Posted by Jeremy on December 24, 2016 at 12:01 AM CST
Now in its sixth year (having started in 2011) the LEGO Star Wars Advent calendar joins a tradition started in Germany over one hundred years ago. Taking its name from the first Sunday of Advent, the calendar is used to count the days in anticipation of Christmas. Since the date of the first Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27 and December 3 inclusive, the Advent calendar usually begins on December 1.


Many Advent calendars take the form of a large rectangular card with 24 windows; one for each day of December leading up to and including Christmas Eve. Consecutive doors are opened every day leading up to Christmas, and reveal an image, a poem, a portion of a story (such as that of the Nativity of Jesus), a piece of chocolate or a small gift.

In the case of the LEGO Star Wars Advent each window has a small set or minifigure, often with a festive or wintery theme rather than one with any religious connections to make it more globally appealing. Many of the gifts are unique or have had subtle tweaks to differ them from variants released at general retail, and over the years repeated sets have become more detailed and accurate to their larger cousins.