The 2020 holiday season has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look back on it fondly and recall some of our favorite memories of gifts and moments with friends and family.
Speaking of gifts, over on the Laughing Place Twitter feed I spent 24 days of December showing off each brick-based item that came packaged in LEGO’s 2020 Star Wars Advent Calendar. And in the post below, I’ll recap each build or minifigure along with my thoughts on these yuletide-themed Star Wars holiday goodies.
Days 1-8
- A-Wing Starfighter: Introduced in Return of the Jedi, this is one of the fastest and most agile ships in the rebel fleet. A cool little build.
- Poe Dameron: Decked out in his “Life Day” holiday sweater (featuring none other than his favorite droid BB-8) from The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special on Disney+. A great exclusive minifigure to receive with this set.
- Lars Homestead: Unfortunately not included are Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, but I do like the design of this Tatooine-based moisture farm.
- Luke Skywalker: In his classic desert outfit from A New Hope. I feel like I had a few too many copies of this particular minifigure already.
- Razor Crest: Too soon! This build happened to fall in the Advent Calendar the day after Din Djarin’s beloved (though frequently beat-up) ship got destroyed on The Mandalorian.
- TIE Dagger: Also known as the TIE/dg starfighter, this enemy ship made its debut in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
- Sith Trooper: Another The Rise of Skywalker introduction. I didn’t have this minifigure before, so it’s nice to get it here.
- X-Wing Starfighter: The classic Rebel Alliance single-pilot ship that blew up the Death Star. I really like how LEGO captured the essence of this iconic vehicle on such a small scale.
Days 9-16
- Rey Skywalker: Another common minifigure from the Star Wars sequel trilogy, but she was the star of the Disney+ special so it makes sense to include her.
- Santa D-O: I didn’t have D-O in LEGO form so I liked his inclusion as well, plus a bonus Santa hat!
- Millennium Falcon: This might be my least favorite build in the entire calendar. I love the Falcon, but its representation here does not do the ship justice in any way.
- Porg: I think last year we got a Santa Porg, so now there’s another little Ahch-To bird to add to the collection.
- Radiant VII: The first ship to appear on-screen in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, transporting Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to Naboo. I like the simplicity of this design.
- Battle Droid: Keep building your army with this guy. Roger roger.
- Droid Control Ship: Another neat build from The Phantom Menace. Even though I don’t usually care for non-minifigure-scale stuff, I do like seeing how LEGO designers come up with creative ways to depict these vehicles and locations using as few pieces as possible.
- Anakin’s Podracer: Probably my second least-favorite in the set. There’s just not much to it.
Days 17-24
- Pit Droid: Made famous in The Phantom Menace and recently revived in live-action on The Mandalorian. A fun little character.
- Rebel Snowspeeder: I love The Empire Strikes Back most of all, and 2020 was that movie’s 40th anniversary, so it’s nice to see it well-represented in this Advent Calendar.
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Tauntaun: He has a very shiny nose, and he will freeze before you reach the first marker.
- Hoth Shield Generator: Another very simple design that instantly gets across what it’s supposed to be. Love it.
- Gonk Droid the Snowman: Inventive, seasonally appropriate stuff like this is absolutely the best reason to pick up these calendars from LEGO.
- Imperial Stormtrooper: You can never have enough of these.
- Darth Vader’s Castle: First seen on-screen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I have the bigger-scale LEGO set of this imposing fortress, so it’s cool to see it at about an inch high as well.
- Darth Vader: Another festive holiday sweater on a beloved Star Wars character. The exclusive Death Star print will make this a highly sought-after minifigure this year.
- Extra pieces: I included a photo of the bag of extras I wound up with at the end of the 24 days. Lots of good stuff, including a couple lightsaber hilts.
The 2020 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar is currently sold out on LEGO’s shop-at-home website, but I’d recommend picking it up from secondary retailers if you like enough of what you see above to make the price worth it. And of course I’m sure they’re planning another one for 2021, so stay tuned!