LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 76056 Building Toy Set - Perfect for Holiday Gifting & Christmas Countdown Fun

As a mega Star Wars fan myself who has cultivated little Jedis of my own, I've been ordering the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar since they began production. Like every LEGO set, it's high quality and well designed!My sons absolutely love counting the days of Advent this way and take turns opening the "windows" each day to find out what Star Wars figure, vehicle or accessories are inside. Each one must be built, which adds to the fun. The instructions for building the piece are on the inside flap of the little "window." We always find that each set has extra pieces included, too, which my sons enjoy as it add to their LEGO collection of random pieces to use with other building projects.This set was one of our favorites to date, probably because it contained Darth Vader in a Santa suit, which really tickled our sci-fi funny bone.The only aspect I don't like about the sets is that the entire collection is displayed on the front picture, so some of the surprise element is removed. I'd prefer that the box had a more generic photo or at least left some of the set a mystery. My kids, however, don't seem to mind one bit. They rush to open it each morning and spend a great deal of time setting up and playing with the new set or character they discover. At the end of Advent, they always set up a scene under the Christmas tree, which is pretty cute, too.It's a little pricey, but sometimes you can catch a sale or deal. Double thumbs up for the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 75056! We'll be back to purchase the 2015 set!The advent calendar itself did not disappoint! My son who bought this with saved allowances is thrilled with his purchase, and to say he's a detail oriented Lego Star Wars fan is an understatement, so that's high praise. He has the previous two LSW advent calendars and I believe I heard him say this was his favorite. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is in regards to the 2 day delay we experienced as Prime members when ordering this item. My son was willing to pay the extra $2.99 for overnight shipping but I talked him out of it since it would only give us one extra day. Little did I know that we'd be waiting THREE extra days, which is not fun for a kid or parent at the holidays with the days of Advent counting down. This has never happened to me before as a Prime member so I thought I should speak up.I will be purchasing this every year from now on. I was a bit disappointed in the number of actual mini characters you received in this. There were a lot of weapons/ships etc. and few actual characters. I would have given it 5 stars if there were more mini figures. We weren't aware there was a picture inside each door of whatever you were building until several days in and we couldn't figure out what was. The kids didn't want to open the doors so they could keep the box as a play area. I had to read someone else's post to find out about the pictures. Our tray was also in backwards. Same LEGO quality. It would be nice to see other themes. I would recommend this to others.Bought for my 11 year old son, who hounded me for it every day for a month! I am now spoiled, because he leaps out of bed in the morning (no begging for an extra hour of sleep).The daily treats are small and basic, as can be expected, but this increases my son's anticipation for the specialized Christmas pieces and figures. It is fairly expensive for what you get, but in this case somewhat understandable due to the nature of the product (lots of packaging, some unique pieces).My one "complaint" would be that, although called an "advent" calendar, there is nothing "advent" about it. In other words, no pithy verses, no overt reference to Christmas, and no Christmas day ultimate toy!Our son looks forward to opening his Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar every year. Each day in December children count down the days until Christmas Day, and this is a fun way to do so. We all especially look forward to seeing the Star Wars character that plays "Santa" each year. That figure is opened just before Christmas and is a perfect end to each year's calendar. With several mini figures in each calendar and a collection of flyers and weapons, it's a good set. Through the years we have had several adult friends see this and give hints that they would like one of these for themselves. Recommend buying early, since in recent years it's hard to find these after November unless you get it from a reseller at a higher price.Every year I look at these Starwars Advent calendars after they are sold out and regret I didn't purchase mine sooner. I have debated paying the extra money to buy one from a prior year, but find it hard to justify since they are a little overpriced to begin with. I'm glad I waited. This year has the most characters I have seen, I love the items included and am thrilled to pay list price for it. I haven't told my son I have it yet, or he will ask every day how much longer uintil December, but I can hardly wait to see how excited he is!Really fun way to spend the advent season. One star off because it was a bit hard for little fingers to manipulate opening the flaps and then pulling them off - several days ripped into adjoining days. Definitely pay attention to the age guidance on this one - there were a lot more guns that I'd wanted for my 4 year old, but it's not inconsistent with the packaging and the age guidance - I blame myself, not the product.I know these seem a little pricey for the number of pieces, but the value is in the fun of opening one each day as you count down to Christmas. My son loves getting up in the morning and checking to see what he has to build. The actual advent calendar is really just the box, which is divided into sections behind cardboard punch-out doors. The front flap on the box you see in the picture opens to reveal the front of the "calendar." There are 24 doors, to be opened from Dec.1 - 24.Exactly as described. Great spin on traditional advent calendarThe package was pretty worn when I received itgift for xmasKids love it.Pretty pricey for what you get