and the other with bristles for getting into grooves and cracks.
Thanks, I’ll investigate that!
We use a paintbrush!
It’s a bit of work, but your quick option involves duct taping them down, and a leaf blower.
I regularly dust my shelves every few weeks using a makeup brush.
I have to confess to a little disappointment with another regular Battle Droid. We do seem to get one every other year. Oh well, at least this one being armed means the weapons rack is not due for a comeback. Roll on tomorrow!
They’re cheap for LEGO to produce. Just like real Battle Droids! Also, the comment about the Weapons Rack didn’t age well!
We got one in the 2016 calendar, too. We’re big fans of you here in Vermont and check this blog every year!,
I’m a little disappointed to get the same (ish) three models from previous calendars- great if this is your first time but I can’t see why out of the hundreds of characters to choose from in SW, why we get repeats. I think the best thing so far is the mini cloud city.
Unfortunately, that’s quite normal for Advent Calendars. There are only so many ships that they can squeeze in, which is why I mostly appreciate the newer models from The Force Awakens/Freemaker Adventures!
I’m a bit gutted that is the exact same build as the 2012 calendar, and on the same day too!
At the very least, it’s a really good build!
I think you totally prophesised Day 8!
Haha yes!
Our day 7 isn’t the Naboo Fighter and I have no idea what it is or how to put it together. Besides opening up the rest of the calendar, does anyone have any tips on how I can figure out how to put it together? (I wish I could upload a picture of the pieces!) My 7 year old son would be super thankful!
If you’re lucky, two bags will have been transposed and a few days down the line all will become clear. Worst case scenario, you end up with two of whatever it is – and no battle droid – but in that instance you can request a replacement from Lego. It happened to me last year, I got an extra First Order stormtrooper instead of a snowtrooper ; Lego sent me one.
Oh interesting. It sounds like you may have had a wrong window. That happens sometimes – I would get in touch with LEGO if there are mistakes or doubles up, which happen quite rarely.
I have to say I did not know about the 2012 Naboo Fighter, but I don’t care much since I did not have that one. So to me it’s new. And amazing.
I was incredibly skeptical when I saw the pile of parts, until I saw the instructions. What a gem.
So clever it’s scary.
Looking at the bag of bricks I tried to guess what it might be. Never imagined a Naboo fighter. Lovely little model.
Thanks so much for this blog! My son is 7 and a huge fan of LEGO Star Wars. He is excited every day to see the builds and just as excited for me to read your blog to him each day to see what you say about each one. We are really enjoying this together every morning as we lead to Christmas. Thanks for helping my son and I create memories together!
You’re very welcome! I’m so glad that I could help make this Christmas Countdown slightly more special 🙂