Review: 75097 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2015 Spamstravaganza!

Well, it’s been a couple of years since I spammed your feed daily with tiny plastic effigies of your favourite Star Warsian thingamabobs and Wassisname McScenefiller’s, but Ace has a way of making you do things. I’m not saying he has a tendency to wear a lot of purple or talk with an accent, but he can be very… persuasive. However it happened, I’m back baby. So ready yourself as best as you can. Do you need a minute? I’ll wait…

Alright, let’s do this!

Ever so slowly, the brown turd has crept up in these calendars and this year it leads the pack. Go turd! This captures the general shape and colour scheme about as well as the most recent one did, so that’s a meh for me. I found it odd that they chose to use a grey tile, matching the first barge instead of a more movie accurate tan one to match the rear fins on the most recent barge. I am glad to have the orange slopes though and the trans clear dish for a stand. They really need to throw more of those in. Not a fantastic start, but I’m holding out hope a solid pay off when all is said and done.

The mini build today is the final resting place of Boba Fett. I wasn’t feeling this slight sarlacc at first. I felt like he was all above the ground when he should be built down into the pit and so I had planned on another score of two. This morning my son pointed out immeadiately how great it was that the play mat/box flap has a pit on it to put the sarlacc in. Kids, they change the way you look at things. To me, the box is just a package I end up throwing away. To him, it’s part of the toy. So I’m bumping this one up to a 3 and the fact that they built it so you can park Jabba’s Barge on the plate bumps yesterdays up to a 3 for me too.

Doubtful Jabba’s going to fit in one of these spots, so we’ll just have to wait and see who goes with all these Tatooinian… Tatooinish… desert stuff.

Full disclosure, I had zero idea what this was. It didn’t click with me that it was supposed to be the big black dome droid that the Jawas were trying to offload in ANH. It’s probably because the treads are bigger than the dome(s) and I think at the very least it should have been a 4×4 dish with the 3×3 on top and then the antenna. That would cover the treads and make it a bit bigger, because that thing was pretty plump. I guess it could be called chibi, but I have to go with lazy. Obscure and lazy aren’t the best qualities for a fun children’s toy, but they’re bread and butter for LEGO Star Wars!

2 Stars. I hope this picks up some steam soon, or I’ll have to call this one DOA.

I knew. It’s a Jawa.

This is a welcome addition to the string of desert builds we’ve gotten so far because I for one didn’t have a Jawa. Having only been in the two sandcrawler sets, I could never bring myself to drop that kind of cash on a giant brown turd box. I’m sure I have a short brown cape here somewhere, though I prefer it without one. This guy warrants a 4 for sheer exclusivity and for actually being recognizable straight out of the box.

Let’s crawl right along…

Now this is a solid little build that captures the vehicle well in such a tiny scale. The only real off scale bit is the giant windshield up top, but it still looks good. Bonus: pop out the rounded log brick at the back and your sandcrawler becomes the slowest big wheel in the history of the universe. Which is pretty impressive because those things are lumbering beasts.

Ahhh, the forest moon of Endor. The ultimate camping trip with fun for the whole family… unless you get eaten. The first day of this trip brings us the first of this years dreaded weapon racks, an Ewok weapon rack to be precise. See, when I hear Ewok Weapon Rack, the thing that comes to mind is a pile of sticks. If I try to look at it that way, a tree stump is almost an upgrade. Yeah, that’s the ticket, stay positive.

*twitch*

*twitch*

Nope, can’t do it, this is lame. As happy as I am to be visiting those fury little man-eaters, this is not the way to start our trip. The parts are boring (except for the olive sprout, can always use more) and again, it’s a freakin’ tree stump. Besides, the weapon rack should come AFTER the figures that go with it, but at least we know this camping trip can’t get any worse.

Right?

One of the things I like about these advent calendars is when the mini build is obviously based on an official LEGO set version of the subject, even more than the source material. The structure of this is perfect for a tiny 10236 Ewok Village, sans the single tree attached by the rope bridge. I like this because it feels like a doll house for a minifig. One that’s really into teddy bears.

Nope, never-mind. I don’t see anything.

Today’s figure was supposed to be an Ewok recolour that had only appeared in 10236 Ewok Village. The second figure in this calendar and it’s another exclusive from an expensive set. Not bad, not bad at all.

When they run out of useless places to put catapults in sets that don’t need them, they stick the extras in here. At least it would be a fun thing for kids. They include one just about every year in the City Advent Calendar to chuck snowballs, so why not here? I guess…

A Stormtrooper is a nice addition and this particular guy has only really been in the last ISD and the UCS Slave I. Of course, he’s “exclusive” in this set because they used a standard grumpy clone head they’ve used on a bunch of other cannon fodder. Still nice to have more redshirts when the battle begins and with a hungry Ewok around, even more so.

I had stayed up late last night to write up a story that went along with why I photo’d TK 808 this way, but fell asleep with my laptop unplugged and it was lost. So, you’ll just have to come up with a story of your own to go along with this guy.

Spoiler alert!

He dies. Merry Christmas!

Today’s micro build is the first appearance of an iconic vehicle we’ve gotten from this year’s calendar. Keeping in mind that what makes some of these ships iconic is NOT the qualifier that “It was in Star Wars!” Returning from the way back year of 2012, this Imperial Star Destroyer has gotten an upgrade. The base of the ship is pretty much the same, but the beefed up bridge area is much more accurate and really helps sell this tiny triangle of terror. I’m going to be generous since the Empire is striking back and give it a four.

Wait, no I’m not.

Awww, fine. Yes I am.

Weapon Rack 2: Day of Rackening.

It’s got the guns and it appears to double as either a fancy coffee maker or a slot machine. In this post Death Star II economy, you need to diversify.

Given the choice between a battle droid and an assassin droid, I’ll take this. I’m beyond sick of battle droids and the fact that this calendar has been straight OT all the way so far, is a true Life Day miracle. We’ve seen metallic silver ones, black ones, white ones and now, dark grey. You could pretty much make these from any colour the standard droid parts come in, so this isn’t some great achievement. In Fact, I think I might make a couple red ones with trans-green eyes in the spirit of the season. This one looks lonely.

Still better than a battle droid.

NEXT!

Ahhh, the classic ship known lovingly as “the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy”. This little model certainly lives up to that title, well half of it anyway.

This is not an improvement over the 2011 version, in fact I’d say it’s a downgrade. Disappointing really, but it’s not as slick as that version and trying to add too much detail at this scale just muddles the look. All they had to do was give it a printed disc and if they can custom print two minifigures as they have in previous years then they could add a simple printed disc. Guaranteed they’d get further use out of it down the road. I’d take a key chain with one on it at this scale.

Well, it isn’t a gun rack… I guess. Feels like the same thing though. At the moment I don’t have a lot of the brick mounted stud launchers, but I think it’ll be one of those parts that just start popping up more and more until you have a freezer bag full and you sit staring at it wondering what you’re going to do with all of them. I’m going to walk this one to third base because I think the shooter would be far more popular with the kiddies than the catapult. I know where this is going, but this isn’t as strong a start as I’d hoped.

The Rebels are getting some well needed backup in the form of an A-wing today. That should give the Falcon some help against the Star Destroyer with all it’s turrets firing.

Another throwback to the first year calendar and this one is an actual upgrade. It hits all the right bits and pretty well by beefing up the main hull and the cockpit. It even has the little gap between it’s teeth in the front, nicely done. Since I’m feeling filled with all the Christmas Cheer I’ve been putting in my eggnog, I’m giving it a 4.

Back in 2012 we got Thnuderbolt Ross in a Hoth Trooper disguise. This time he looks a bit like Tom Hiddleston, but I’m just going to call him “Goggles”. He’s all ready for snow in his white and grey threads (and extra goggles) and I think he’s ready to lead this snowball fight all the way to the 24th! Bring on more HOTH!

Well well well. Let’s take a look way back to the AT-AT we got in 2012:

And regarding this blocky little guy, I said:

Could this model have been improved by using two 2×3 bley plates with a 1×2 in the middle under the tile and a double cheese slope on either side? Yes, yes it could

And here’s this year’s model…

Well done LEGO. Glad you listened, but FYI I have more notes.

This new AT-AT looks even more like an adorable dog with long lanky legs (that move!) and a better formed body. I miss the binoc guns though. Oh well, can’t have everything. At least our Rebel has a snow buddy.

I always thought this was white. It looks white in the film, but even the model at LEGOLAND is grey. Maybe the one in ESB is just lightly dusted with snow or something. At least LEGO is consistent in their builds… from time to time. This little one should have had a 1×1 cone in dark grey instead of a technic bushing. Still a neat idea, but where’s the Snowspeeder? I’m guessing they had one last year and didn’t want to immediately double up, but where ever they put an AT-AT there should be a Snowspeeder.

Oh well. Pew, pew!

I like this guy. A tiny probe droid is a great idea for one of these calendars, but if I was to gripe and let’s face it I will, it should be a black 1×1 brick with studs on four sides, not dark grey. Otherwise, it’s cute and it gives the Rebel from a couple days back something to get a little target practice in on.

Again, transparent stand… ALWAYS INCLUDE THEM LEGO!

Yes?

This is another lame attempt to sneak in extra weapon racks! I blame the Probe Droid.

The Hoth Rebel gets a fancy stud shooter, but otherwise as I said… lame. We didn’t get a Snowspeeder for this?

The end is near, let’s hope for a big finish.

Well, it’s unpopular opinion time. The last three calendars have given us two exclusive figures for the end of the countdown. Santa versions of Jango Fett and Darths Maul and Vader. Each of them has brought an excellent sidekick in the form of baby Boba and two very cool custom astromechs, snowman and Christmas tree versions. This year sees a return to the subject matter that inspired Santa Yoda in the first calendar, Ralph McQuarrie’s Christmas card images.

If you’re familiar with them at all (or looked at the box) you know where this is heading. However, slapping the samurai antlers on R2 does not have the same impact as an exclusive figure. The antlers are in a new colour, but that hardly makes up for this version of the droid that has already popped up in a few sets. I’m going to score it a 3 because I’m being EXTREMELY generous and because it’s R2.

I like him, but this feels like a huge cop out after some of the previous years side kicks. Luckily, my Christmas Tree Astromech from last years calendar just arrived from the mysterious land of Bricklinkia yesterday, so at least I have all the previous custom droids now. Maybe this full circle inspiration is proof they’ve truly run out of ideas. We’ll have to wait and see, but this years calendar isn’t over yet.

Well, this is certainly an… interesting design. The parts are pretty blah and there are no Jedi around to be in need of lightsabers, so the only solid bit for me is the reverse tiles on the bottom. I’m not sure what’s a more baffling design flaw, the fact that the sleigh is attached to the blades or that the whole thing would travel on the blades which would just melt/cut straight down and get the thing stuck constantly.

Pretty funny though, I suppose. Seems like a 3PO idea to me…

Here I am on the morning of Christmas Eve and I find the second half of this combo behind door 24.

For days I’ve been thinking about how to properly convey my disappointment about this years exclusive figs. 3PO does have a new torso, but it has nothing distinct to link it to the droid like previous Santa figs. How many unique torsos do we need for Santa Clause figures? They at least could have made the belt look like his midsection or had the coat open and the belt undone like the original card.

But again it’s Christmas Eve and I’m feeling very merry (and I haven’t even been into the eggnog yet!). My son seems to like these two well enough (though he liked the Tree Astromechs we got in the mail the other day far, far more) and it was nice to only get OT models and figs in this calendar, even if it barely crawled to a 3 for an overall rating. Keeping in mind I was being generous on many an occasion.

But now it’s time to have some fun with your figs, right?

Let’s break it all back down.

Daily Scores:

Day 1 – Jabba’s Sail Barge: 3
Day 2 – Sarlacc Pit: 3
Day 3 – LIN Demolitionmech: 2
Day 4 – Jawa: 4
Day 5 – Sandcrawler: 4
Day 6 – Ewok Weapon Rack: 1
Day 7 – Ewok Village: 3
Day 8 – Ewok Warrior: 4
Day 9 – Catapult: 2
Day 10 – Stormtrooper: 3
Day 11 – Imperial Star Destroyer: 4
Day 12 – Weapon Rack: 1
Day 13 – Assassin Droid: 3
Day 14 – Millennium Falcon: 2
Day 15 – Gun Turret: 3
Day 16 – A-wing Starfighter: 4
Day 17 – Hoth Rebel Trooper: 3
Day 18 – AT-AT: 4
Day 19 – Ion Cannon: 3
Day 20 – Imperial Probe Droid: 4
Day 21 – Hoth Command Post: 2
Day 22 – Reindeer R2-D2: 3
Day 23 – Lightsaber Sleigh: 3
Day 24 – Santa C-3PO: 3

Overall Set Score: 3

This year is easily my least favourite calendar and makes me wish I’d gotten last years. I hope the full circle of basing the final figs on the old Christmas cards as Yoda was in year one means these are done. Let someone else have a go at a licensed calendar.

DC Comics would be my first choice. As long as the Batmobile comes with an extra wheel and Robin has an egg.