It's Time to Open the 2016 LEGO Advent Calendars!

So I got a little behind this morning. I was burning the midnight oil with a work project. (My new job keeps getting in the way of my LEGO obsession.) ;) And this morning, I woke up to more work-related emails, but I pre-posted to make sure that you all knew I have plans to post photos of each day of the 2016 LEGO Advent Calendars. Last year, I had a reader recommend I post all versions at once, instead of creating 3 separate posts. I liked her idea, so that is what I'm doing here! Because it's the first day, I asked Mr. Family Brick change his morning routine with The Little Brick so we could open our advent calendars in the morning before going to school. For future days, we won't be opening in the morning. I will be updating this post in the evenings. However, I am going to make it a "sticky" post, or do something similar, so you can come to the website each day and easily find the post at the top of the site. I may also add the photos to our Instagram, but I'm still rocking the same busted phone from last year, which means I run into pixelation issues every once in a while. That gets boring quickly.

2016 LEGO Advent Calendar Photos

But enough setup! Let's look at these calendars! One of the fun things about the advent calendars is that LEGO uses the opening flap to create a play scene of sorts related to the build theme. Once you open the flap, this is what you will see for each of the calendars: [caption id="attachment_7528" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

LEGO Advent Calendar Interior - LEGO Star Wars[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7527" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

LEGO Advent Calendar Interior - LEGO Friends[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7526" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

LEGO Advent Calendar Interior - LEGO City[/caption] I especially like the Star Wars one. I joked with Mr. Family Brick that I would open the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar this year and he gave me a stink face. It's good I didn't though, because the Day 1 build is oh so awesome and related to his favorite Star Wars character, as you will see below. Here are the daily photos for the advent calendars:

Day 1

The Day 1 builds of the advent calendars started strong! From left to right:

Slave I - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Snowmen - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Christmas Emma - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

My favorite build, hands down, is the Slave I. It may disappear later on... sshhh, don't tell the man. My next favorite build is the snowmen. I love the scarf detail. It's pretty awesome. And of course, minifigures and minidolls are always a welcomed treat! Strong showing for Day 1 LEGO. We're pretty happy so far.

Day 2

Day 2 was a bit weird around here. We had my office Christmas party to rush off to, so we opened our calendar items, then ran off to do other things. I didn't get a chance to post this photo until the following day. Anywhooo... Day 2 comes with:

Bespin Officer Minifigure - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Female Firefighter Musician Minifigure - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Ice Skate Changing Bench - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

All 3 sets have now received a minifigure. The Bespin officer is rather cool, with his unique printed torso. The fire fighter is nice, although I'm not sure you would ever see a fire fighter in full gear playing a guitar. (I put her in our winter village, but I believe the man has vetoed her. She may not make the cut for next year.) What I find disappointing... and I dislike that I am already saying this on Day 2... is the LEGO Friends build. While it comes with 3 sets of skates, it's a bummer that all you get is a little bench. I continue to want more from this advent calendar, but it looks like it will be more of the same weak builds from the previous years. Let's hope today is just a fluke. But, as I always say, the LEGO Friends advent calendar is not for me, but for the girl... and she loves it.

Day 3

The man just got home and the girl is excited to open the advent calendars. She had her first overnight stay last night, since we went to the holiday party. She said she cried a little, because we weren't around to sing her a song. Suffice to say, lots of snuggling occurred this morning when she got here. I'll take all the snuggles I can get. When you open the calendars for today, you'll see:

Tie Fighter - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Speaker and Microphone Stand - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Mailbox - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

All decent builds. Again, I especially like the LEGO Star Wars build. And again, I may have to acquire it from the hubs.

Day 4

For Day 4, you'll get:

Imperial Navy Trooper - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Trumpet Playing Musical Firefighter Minifigure - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Candle & Holder - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

I see these imperial troopers and immediately think of the movie SpaceBalls. Regardless, we like him. LEGO City came in strong with another firefighter minifigure. This time, he's playing a trumpet. The clear loser for this day's build is LEGO Friends. Not too impressed with the candle holder.

Day 5

Anti-Infantry Batter - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Snowplow - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Naomi Minifigure - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

Hand down winner is the anti-infantry battery. Microscale for the win! Naomi is a minifigure we don't have, which is a nice addition to our collection. The snowplow is just okay.

Day 6

Snowtrooper Minifigure - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Snowplow - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Heidi the Hamster with Hutch - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

We're loving the new backpack tile for the snowtrooper. We also love Heidi, as this is the first time we've gotten her. (She also comes in set 41111, which we picked up for the girl, but haven't given to her just yet.) However, I cannot express how bummed I am by the LEGO City build. The snowplow attachment to yesterday's snowmobile is a horrible build. 2 days to build a vehicle... really? Less than impressed.

Day 7

Imperial Snowman - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Snow-topped Fence - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Fireplace - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

All good builds today. Especially loving the LEGO City fence (is it a fence?) I plan on adding to it for a more substantial Christmas build. Will go great in our Winter Village.

Day 8

P-Tower - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Hockey Player Boy Minifigure - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Milk & Cookies tray with carrot - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

So, I feel LEGO City was the clear winner here. The little hockey player is beyond cute with his freckled face. The P-Tower comes in at a strong second with the milk and cookies tray leaving me underwhelmed. Again, as always, the girl loved it, so I suppose that's all that matters.

Day 9

Hoth Rebel Trooper - LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
Hockey goal - LEGO City Advent Calendar
Rotating Stage & Microphone - LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

Today marks the 4th minifigure for the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. You can never have enough troopers. The LEGO City had the matching hockey goal for the little hockey player we saw yesterday. LEGO Friends was, as usual, a bit underwhelming. It is hard to see in my photo, but it's a plate stage with a turntable. They also added a microphone. Not my fav.