LEGO 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar review

This year’s LEGO Star Wars advent calendar offers up yet another selection of micro-builds and minifigures, but where’s all the festive fun?

With the sun shining brightly outside, it is of course that time of the year again when we look ahead to Christmas with the LEGO Group’s annual advent calendar releases. It always feels a little odd reviewing such festive offerings when there’s a heatwave outside, but releasing a set such as 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar months ahead of December does actually make a lot of sense.

It almost goes without saying, but spoilers ahead for the contents of the 2024 LEGO Star Wars advent calendar...

Release: September 1, 2024 Price: £29.99 / $44.99 / €44.99 Pieces: 368 Minifigures: 5 LEGO: Order now

Grab galactic goodies

Many fans often sleep on picking up these boxes of mini-builds until much later in the year, by which time they may well be out of stock, often never to return. The best tactic then is to grab 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar early on (at a discount, if possible) and patiently squirrel the set away until it’s time to start opening up those doors from December 1.

LEGO advent calendar reviews tend to be bulletproof. The sets are usually often little whimsical nuggets of building fun, based around specific themes with a few exclusive minifigures thrown into the mix. The LEGO Group knows exactly who the target market for these annual sets is, which means that anyone with a slightly cynical side might want to steer well clear.

While this year’s LEGO Star Wars advent calendar is themed as a 25th-anniversary release, there's really nothing included here that warrants such celebratory branding. As usual, fans are presented with 24 mini-builds to assemble, ranging from basic versions of ships and vehicles from a galaxy far, far away to a handful of minifigures.

Holiday heroes

It’s typically the latter that are the most appealing, although 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar’s Hoth-themed box only includes two exclusive offerings. Holiday Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia both boast festive jumpers, matching the look of C-3PO and R2-D2 from 2022’s calendar selection and Emperor Palpatine from last year’s set.

They’re featured alongside the same version of Ahsoka Tano last seen in 75362 Ahsoka Tano’s T-6 Jedi Shuttle, a standard 501st Clone Trooper and a Praetorian Guard from the recently-released 75386 Paz Vizsla and Moff Gideon Battle (which will handily take your total to three if you own that set too, matching the number seen on-screen).

The rest of 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar consists of tiny brick-built ships, vehicles, and even a minikit cannister from various LEGO Star Wars video games, alongside the latest iteration of a Super Battle Droid figure.

Micro machines

LEGO advent calendars are great showcases for LEGO designers to demonstrate just how creative they can be, using a minimal number of pieces to recreate all manner of shrunken (yet recognisable) items. That definitely rings true for 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar, whether that’s a diminutive Millennium Falcon and little Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder or a basic four-legged AT-AT and small-scale Jabba’s Sail Barge.

None of the models take more than a few minutes to construct using the simple instructions to be found behind each of the 24 doors. The real fun with LEGO advent calendars is not knowing what’s hiding behind each one until you open them up and then having to wait patiently until the next day to discover what’s coming next.

The rest of 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar is made up of an X-wing, TIE Fighter, Y-wing, Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser, Emperor’s Shuttle, U-wing, T-6 Jedi Shuttle, a Mandalorian Gauntlet, The Ghost, Yoda’s Jedi Starfighter, Razor Crest, Crimson Firehawk and Darth Vader’s Castle.

Festive Force

While offering a satisfying set of models to make, 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar does lack any actual Christmas-themed builds. In past years we’ve had reindeer Gonk droids, snowball stud shooters, festive sleigh speeders and more, all of which are absent from this year’s selection.

Those tongue-in-cheek models may not be a loss for more seasoned fans, but for many they’re a big part of the fun of these annual releases. With the LEGO Star Wars theme celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024 and Rebuild the Galaxy arriving on Disney+ on September 13, this does feel like a slightly missed opportunity to offer up something truly unique and lighthearted for the holidays.

Minor quibbles aside though, 75395 Star Wars Advent Calendar delivers almost exactly what you’d expect from such a set. The box of mini-builds is packed with plenty of charm, recognisable craft and a handful of minifigures. As usual, don’t wait to pick up this set until later in the year or for it to be reduced in price, otherwise your December days may but just be a little less festive.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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Our honest opinion: The latest advent calendar from a galaxy far, far away is another satisfying seasonal release, despite the absence of any truly festive builds.