Lego Advent Calendar 2011 Star Wars

Lego Advent Calendar 2011 – Buying Guide For Parents

Lego Advent Calendar 2011 Star WarsDue to the success of the last few years, Lego is releasing a greater number of their Lego Advent Calendar 2011 sets and parents also have a surprise option when it comes to the Lego themes represented.

Whereas in the past Lego have produced both a generic/City Advent Calendar and one based on their own in-house themes, in 2011 they have decided to produce a set based around their most popular licensed theme – Star Wars.

The Star Wars Advent Calendar is bound to be a bit hit with Lego and Star Wars fans alike, and not just because of the exclusive figure. The franchise continues to grow in strength and it has proven to be a highly successful partnership for The Lego Group.

Update – Lego have started releasing this set in Mid-August!
Update 2 – Star Wars Calendar is sold out (back again!)

So before you buy, what exactly do you get in a Lego Advent Calendar?

Lego Advent Calendar 2011 Sets

The cool thing about Lego is that when you buy a set, you know exactly what you are getting and Advent calendars are no different.

With a generic store bought Advent Calendar you often have no idea what is behind all those little windows – it could be an heirloom-quality  gift your kids will treasure, handing it down to their own children.

Or it could be a pile of junk that breaks apart after two minutes…

Lego is upfront about what is inside their Lego Advent Calendar 2011 sets and as a parent, that makes my choice easier.

Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar 2011 (Set 7958)

Lego Advent Calendar 2011 Star Wars InsideLego Advent Calendar 2011 Star WarsThe Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar 2011 features:

  • 24 different LEGO Star Wars-themed gifts
  • 8 minifigures including Nute Gunray, Chewbacca, Clone Trooper and an exclusive Yoda in Santa Claus outfit
  • Also includes mini Millennium Falcon and X-wing Starfighter.
  • A total of 266 pieces
  • Retails for $39.99
The Lego Star Wars Advent calendar was originally released at this year’s San Diego Comic Con and sold out very quickly. You can still get these limited editions on ebay for a small fortune but the regular edition is out now at Amazon.
To be honest, if you like it I wouldn’t wait too long to buy one as the calendar has a limited edition figure inside, the Yoda in Santa outfit.
Lego Star Wars fans are notorious for their love of minifigures and I imagine many will buy more than one calendar and sell the figure once the set sells out. These are hard to track down but I found them ready to ship now from Amazon (but can’t guarantee they will be there long :0) )

City Lego Advent Calendar 2011 (Set 7553)

Lego Advent Calendar 2011 City Contents

Lego City Advent Calendar 2011The City Lego Advent Calendar 2011 Features:
  • 6 minifigures (2 police men, 2 robbers, 1 fisher and 1 Santa Claus)
  • Build larger models using bricks from three different gift days
  • Includes 2 cool snowmobiles, a police dog, a Christmas tree, a mini police station and much more
  • A total of 232 pieces
  • Retails for $34.99
The City Lego Advent Calendar 2011 set is a little different than previous years’ releases. The set allows kids to build larger models and releases parts of the model over a number of days rather than offerring one small model per day.
So on any given day the window might reveal pieces for part of a model that will require pieces contained in the next day’s window to complete. Its a cute idea but if you have impatient kids this might cause a little frustration on their part.
This calendar comes out September 1st and is available for pre-order now on Amazon.

Lego Advent Calendar 2011 Availablility

The Lego Advent Calendars are hard to come by, I don’t think I have ever seen one in a store, and I am always searching for Lego!

I am ordering my calendar through Amazon because they offer free shipping and a great returns/customer service center (they also have another Lego Advent Calendar listed from a previous year which you can check out if either of the above options don’t suit).

Prices are fairly simliar at other places that offer the sets, and you won’t find to many stores selling these on discount as they are limited editions and often sell out.

So what do you think of the Lego Advent Calendar 2011 sets – Are you going to have them as part of your family tradition this holiday season?

10 comments

  1. I saw the Star Wars advent calendar at a toy trade fair in January and loved it. I normally prefer Playmobil advent calendars because you can re-use them from year to year – can’t see how it’s practical to keep a Lego one with all the little bits for more than one season. But little Yoda Santa is so cute! I will have to get one for me and (maybe) let the kids play with it a bit.

    • Inger says:

      Hi Joanne
      Yes there is no way my Lego Advent calendar could be used in another year, unless we made our own models for the next year. Yoda is cute isn’t he :0) Would love to see some more Christmas themed figures.
      Cheers
      Inger

  2. Sharon Tau says:

    We started last year with the Lego Advent calendar, but at that time I was unaware of how popular they are. I saw them at Toys R Us and figured to wait and buy them, so ended up having to order from Amazon. As of writing this, my Toys R Us has several of both in stock, at the prices listed above. (Minus the ones I bought today, of course. :))

    The City 2011 calendar doesn’t seem as family-friendly as last year’s version. There are no children figures. I am also stumped by the cops-and-robbers theme.

    Star Wars is Star Wars so it will be good, I am sure.

    • Inger says:

      Hi Sharon
      I agree. I think the Lego City Calendar was a bit hit-and-miss this year.
      The idea of creating a bigger structure over several days didn’t impress me much.
      It seems to defeat the purpose of an Advent calendar in my mind.
      Hope you enjoy your Star Wars one :0)
      The Yoda figure is pretty cute!
      Cheers
      Inger

  3. Simon Dahl says:

    Oh this is going to be a bit of a decision.

    Obviously the cops and robbers theme is a subtle dig at the retailers and how Christmas can feel like robbery? And yeah wondering about the mutli-day aspect of building a larger structure. Though my boy is besotted with the city theme, so that choice seems to be forgone.

    On the other hand the Star Wars looks awesome, perhaps one for me and one for my son 😀

    • Inger says:

      LOL
      I like the way you are thinking 🙂
      Just maybe don’t mention the whole “retailers as robbers” thing to the store manager as you go to buy those 2 SW Advent Calendars
      Cheers
      Inger

  4. Michael says:

    Just a note to say that I’ve found both Advent Calendars at Target, WalMart, and various other retail establishments. I have the Lego City Advent Calendar, and I’m enjoying the anticipation of the complete scenes that I’ll have on Christmas Eve. 😉

    • Michael says:

      Sorry to reply to myself…

      Considering that most of the LEGO City theme seems to center around the police, and fire stations, I think the theme is pretty entertaining. If you have houses in your City, you can place the burglars trying to “steal Christmas” (a common theme in Christmas movies nowadays), and the City police catching the crooks and throwing them in jail. The little fisherman can be a lookout, or a snitch, and Santa’s busy delivering toys, and giving treats to pets! 🙂 Perhaps a little over the head of the little ones, but I think suggesting the idea that the local police are there to protect Christmas isn’t a bad idea.

      Thank you for your blog! I’ve added a LEGO section to mine listed above just to show my Lego collectibles, and vintage sets from the 60’s and 70’s. I will be visiting here a lot, and PLEASE don’t take this as a plug for my site. I don’t do anything more than just put pictures of old sets as I rebuild them, and comment on them. This place is far more interesting! I never like when people advertise on my site, so I hope I’m not doing that.

      Merry Christmas everyone!

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