LEGO 2012 Star Wars Advent Calendar 9509

I ordered this product from Amazon on Sunday, and it arrived today. The box is the SAME size as last year, the set contains 32 LESS pieces as last year, yet it costs $10 MORE than last year. A very poor combination without a doubt (especially given that last year’s Star Wars Advent Calendar didn’t sell very well and was available on clearance just about everywhere after the holidays). But, in spite of that I couldn’t risk not having a copy of what is otherwise a very cool Lego set in my collection. I had a blast opening mine last year, and am looking very forward to opening this one this year.

Next I’m going to list the set contents, so please skip the next two paragraphs if you want to be surprised. But, since most of this info is available in the Amazon photos or easily obtainable online, I thought I’d also provide it hear for those who are interested. Note, I purposefully list everything in alphabetical (and not chronological) order so as not to spoil the surprise too much. Not to mention the fact that I’m waiting to open mine and don’t even know the order of appearance myself at this point.

Depending on how/what you count, the set includes nine mini figures. The obvious appeal of this new set are the two exclusive Santa Darth Maul and Snowman R2-D2 figures. On top of that you also get Gungan Warrior, Hoth Rebel Trooper, Imperial Officer (Hoth), Rebel Trooper, Snowtrooper, Security Battle Droid, and Super Battle Droid.

Other surprises include: AT-AT Walker, Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator, General Grievous’ Starfighter, Gonk Power Droid (may also count as a mini figure to some), Gungan Shield Set, Gungan Submarine, Guns and Lightsaber, MTT, Naboo Flash Speeder, Naboo Royal Cruiser, Naboo Starfighter, P-Tower Turret, Separatist Shuttle/The Lapiz Cutter, Super Star Destoyer, and Vulture Droid.

So, there seems to be a bit more of a focus on the prequel this year, but still a sufficient amount of original trilogy stuff to keep just about everyone happy. And, while a few of the models leave a little to be desired, I also impressed at how well Lego is able to make a good representation of many of these items with so few pieces.

I agree that $49.99 is a very expensive price tag for this set (it make so little sense it almost seems like it could be a mistake). And, I hope for everyone’s sake that it comes down before they run out (preferably before the holidays, but even after would be fine if everyone who wants one is able to get one). But, like I said earlier, I had so much fun opening mine last year I decided to splurge and buy at least one copy of this year’s Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar to be safe.

I am not going to go over everything you get in this advent calendar as it’s been said before…except…Santa Darth Maul and Snowman R2-D2. Awesome. I mean, come on! This is so much fun to open up. My kids are so excited for it. But…not awesome enough for the cost. This is a real shame because there is nothing more fun for my family than the Lego advent calendars. I have bought it this year…but…I am feeling frustrated by what you get for the price. My daughter and husband love Star Wars…so this is a no-brainer, but due to the cost it is getting 3 stars. If it was reasonably priced, this would definitely be a 5 star item.

***Edit*** I have changed my 3 star rating to 4, now that we have used it for a few days, so much fun, the kids are so excited every morning.

This set comes in 24 individual wrapped mini sets, each tucked into a box labeled 1-24. The building instructions for each set is pictured on the inside of the door of each box. The idea is to open one box each day for the month of December until Christmas. But we opened ours early!

My son and I love this set. There are lots of unique pieces and they are a great addition to last year’s Lego Star Wars advent calendar. The mini flyers are so cute and well designed. My son loves to battle with all the little flyers. The nice thing is that this keeps him busy for hours at a time. He takes everything out, then he puts everything back into the little boxes. The Darth Maul Santa is especially cool! The only downside is that it’s a bit pricey for the number of Lego pieces you get.

Got a couple of these last year for gifts to people and it was quite popular. Even gave one to my boss’s son.
Pro tip: lego.com has this at a much lower price, 24.99 is what I’m seeing today.

First off I could go off about the price, because I had no idea how much it cost when I promised my daughter one. But It is up to you whether the value justifies the price. What I will talk about is product as if price was no object. So you can take that and decide for yourself. This is a fun way to do the advent calendar for any Lego enthusiast. If you have a child that collects Lego sets this will excite him or her each day each slot is opened. Nothing in this set makes anything huge. But how could they be they have to fit in little slot. But acts as a nice accessory set to lego play time. This would the equivalent to buying a mega pack of Barbie cloths for someone’s Barbie collection. From the Sith Santa to the ships. This will make you child happy every opening. We bought our as a reward chart. So when it came down to having a clean living room or kids bed room we just couldn’t put a price on that. We split it up over several different choirs and we after felt satisfied with our purchase. Now that the calender is empty our oldest child has been cleaning up after herself better. Which was our main goal. The novelty value is there. It just depends on what you feel personally that novelty is worth