MCU has a win. SW has a win. Can HP butter hes boots? Lets find out.

Battle of the Licensed Advent Calendars 2022- Day 3

Day 3- MCU

Steve: On the third day of Christmas the Guardians gave to meeee…. A question about what could it be…?

It’s never a great feeling when you open the build and you don’t know what you’re looking at. I had to check the listing on Bricklink to determine this was supposed to be a “Prison Drone.”  That’s an odd choice, as the Guardians haven’t been in prison since the first movie, so it has no Christmas tie-in at all.  It’s an OK build, but no parts or special pieces make this a “meh” entry at best. 

Day 3- SW

Pat: Day number 3 for Star Wars thankfully keeps with the Clone Wars theme, but no longer Republic unfortunately. We get a sweet little Droid Tri-Fighter seen in Star Wars Episode 3 and the Clone Wars, and it’s an effective enough microbuild of a tricky ship to replicate. This is the first time we’ve ever gotten a micro scale of the Droid Tri-fighter, though the technique is pretty basic. The ski pole makes a great little turret, and this is my first time seeing the little 1×1 clip in dark blue (though its pretty common), but something about the build feels pretty weak. Might be because it’s a bit spindly, or might be because its lacking the proper tri-fighter interior “dome”, but this one feels like it may end up in the bulk parts before too long.

Day 3- HP

Matt: After two mediocre builds, Harry Potter has limped into the 2022 battle. Both MCU and SW have secured victories already, so HP is looking to right the Durmstrang ship and get its first win of the season.

Enter The Boy Who Lived. Who else? The titular character arrives on Day 3, which is a couple days late to the party by my count. But no time like the present. We figure Harry will always grace us with his presence and rightfully so. Since Harry is THE most common figure of the theme, we’re always looking for whether this is an exclusive variant or hard-to-find, meaning it hasn’t been in many sets. 

Fortunately, that is indeed the case here. This particular variant of Harry (ie. Gryffindor Robe Open, Sweater, Shirt and Tie) has only appeared in one other set before- 76389 Chamber of Secrets. That retail set is a large and expensive set too, so getting this variant here in the calendar represents great value and something we’ve seen in the past.

I don’t want this to become a sideshow, but I must note the presence of the 2×4 tan plate, who’s exclusion on Day 1 & 2 in favour of 2×2 tan plates was a gripe of mine. While I had chalked it up to LEGO “cutbacks”, now I’m truly lost. If you can include it here, why not on Day 1 & 2? Am I missing something? In any event, it appears we are now adding a “player piece” to the board game, though I haven’t read the rules yet. I’ll make a point to check out the box more as we progress through each day.

Verdict

With its first minifigure of the season, HP also takes its first daily win. In second place, SW with its Droid Tri-Fighter. In third, MCU, with another visually-disheartening entry. After three days, the score is now:

SW- 4

HP- 3

MCU- 2

To be continued…