01 December 2024

Parts review: LEGO® Friends, LEGO® City and LEGO® Disney Advent Calendars

Posted by Elspeth De Montes

Welcome to December already! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, although the 2024 LEGO® advent calendars were actually revealed back in August. Stop reading now if you want to keep every aspect of your LEGO® City, LEGO® Friends or LEGO® Disney Advent calendars a surprise. Although we won't be spoiling the final mini-builds here, we have collected the new elements, new prints and rare elements from each of the three advent calendars to show you. 

various lego pieces, mostly christmas themed

There's some fun new elements amongst the usual fires with marshmallows toasting, ice hockey and Christmas trees!

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

43253 LEGO® Disney Advent Calendar 2024

  • Pieces: 253
  • Price: £29.99/ $44.99/ €34.99 
42637 LEGO® Friends Advent Calendar 2024
  • Pieces: 272
  • Price: £19.99/ $32.99/ €26.99 
60436 LEGO® City Advent Calendar 2024 
  • Pieces: 195
  • Price: £19.99/ $32.99/ €26.99 
Expect to find them on heavy discounts now December is here. All three sets are currently reduced by at least 20% in the LEGO.com Black Friday sales, but mostly sold out:



43253 LEGO® Disney Advent Calendar 2024

New elements

Disappointingly, there are only two new elements in the LEGO Disney calendar.

two very small lego torsos with skirts
  • Micro-doll Body Long Dress Tan with Dark Tan Decorations, Dark Red Front, Sash, in Sienna Brown (6550392)
  • Micro-doll Body Long Dress Yellowish Green with Dark Green Under Dress, Bright Light Yellow Flower, in Medium Brown (6482620)

Rare elements

Six elements are rare, only appearing in one other set:

various lego pieces and an Ariel micro figure
  • Moana Mini-doll Head in Sienna Brown (6482593)
  • Ariel Hair with two pin holes in Bright Red/ Red (6464816 | 3013)
  • Micro-doll (Elsa) Body Long Dress Medium Azure, White Crystals print in Light Nougat (6440610 | 103990)
  • Micro-doll (Ariel) Body Mermaid Dark Turquoise Tail, Medium Lavender Shells in Light Nougat (6273363 | 59086)
  • Ariel Mini-doll Head in Light Nougat (6471797 | 106664)
  • 1x1 Round Tile with Heart of Te Fiti print in Satin Trans-Bright Green (6532095)

There are five elements that appear in two other sets:

5 kinds of lego piece
  • 1x Top Hat with Pin and Anti-Stud in Black (6485111 | 77108)
  • Tiana Mini-doll Head in Medium Brown (6440592 | 103972)
  • 1 x 2 with Masonry Brick  in Spring Yellowish Green/ Yellowish Green (6469891 | 98283)
  • Sven the Reindeer in Sand Yellow/ Dark Tan (6471782 | 106652) 
  • Microdoll Body (Mirabel) Short Dress Dark Turquoise with White Shirt print, Arms and Legs in Nougat (6374480 | 84197)

42637 LEGO® Friends Advent Calendar 2024

New elements

11 lego pieces, all for people or animals

There are eleven new elements in the LEGO Friends 2024 Advent Calendar, and the star of the set is undoubtedly the snowcat! Rather than using this mould because the cat is chubby, or wearing a spacesuit, it has been used here because this cat is made of snowballs.


6 lego cats of same design but different colours and printing

Snowcat joins the line up of irresistibly cute 'chonky' cats – which is your favourite? (Space Cat currently discounted on Pick a Brick!)


2 different lego cats and a bunny
  • Animal, Cat, Chubby with Snowcat print (6476646 | 103320, 2652)
  • Animal, Cat, Kitten Sitting with Dark Bluish Grey Face and Paws print in Medium Stone Grey/ Light Bluish Gray (6476648)
  • Animal, Rabbit / Bunny, Baby Sitting with Black Eyes, White Nose, Eyebrows Print (Young Melody) in Sand Blue (6476647)

pieces to make lego friends characters and a baby in swaddling
  • Mid-Length Wavy Hair with Center Part in Dark Red (6483120)
  • Bundled Child / Papoose with Light Nougat Face in Lavender (6483678)
  • Microdoll Body Pants Dark Turquoise with Orange/Green Christmas Sweater, Candy Cane, Warm Tan Hands print in Warm Tan (6483649)
  • Mini-doll Head, Dark Tan Eyebrows, Dark Purple Glasses, Bright Light Blue Eyes in Warm Tan (6476643)
  • Microdoll Body Short Dress Bright Pink with Green Shirt, Red Dots, Bow print, Light Nougat Arms and Legs in Light Nougat (6476642)
  • Mini-doll Head, Dark Red Eyebrows, Bright Light Blue Eyes, Looking Up in Light Nougat (6476641)
  • Mini-doll Torso Woman with Red/Green Ugly Christmas Sweater/Jacket print, Light Nougat Arms and Hands in Light Nougat (6483517)
  • Mini-doll Head, Dark Red Eyebrows, Bright Light Blue Eyes, Coral Lips in Light Nougat (6476639)

Rare elements

Only one element is found in one other set:

lego mini-doll legs wearing skirt
  • 1x Minidoll Hips and Skirt with Light Nougat Exposed Ankles, Dark Bluish Grey Shoes print in Brick Yellow/ Tan (6528430 | 59794) 

There are five elements found in two previous sets:

image of lego elements minifigure Dark red Hair, vibrant yellow snowboard, four curved inverted slopes in vibrant coral and a top hat with pin
  • 1x Top Hat with Pin and Anti-Stud in Black (6485111 | 77108) 
  • 4x Slope Curved 2 x 1 Inverted in Vibrant Coral (6438408 | 24201) 
  • 1x Snowboard Small in Vibrant Yellow (6454148 | 18746) 
  • 1x Hair Mid-Length Combed Behind Ear in Dark Red (6448730 | 36037) 
  • Minidoll Hips and Trousers with Back Pockets with Nougat Shoes print in Olive Green (6429524 | 35584)

60436 LEGO® City Advent Calendar 2024

New elements

The Advent Calendar for LEGO City has nine new elements, most of which are new prints.

9 lego pieces, mostly printed with christmas designs
  • Scooter Base in Bright Red/ Red (6489956 | 36273)
  • Torso, White Furls, Collar print in Red (6490035)
  •  Dress/Robe with White Furls print in Red (6481648)
  • Christmas Sweater, White Snowflakes, Tree print in Earth Green/ Dark Green (6489998)
  • Dog with Dark Green Vest, White Christmas Tree print in Brick Yellow/ Tan (6481651)
  • Baby Body with Christmas Tree Print in Dark Green (6488252)
  • Christmas Sweater, White Bulldozers, Crane Hook print in Dark Orange (6490002)
  • Christmas Sweater, White Helicopter print in Earth Blue/ Dark Blue (6490005)
  • Christmas Sweater, White Decorations print in Dark Red (6490030)


4 lego torsos of different colours all with christmas jumper printing

The four Christmas sweaters are particularly fun as they match. I can imagine four friends or family members conspiring to wear them. It seems like they represent the main occupations in LEGO City - Construction, Forestry, Police and Fire Service.

Rare elements

There is one element only found in one other set:

blue lego baby pram
  • 1x Pram / Stroller in Dark Azure (6471940 | 5491)

Another rare element is only found in two previous sets:

grey lego snowshoes
  • 2x Snowshoe in Dark Stone Grey / Dark Bluish Gray (6446176 | 28263)

In conclusion

Sometimes it is worthwhile buying a particular advent calendar on sale if you really want to collect a few of the exclusive elements but inevitably these will also end up on the secondary market places and hopefully Pick a Brick too. The advent calendars can sell out – indeed most countries of LEGO.com have sold out at time of writing – but often the less popular ones are left on the shelf at a considerable discount.

5 mini lego friends characters

For example, it may be more cost effective to buy the LEGO Disney advent calendar rather than try and source five separate micro-dolls.  But if you only want the two new micro-doll bodies, the whole calendar is a pricey way to achieve this.  

The LEGO City calendar has some fun minifigure Christmas sweaters plus the dog wearing his sweater, and the Mrs Claus outfit, making it the favourite of mine this year.


lego snow cat

Without a doubt, the standout star this year is the Snowcat in the LEGO Friends advent calendar. 


READ MORE: Up to 77% off LEGO Pick a Brick over the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend

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3 comments:

  1. Jonathan Wilson1 Dec 2024, 21:41:00

    I bought the City advent calendar because it was a good way to score all those xmas sweaters and the overall parts selection is good as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elspeth De Montes2 Dec 2024, 10:44:00

      That's the one I bought my son too after reviewing them!

      Delete
  2. Skye Barnick9 Dec 2024, 17:29:00

    Nice overview! There are definitely a few other details besides the Snowcat that I think make the Friends calendar especially charming: in particular, the smaller characters and animals are younger versions of Paisley, Olly, Ella (Paisley's little sister), Melody (Paisley's bunny), and Gertrude (Olly's cat) from other Friends sets! For MOC purposes, this makes it easy to use the baby bunny and kitten together with the full-size versions of Melody and Gertrude for animal families!

    Another feature that excited me about both the Friends and Disney calendars when images of them first surfaced is the black mini top hat (though of course it's already shown up in the Jaws set as well). It's much more versatile in this color than in Medium Lilac/Dark Purple, its debut color in in the 2021 Friends Magical Funfair sets — and as in those sets, it can be used not only as headgear, but also as a prop for magic shows!

    In general, these sorts of hats with accessory pins are a fantastic feature for both animals and head/hair pieces with Ø1.5mm holes, and I'm very excited for next year's sets to expand the selection even further with parts like a ball cap in the Animal Crossing theme and a chef's hat in the Friends theme!

    The flashback approach for this Friends advent calendar is also a touch bittersweet, since Paisley's mother Rose passed away prior to the "present day" sets, and Paisley's childhood memories of their time together (and emotional struggles around the loss of her mom) play a huge role in her characterization in the Friends storyline. Rose has previously been acknowledged in family photo and album cover stickers in https://brickset.com/sets/42620-1/Olly-and-Paisley-s-Family-Houses, but actually focusing on some of those family memories for an advent calendar set is a pretty bold decision on LEGO's part.

    The tone of the City advent calendar is a lot more silly and lighthearted compared to the Friends one, but I love the idea of providing holiday sweaters for the whole family, including the dog! The choice to theme some of these sweaters around perennial City subthemes (fire, police, and construction) is also very cute and quirky, though it may limit their utility in future sets and MOCs compared to the more neutral evergreen patterns provided for the little girl, dog, and baby.

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