Patrick Barnes is stepping in today for the SW Review!

HP and SW are all square at two wins apiece heading into Day 5. Let’s see which calendar takes the lead in Day 5:

Harry Potter- Day 5

Matt: After losing a controversial matchup yesterday, HP is looking to shake it off and bounce back on Day 5. Behind Door #5 is an exclusive variant of Cho Chang. Inspired by her Yule Ball attire, this is an amazing fig with very detailed metallic silver and magenta accents, on a light aqua dress backdrop (rare colors all around!). I love the use of the printed 1×2 brick and 1×2 plate to mimic the “medium leg” height of the 4th years at Hogwarts. Some are criticizing the skin tone as an unnecessary decision by TLG, although worth noting that they have consistently used this skin tone with previous variants of the Cho figure. Included in the build are dark brown wands, and this entry comes with an extra sprue. Overall, a wonderful offering for today. Worth noting that this is now a step toward the Yule Ball theme and it will be interesting to see what comes next.

Star Wars- Day 5

Patrick: Behind day number 5 of the Star Wars advent calendar is one of the best micro builds in recent memory, the Mandalorian’s faithful ship, The Razor Crest. Weighing in at a hefty 22 pieces, The Razor Crest micro build effectively captures the look of the in-universe ship, making great use of the newer 1-Long bar pieces attached to hollow studs, in both black and light bluish grey, to represent the primary guns of the ship as well as hold up the engines. The engines do look a little floaty being attached from the base rather than the side of the actual hull, but it effectively captures the look with minimal pieces needed. The choice to leave the studs exposed on the side seemed odd as well, as the ship is relatively smooth in the show, but it adds some needed texture. Otherwise, this is a high-tier micro build with appropriate shaping, dimensions, and colours, and getting a Mandalorian micro build is always a bonus. Its always really nice to get a tv show build in the Star Wars advents, as most are based on vehicles, locations and characters from the movies, but the few Rebels or Clone Wars gift we’ve gotten are usually really well done.

(On a side note, the timing of this build with the Mandalorian episode that released on the 4th cannot be a coincidence)

Verdict

Both calendars offer great gifts as we enjoy this weekend, but using our minifig metric as we did on Day 4, it’s the exclusive Cho Chang coming out with the win! HP retakes the lead and the score is now:

HP- 3

SW- 2

To be continued…