Culture on My Mind
The 2024 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
January 29, 2025

It’s time to talk about the 2024 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar!

My family has been doing the LEGO advent calendars since 2015 and I chronicle the daily builds on Instagram. Each of the annual box sets has been spotlighted on this site. This year, we continued our tradition of building the Star Wars calendars. The joy of this calendar is seeing how LEGO interprets ships and locales from the nearly 60 years of adventures in the galaxy far, far away.

The box contained 24 windows with a single LEGO build in each.

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Days 2 and 17: The Skywalker Twins

Luke and Leia both make appearances this year in their new holiday sweaters. The twins are the cornerstone of the Star Wars franchise. Luke comes with a lightsaber and is based on his Return of the Jedi look. Leia has her A New Hope hair buns and a coffee mug. Since the newer minifigs comes with two faces, typically a smile and a grimace, my wife had a hard time deciding if Leia should be “post-coffee” or “pre-coffee”.

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Days 7: Minikit

This was a LEGO Star Wars deep cut. In the video games, these minikits unlocked bonuses on the road to scoring 100% in the game. Each level had a certain number of minikits hidden in hard-to-reach places, and each one unlocked a piece of a ship in the level. Collect all of them and you have the ship as a trophy. 

Seeing one of these in the calendar made me laugh. It was well-played for the 25th anniversary of LEGO’s involvement with this franchise.

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Day 10: Ahsoka Tano

It’s no secret that Ahsoka Tano is one of my favorite Star Wars characters, so it was nice to see her represented in the calendar. It’s the same minifig from the T-6 Shuttle set (75362), so it’s not super common but it’s definitely not new.

That said, this is the first time that Ahsoka has been in the calendar. Hopefully, with her many versions since her debut in 2008, it won’t be her last.

(Maybe even with a holiday sweater?)

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Days 4 and 15: The Clone Wars

The Clone Wars made a modest showing this year. The two minifigs from the era were a 501st Legion clone trooper and a B2 Super Battle Droid. I enjoy seeing the clones represented since each year tends to include a clone trooper or stormtrooper. Each year also contains a droid soldier, and the B2 is a nice change of pace from the standard B1 Battle Droid.

I think future calendars could branch out a bit with the Separatist troops. Maybe the TX-20 tactical droid (which has only been released once in the 2011 Mace Windu Starfighter set), one of the Commando Droids, or even one of the various B1 repaints.

Oooh! An excellent repaint would be one of R2-D2’s battle droids from the Clone Wars Citadel trilogy!

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Day 19: Yoda’s Starfighter

Day 19 brought Yoda’s starfighter from Season Six of The Clone Wars. Yoda is another of my favorites, and his arc in that season was a beautiful addition to the overall Skywalker mythos. I bought the larger starfighter set when it came out, and this mini build is a fantastic interpretation of that build.

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Day 20: Praetorian Guard

The calendar had some representation for The Mandalorian, and this minifig was a decent part of it. While I’m not a fan of the bad guys, I’m a sucker for the red armor. This minifig comes from the 2024 Paz Vizsla and Moff Gideon battle set, so it’s another somewhat limited release.

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Days 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 21, 22, 23: The Themed Builds

One of the strengths in the Star Wars advent calendars is the themed builds. The company taps into the history and plays with those elements in efficient micro-builds. I love seeing what they do every year and how they interpret the Star Wars elements in tiny form.

The builds also offer the opportunity to have fun, like the AT-AT walker (a staple of recent calendars). Yeah, it’s a fearsome war machine, but after 2010’s AT-AT Dog Day Afternoon, it’s also been an Imperial puppy in our house, and makes us laugh as we put bows or other decor on its head. None of the themed builds are boring, even it we’ve seen them done before (like the AT-AT or the Millennium Falcon) because LEGO keeps innovating, even on this scale.

This block of builds is the magic of the LEGO Star Wars advent calendar.

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Day 16: The Ghost

I loved seeing this for purely sentimental reasons. The Ghost was home for the Star Wars: Rebels crew, an animated series that didn’t pull many punches when it came to exploring the galaxy in the height of the Empire. It’s a simple build but a fun one to see.

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Day 24: The Crimson Firehawk

It’s easy for Star Wars fans to get jaded. I see collectors griping all the time about action figures and how Hasbro doesn’t manage the lines exactly like they would. I see fans complaining about new movies and series, some even making up lies from whole cloth to express how they feel. Don’t even get me started about the people who still can’t let the Expanded Universe go.

But there are also Star Wars fans who give new things a chance, and I’m glad I listened to them about the Young Jedi Adventures show. I’m not in the target demographic for this show about younglings training to be Jedi in the High Republic era, but I found it to be wholesome and fun. Yes, it’s predictable, but it’s also a great in-road for little kids and echoes the era of animated shows presenting a life lesson alongside entertainment.

The Crimson Firehawk belongs to pilot Nash Durango, a kid who isn’t a Jedi but helps them on missions when she can. The show ran for two seasons on Disney, and it wasn’t something I expected to see in the advent calendar despite having a whole line of LEGO sets. I think it’s neat to see LEGO speaking to fans of the Young Jedi Adventures, telling them that they belong to this fandom regardless of their entry point.

It was a surprise to end the calendar and a welcome message in an era of jaded adult fans.

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Overall, I really enjoyed this year’s calendar. As I’ve said before, the strength is in embracing the brand and its history, and they continue this every year with innovations to keep it fresh.

Something I’d love to see is more of that history, such as builds from the comics or novels, and even from the Expanded Universe. I’m thinking E-Wings and Thrawn here, both of which LEGO has done in the main line. I’d also like more Clone Wars and Sequel Trilogy minifigs (like Rey with her yellow lightsaber, Pong Krell, or other Jedi Knights).

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of The Force Awakens, the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, and the 40th anniversary of both the Ewoks animated series and The Battle for Endor. It would be fun to celebrate some of this in the calendar, though I don’t expect to see a Princess Kneesaa (even though it would be a pretty easy repaint to pull off).

Finally, it would be fun to do a one-off Indiana Jones-themed calendar. Minifigs could include Indy, Marion, Sallah, and others, and the themed builds could represent the Ark of the Covenant, the sankara stones, the boat from Venice, and so much more. The five films (and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) are chock full of icons and ideas, and with the franchise formally coming to an end in 2024, if could be a fun send-off.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a fun interactive gift leading up to the holiday season, I wholeheartedly recommend the LEGO Star Wars advent calendar. We have a blast each year and people love following along with us on Facebook and Instagram.

Culture on My Mind
The 2023 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
March 15, 2024

It’s time to talk about the 2023 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar!

My family has been doing these LEGO advent calendars since 2015 and I chronicle the daily builds on Instagram. Each of the annual box sets has been spotlighted on this site. These boxes contain twenty-four unique small builds, many of which are abstract, along with exclusive mini-figures and whimsical winter-themed spins on Star Wars staples.

This box was inspired by The Bad Batch, the prequel films/The Clone Wars, and Return of the Jedi (celebrating its 40th anniversary). It also tied in some holiday cheer with the typical festive spin on fun builds. We got Omega on a sled, a Christmas pit droid, a reindeer Gonk droid, a festive Ewok, and even Emperor Palpatine in an ugly holiday sweater.

Overall, I really enjoyed the builds in this set. Of course, the Star Wars sets hardly ever disappoint, and the creativity is a joy. I adored the Endor sets, including the Ewok village and the shield generator complex.

Even the basic fillers like a B1 battle droid and a weapons rack didn’t distract. It doesn’t beat the 2022 calendar, but it was still fun. In the end, that’s what counts.

Our countdown this year was a little different since we had a lot of competing plans in early December. We got it done by doubling up each day leading to the new year instead of Christmas Eve.

Now, on to the countdown:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Culture on My Mind
The 2022 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
January 20, 2023

It’s time to talk about the 2022 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar!

My family has been doing these LEGO advent calendars since 2015 and I chronicle the daily builds on Instagram. Each of the annual box sets has been spotlighted on this site. These boxes contain twenty-four unique small builds, many of which are abstract, along with exclusive mini-figures and whimsical winter-themed spins on Star Wars staples. This box leaned on the recently released LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation special.

Despite the Summer Vacation links, however, this set also tied in some holiday cheer and sampled various aspects of the Star Wars library. It started with the prequel era (with a brief nod to The Bad Batch), then hopped into the classic era (with a small bounce into Summer Vacation), before wrapping up with a Santa-themed GNK droid.

The holiday sweater-clad C-3PO and R2-D2 were so much fun to see, as was the beach bum Darth Vader with his snorkel fins and sand castle. The abstract mini-builds were all well done and I adored the ability to hang Luke Skywalker from the Wampa cave. The snowtrooper was a big hit in our household since LEGO took time for representation and gave us a black woman beneath the helmet. That was a great surprise and I hope they have more like them in the future.

Even the basic fillers like a B1 battle droid and a weapons rack didn’t take away from the fun, leaving 2022 with one of the best Star Wars advent calendars in recent memory.

Now, on to the countdown:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Culture on My Mind
The 2021 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
January 6, 2023

Apparently, the latter days of 2021 and early days of 2022 were chaotic. So chaotic, in fact, that I completely forgot to post my summaries of the 2021 LEGO Star Wars and Marvel advent calendars. So, January 2023 will bring you some late (and even later) gifts as I take a look back at four separate calendars.

Next week will bring the 2021 Marvel set. After that, I’ll cover the 2022 sets for Star Wars and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. This week is all about the 2021 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar.

My family has been doing these LEGO advent calendars since 2015 and I chronicle the daily builds on Instagram. Each of the annual box sets has been spotlighted on this site. These boxes contain twenty-four unique small builds, many of which are abstract, along with exclusive mini-figures and whimsical winter-themed spins on franchise staples. The Marvel ones are relatively new to the line, but Star Wars has been a longtime anchor property.

The 2021 Star Wars-themed box was heavy on ships and characters from The Mandalorian, a move that made a ton of sense since that was the big draw for fans on Disney+ starting in 2019. I particularly liked the Razor Crest build, the whimsical multi-day stormtrooper and shooting range setup, the Slave I (the “flying iron”), and the multi-day Grogu/Mandalorian run. Of course, staples like the X-Wing, landspeeder, and Imperial cruiser are nice to have. On the downside, there seemed to be a lot more filler with weapons racks and the like.

Now, on to the countdown:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Culture on My Mind
The 2018 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar
November 30, 2021

Day four of this look at our holiday tradition of LEGO advent calendars marks the last of this miniseries.

We’ve been doing these since 2015 and I have been chronicling the daily builds on Instagram. The 2019 and 2020 sets have been previously featured on this site, and to count down to this year’s builds, I’m taking a look back at the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 sets.

These boxes contain twenty-four unique small builds, many of which are abstract, along with exclusive mini-figures and whimsical winter-themed spins on Star Wars staples. Among my favorites over the years are the winter Chewbacca, the rebel pilot snowman, and the AT-AT and R2-D2 pair with reindeer antlers. The 2018 box bounced all over the Star Wars franchise, including the original trilogy, The Force Awakens, and The Freemaker Adventures (which I haven’t seen yet, but plan to soon since it’s on Disney+).

The 2021 day-to-day images are posted on my Instagram account. Feel free to follow me there for whimsical observations, tons of pictures of my dogs, and this annual tradition. That adventure (and December itself) begins tomorrow.