Advent calendar

LEGO advent calendars is a collection of seasonal sets which are released annualy some time before Christmas. They belong to different themes (Basic, Belville, Castle, City, Clikits, Creator, Friends, Kingdoms, Pirates, Star Wars). Every advent calendar contain 24 little models for each day from the begining of December till Christmas Eve.
== History and Background ==
An advent calendar is used to countdown the days preceding the Christmas Day. In the XIX Century it had strictly religious character, as it was used by German Lutherans to mark passing days of preparation time (advent) before the birth of Christ’s celebrations. The printed or home-made calendars revealed daily a part of a Nativity story, a verse from the Bible or a religious image. The idea of a device allowing children to receive one small gift a day while waiting for presents under the Chistmas tree was created after the Second World War.
The typical calendar is made of 24 little sealed compartments which can be reached by forcing open the pre-cut ‘windows’ of the cardboard cover. The windows are designed to be opened one per day. Each compartment contains a small treat (usually a sweet or an image) – in LEGO sets there is a few bricks or a minifigure inside. The calendar is supposed to be given to children on December the 1st to teach them patience and to make the waiting for holidays more interesting.
The first LEGO advent calendar appeared in 1998. The late nineties’ sets contained a Santa Claus minifigure and – typicaly to the Basic theme – simple brick-made structures, which can be finally reassembled into a bigger model. This idea was continued in Creator’s calendars (2001–2004), which also included Max and Tina 4+ figures.
In 2004 two advent calendars representing different themes appeared for the first time. An alternative advent calendar set belonged to Clikits theme and from then on up to three sets are available each year. The City theme calendars have been released every year since 2005, usually accompanied by one or two sets from other popular themes. Apart from various minifigures, the mystery windows contain many useful accessories. Nowadays the biggest advantage of purchasing advent calendars – apart from receiving a suprise gift every day – is the possibility of obtaining rare parts and unique variations of certain minifigures (e.g. Friends girls wearing winter clothes).
== Description ==
Many models hidden in Basic, Creator, City and Friends advent calendars are connected to Christmas celebrations and winter activities, therefore they represent typical holidays icons (like Santa Claus, a snowman or a Christmas tree), which throughout the years appeared in many variations.
Other non-seasonal themed treats are included in order to enrich owner’s collection. Star Wars, Castle and Pirates calendars are focused on valuable themed parts and figures but sometimes contain unique and suprising elements like main characters clad as Santa.
Maul Winter.png
Santa yoda.jpg
== List of LEGO advent calendars ==
1998
* 1298 Basic Advent Calendar
1999
* 1076 Advent Calendar
2000
* 2250 Holiday Advent Calendar
2001
* 4124 Countdown to the Holidays
2002
* 4524 Advent Calendar
2003
* 4024 Advent Calendar
2004
* 4924 Advent Calendar
* 7575 CLIKITS Advent Calendar
2005
* 4424 Advent Calendar – unreleased
* 7324 LEGO City Advent Calendar
* 7574 CLIKITS Holiday Gift Calendar
2006
* 7904 City Advent Calendar
2007
* 7600 Belville Advent Calendar
* 7907 City Advent Calendar
2008
* 7979 Castle Advent Calendar
* 7724 City Advent Calendar
2009
* 6299 Pirates Advent Calendar
* 7687 City Advent Calendar
2010
* 2824 City Advent Calendar
* 7952 Kingdoms Advent Calendar
2011
* 7553 City Advent Calendar
* 7958 Star Wars Advent Calendar
2012
* 3316 Friends Advent Calendar
* 4428 LEGO City Advent Calendar 2012
* 9509 Star Wars Advent Calendar
2013
* 41016 Friends Advent Calendar
* 60024 City Advent Calendar
* 75023 Star Wars Advent Calendar
2014
* 41040 Friends Advent Calendar
* 60063 City Advent Calendar
* 75056 Star Wars Advent Calendar
2015
* 41102 Friends Advent Calendar
* 60099 City Advent Calendar
* 75097 Star Wars Advent Calendar
Category:Seasonal