2016 Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar Day 24: Snowbacca? Santa Chew? Chewie Claus?

Chewie Day has finally arrived!  And while I can't decide what to call him, this figure is most decidedly awesome.  I love his snowcaster/bowcaster!  And he looks a lot cooler in person than he did on the box.  It's a funny contrast to the gentle toy-toting Santa-3PO from last year...this is a weapon-wielding Wookiee on a hockey sleigh.  It brings a whole new meaning to "you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why....Chewie Claus is coming to town!"

Total pieces: 13 (plus 2 extra triggers)

Difficulty: 3 out of 5 (the snowcaster is a little tricky)

My rating: 5 out of 5.  I love this one.  Much more than I thought I would, in fact.

Final tally: 9 vehicles, 8 minifigs, 2 non-minifig droids, 2 cannons, 1 palace, 1 snowman, 1 sleigh

My final thoughts...it was a solid year, overall.  I liked the fact that they didn't bother with any "weapon rack" windows that have plagued previous calendars.  Just the (mostly) good stuff.  Lots of vehicles and cool figures.  There were a couple weak builds (the skiff especially), and the themes were a little disjointed (why wasn't there more to go with the Naboo scenery?) but I liked the vast majority of it.  And when it's Legos, Star Wars, and Christmas time, I'll always get a kick out of it.  

Building set #40223 - Limited Edition Snowglobe!

I love when Lego releases limited edition sets, especially for the holidays.  And while I totally DIDN'T need to spend another $99+ on Legos, I had wanted to get my wife one of the big Creator sets (specifically, the Parisian restaurant), so it was perfect timing.  We both really wanted this snowglobe!  And since every one posted to Ebay was going for at least $40 with shipping, it made the most sense to order it directly from the online Lego shop.  Glad I did.

It was a fun build!  Our only disappointment: we (perhaps stupidly) thought there might be some sort of mechanism - maybe even air displacement from inserting the "drawer" part at the bottom - by which the snow inside could be "popped" into the air.  It also could've been cool for the top to rotate, even though that would've added even more pieces and complexity.  But it's an awesome set even without such features.  The secret compartment at the bottom is cool.  I particularly love the quaint doors and windows, the bricks, and the Christmas tree itself.  The drawer for the compartment isn't the easiest to operate (it can get stuck pretty easily, especially on the way out) but that's a minor complaint.

Total pieces: 215 (and there are a bunch of very colorful extras)

Difficulty: 2 out of 5

My rating: 5 out of 5.  While it would've been cool to have the snow pop in the air, or the dome rotate, I can't really complain about a bonus set!

Merry Christmas!

2016 Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar Day 23: Hockey Sleigh

For the penultimate day of the advent calendar, we get a...hockey sleigh?  Zamboni?  Actually, it's pretty fun, and was the most elaborate build thus far at 24 pieces.  Spoiler alert: the real driver of this sleigh will be Chewbacca (what, you didn't know he was coming on Christmas Eve just by looking at the box?).  But since I haven't cheated and opened Day 24 yet, I put LAST year's Christmas Eve figure on the sleigh.  Let's be honest, it would be tough to EVER top the McQuarrie-inspired one-two punch of Reindeer R2 and Santa-3PO from 2015.   But I am very much looking forward to seeing the festive Chewie tomorrow!  And he'll look great on this sleigh.

Total pieces: 24 (plus 4 extras)

Difficulty: 4 out of 5 (main issue was deciding how to attach the top and bottom of the sleigh...you only get one small pic, of course!)

My rating: 4 out of 5.  I wish this had a little color...but I guess since Chewie is mostly white, they decided on a more grayscale sleigh.  I did enjoy building it, and the hockey sticks are a fun touch.

Tally: 9 vehicles, 7 minifigs, 2 non-minifig droids, 2 cannons, 1 palace, 1 snowman, 1 sleigh