After 17 days, HP has fought its way back to a tenuous, one point advantage. Will SW tie things back up again or will HP break out into its first two point lead since Day 6? Read on to find out:

Harry Potter- Day 18

Matt: I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a bit surprised that HP has the lead. I think with a string of mediocre builds in the mid-calendar, they are lucky to be here at this point. But I’ll take it. Behind door #18 is half a yule ball ice sculpture table with food and potentially drink. Whew. That was a mouthful. This build is presumably based off the movie scene as I don’t recall this item being a main fixture in the novel. The build is essentially half complete as the 1×4 technic brick with holes suggests that the other half of the table is yet to come. There appear to be food and drink of some sort adorning the table, but I’d be hesitant to outright label the exact type (if anyone knows, feel free to chime in). The main highlight for me are the 1×1 trans clear pyramid bricks, which are rare in my opinion. I also like how the “bubble” forms in each brick near the top. Usually, this pattern is random in trans clear pieces, but is rather consistent in this mold- at least, on the pieces I received. All in all, it’s a build that may contribute to the Yule Ball festivities, but again, loses marks for not screaming Harry Potter or being “inherently magical” (thanks Patrick). In conclusion, I don’t feel this is the strongest entry this deep into the calendar but there have been worse builds to date.

Star Wars- Day 18

Steve: Day 18 from Star Wars is a micro-scale Snowspeeder. This is a really great example of the scale, evoking the classic shape in just 15 pieces. No rare or unusual parts, just clean design. Looking at HP today shows us… half a build? Literally half. No contest. SW takes it.

Verdict

While HP’s build included interesting elements, it provides half a build and doesn’t evoke anything magical or “on theme”. With that said, SW grabs today’s point with a clean microbuild. With the win, SW prevents HP from gaining any ground, and the battle is tied up once again as we head into our final week of the calendar. The score is now:

HP- 9

SW- 9

To be continued…