Imperial Holocron

The last day!  Today we have Santa Darth Maul who, unlike Yoda who brought presents last year, is armed with a shovel and what I guess is a lump of (white) coal.  I do have to admit, though, that the coloring works well on the figure when matched up with the red and black of his “tattooed” face.

Overall, this year’s Advent Calendar was as fun as last years even if it was heavy on the Prequel Trilogy vehicles and characters.  I would like to see Lego do another Star Wars themed release next year, I think there are enough vehicles left to pull it off.

Today’s minifigure is a clever take on a snowman.  The Astromech droid has carrots on the front, a top hat and not well defined details as if they were drawn on.  It’s a pretty cool and effective variation on the droid.

Today we have the last of the mini ships; Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator.  Not sure exactly what Lego was going for with the two dishes on the top, window and roof I guess, but it generally looks like what it’s supposed to be.  Not the worst build of the set anyway.

There are only three more days on the Advent Calendar but before it’s all over, we get an fun Super Battle Droid.  Not collecting a lot of Lego sets anymore, this may be my first SBD figure and I have to say, it’s pretty cool.

I’m not a fan of General Grievous so also not really a fan of his hot rod Starfighter from Revenge of the Sith.  However, today’s Lego mini ship is his Starfighter and it’s really cool.  Simple build, really, but one of the more effective from this year’s Advent Calendar.

One thing to note, the two small pieces at the front have a cool silver color to them and I’m wondering if a similar color brick could have been used for the front of the Naboo Starfighter?  Would have looked better in my opinion.  Still, good use here.

The Separatists get a shot at a new vehicle today with the Separatist Shuttle.  Lego tried to spruce this one up with a couple of blue, clear 1×1 round plates in the middle, but it’s mostly tan.  I give credit for the use of the lever in the middle, though.  I guess picking ships that are all one color cuts costs, but there are too many solid color builds this time around, last year they were broken up a bit better with splashes of color.

My buddy Jesse over at Jedi Defender will be happy to see today’s Lego minifigure, it’s his favorite, the Rebel Fleet Trooper!  I like the way the visor is a separate piece on the helmet rather than just painted.  Although you can’t put it in a different position, I guess it’s possible to mix up the colors for some variations.  Pair him up with the accessories we already have and you can help your Rebels fend off the Empire.

I guess if I wanted color then today’s mini vehicle fits the bill, the Naboo Flash Speeder. Again, great use of small, simple parts to build out a vehicle that looks a lot like what we see on film.

The Naboo Royal Starship gets the nod today with a solid build but, again, it’s all grey.  The Naboo Starships in the films were silver and this is probably as close as Lego can get, but it would be nice if there was some additional color or something.  Still, with a small amount of parts, not a bad job overall.

Another day, another minfigure.  The ranks of the Empire just got bigger with today’s Snowtrooper.  I don’t think I’ve had any recent Snowtrooper minifigures so I don’t know if others have had printed faces, but this version does.  He’s wearing a “mask,” the head is all black except for the front of the face.  The eyes on the helmet are hollow but the eyes on the head don’t show through.  I don’t know if you’re supposed to turn the black side forward so he looks like he has opaque eyes or not.  Guess it’s up to the builders.