Advent Calendars?

[Sarah]

When do Lego Advent Calendars start coming out? I know they sell out fast and want to be sure I get one early for DS this year.

Do you think there is going to be a Chima calendar? Chima is his favorite theme, with Superheroes a close second.

I know there will be a City and a Friends calendar, at least, and probably Star Wars from what I remember in the past.

[Chocolatecake]

I have only seen City and Friends mentioned here at EB.

I guess the Advent calenders will be in stores in October, that's where the most adventcalenders hits the stores here in Denmark.

[TheLegoDr]

I do believe September or October is when they are usually released. I believe earlier this year they stated they would have Friends, City, and Star Wars. The latter two being pretty consistent the last few years. Friends being popular is a nice addition too. That one sold out quickly last year, the other two were plentiful from what I saw. Now next year, they may have some more variety depending on how some of the other themes are doing.

[meyerc13]

They're generally out in late August or early September. I know for a fact that I saw the Friends and Star Wars calendars in LEGO stores over Labor Day weekend last year. You don't need to buy them quite that early, but I'd definitely pick them up by Thanksgiving just to be safe. Lately they've been readily available, even after the Holidays, but I remember a couple of years ago we missed out on the Castle calendar because I waited too long.

[Brickdoctor]

Toy Fair info on the Star Wars calendar was a September release, I believe.

[Bricknblue]

The Friends one last year was only rare in the USA because some Chinese parts were badly made and LEGO used the good ones they had on sets and not for the calendar. That problem has been fixed, and LEGO knows how well Friends sells now.

[Blondie-Wan]

There have been LEGO City advent calendars each year since 2005, and at least one other calendar from some other theme every year since 2007; these have varied by year until just recently:

2007 - Belville

2008 - Castle

2009 - Pirates

2010 - Kingdoms

2011 - Star Wars

2012 - Star Wars

2012 - Friends

Prior to 2010 with Kingdoms, these calendars were usually distributed only outside the US; the US (or North America in general?) got only City.

Last year was the first year they repeated a theme other than City, unless one counts Kingdoms as a repeat of Castle; it's also the first year they had three different calendars (albeit with Friends being produced and distributed only in very limited quantities). Since they're now repeating all three of last year's themes, two of which were already repeats (one of them already a perennial) and all of which are "core" themes, I suspect these three themes will now get advent calendars each year for at least the next few years, though of course I don't really know what LEGO plans (this is just what makes sense to me).

The Friends one last year was only rare in the USA because some Chinese parts were badly made and LEGO used the good ones they had on sets and not for the calendar. That problem has been fixed, and LEGO knows how well Friends sells now.

Oh, is that what it was? I knew the Friends one had a much more limited production run than usual, and as far as I know was offered only in brick and mortar LEGO Stores, not even in Shop at Home, but I didn't know the reason why. Where'd you hear this, if I may ask?

Edited July 17, 2013 by Blondie-Wan

[Bricknblue]

I think I read it on Brickset. Some rep of LEGO came out and explained the situation and said they were sorry. I think it had to do with some of the accessory packs that are made in China. LEGO rejected some of them for not being at high enough quality (which is saying something if you look at some of the newer bricks I have) and because Friends sold something like 2-4 times more than LEGO thought it would that they had to use the good ones in some sets and the USA Advent calendar got the short hand.

[Mutant Orc]

I want a LOTR/Hobbit calendar sooooooo badly!

[Tariq j]

I want a LOTR/Hobbit calendar sooooooo badly!

I too want one as well however looking at the last advent calenders it's highly unlikely. TLG have only been doing calenders for their themes like city and friends, with the exeption of star wars which (please correct if I'm wrong) should end in 2023. LOTR and the hobbit will eventually end depending on when the last hobbit film comes out.

[Sarah]

I saw a few "make your own" advent calendars in the threads here from last year. Perhaps folks who want the Hobbit one could do that?

I'm considering if I can do something like that with Duplo for my youngest since I'm thinking of getting a Lego calendar for the oldest and age 2 is just a mite young for the Friends calendar.

[Almaras22]

Rather than City, I'd love to see a Winter Village calendar with little bits to expand the village. City does have bits that can be added, but I've no interest for a firefighter or the like. I just feel that a Winter Village Advent calendar could have so much potential and would be much more Christmas-y :-)

[Tariq j]

Rather than City, I'd love to see a Winter Village calendar with little bits to expand the village. City does have bits that can be added, but I've no interest for a firefighter or the like. I just feel that a Winter Village Advent calendar could have so

much potential and would be much more

Christmas-y :-)

That too would be a good idea, I'd also like a modular calender to add builds like Market stalls more figures etc.

[Rick]

Rather than City, I'd love to see a Winter Village calendar with little bits to expand the village. City does have bits that can be added, but I've no interest for a firefighter or the like. I just feel that a Winter Village Advent calendar could have so much potential and would be much more Christmas-y :-)

The 2009 City Advent Calendar was like a Winter Village add-on for a large part and the 2010 one had a family celebrating Christmas.