LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2024

It's December! That means time to build LEGO Star Wars micro builds for the next 24 days with my son.

This is our fourteenth year opening the calendar together (and the final year before he goes off to university). All photos will be shot with an iPhone 14 Pro Max for the third straight year.

This will be my first year posting advent calendar entries to a static blog. Instead of daily posts, I'm going to just update this one post each day (or as time and energy allow).

Day 1: X-Wing Starfighter

LEGO microscale build of an X-Wing Starfighter

What is this thing? A shoe? Normally I'm a fan of original trilogy material, but this is a terrible micro build of one of the most iconic Star Wars spaceships. I'm guessing the blue stud is supposed to represent R2-D2, which would make this Luke's X-Wing. 👎

It has no shaping from front-to-back when viewed either from the top or from the side. Also the espresso pieces for wing cannons just looks off.

LEGO microscale build of an X-Wing Starfighter from the 2020 advent calendar built in a holiday (white with red highlights) color scheme — Holiday X-Wing (2020)

LEGO microscale build of Poe Dameron's X-Wing Starfighter from the 2019 advent calendar built in a black and orange color scheme — Poe Daemeron's X-Wing (2019)

These X-Wing's from 2020 (white) and 2019 (Poe Dameron's in orange and black) have much better shaping and better looking wing cannons than today's offering.

Day 2: Ugly Sweater Princess Leia

Princess Leia Organa as a LEGO minifigure with a blue knitted holiday sweater decorated with an AT-AT attacking Hoth Echo Base, which is being defended by a turret cannon and a snowspeeder. She holds a pink coffee mug in one hand.

Back side of holiday sweater Leia Organa minifigure. Her blue knitted sweater is decorated with shield generators, a snowspeeder, and a tauntaun with rider.

OK, I just love the knitted AT-AT's on her sweater. It looks like artwork for the kind of video game I would try to make on the Atari 800 when I was a teenager. The back of her sweater has the shield generators, another snowspeeder, and a tauntaun! 👍

Previous Ugly Sweater Minifigs

In previous years we've gotten five other minifigs in holiday sweaters. Two others also came holding coffee mugs.

LEGO minifigure Poe Daemeron wearing a green knitted holiday sweater with BB-8 pattern. Poe holds a red coffee cup in one hand and a blaster in the other. — Poe Daemeron (2020)

LEGO minifigure Darth Vader wearing a red knitted holiday sweater with Death Star pattern. Darth Vader holds his red light saber in one hand. — Darth Vader (2020)

LEGO minifigure C-3PO wearing a blue knitted holiday sweater with R2-D2 pattern — C-3PO (2022)

LEGO minifigure R2-D2 wearing a red knitted holiday sweater with C-3PO pattern — R2-D2 (2022)

LEGO minifigure Emperor Palpatine wearing a red knitted holiday sweater with Death Star pattern. Palpatine holds a red coffee cup in one hand and blasts energy bolts with the other. — Emperor Palpatine (2023)

(There were also holiday sweater versions of Rey and Finn released in a Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama set last year.)

Day 3: TIE Fighter

LEGO microscale TIE Fighter with blue highlights on the wings

This is a decent build. Certainly better than Day 1's boxy X-Wing. I wish they had included a transparent stud on the rear for the ion engines. 👍

Previous Advent TIE Fighters

My favorite is 2016's TIE Interceptor with the printed dish for the cockpit.

LEGO microscale TIE Fighter — TIE Fighter (2014)

LEGO microscale TIE Interceptor — TIE Interceptor (2016)

LEGO microscale TIE Striker — TIE Striker (2017)

LEGO microscale First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter — First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter (2018)

LEGO microscale Sith TIE Fighter — Sith TIE Fighter (2020)

There were also TIE Fighters in the 2011 and 2021 calendars, but I don't have photos of those.

Day 4: Super Battle Droid

A super battle droid. While we've gotten a battle droid in almost every advent calendar, it's been 10 years since the last super battle droid. Grudging 👍

Previous Advent Super Battle Droids

We've gotten super battle droids in two prior calendars. It looks like the molded head was wider on the droids from 10 years ago.

Regular battle droids are more common, having appeared in eight advent calendars between 2011 and 2023. They are arguably even lamer, but at least they mostly came with a blaster. Mostly.

Day 5: AT-AT

LEGO microscale AT-AT with posable head and legs

Probably my favorite Imperial vehicle. This tidy little micro-scale build has decent articulation in the head. You can even make it look like it's cocking its head to one side.

LEGO microscale AT-AT from the side showing how flattened the body is.

When viewed from the side it seems too flattened. Instead of an elephant, it has the profile of a soft-shell turtle with flamingo legs. Another plate would have beefed up the body to the correct proportions. Still a solid 👍

Previous Advent AT-AT's

We've come a long way since the 2012 model with telescopes for legs. My favorite is the Rogue One AT-ACT from 2018 although really it's largely identical to the 2015 version.

LEGO microscale AT-AT with fixed legs made from telescopes — AT-AT (2012)

LEGO microscale AT-AT with posable legs — AT-AT (2015)

LEGO AT-ACT with posable legs and orange highlights — AT-ACT (2018)

Day 6: Y-Wing Starfighter

Another classic original trilogy spaceship. I'm not convinced by that yellow jumper plate used to shape the cockpit. Otherwise looks pretty good. I like the silver-colored stud for the astromech droid. 👍

Previous Advent Y-Wing's

Today's model is a big improvement over the blocky Y-Wing from 2014, but I prefer the cockpit shape of the 2017 build.

LEGO microscale model of Anakin's Y-Wing Starfighter from the prequel trilogy. This model is very blockier compared to more recent ones. — Anakin's Y-Wing (2014)

LEGO microscale Y-Wing Starfighter. The cockpit has a nice curved shape to it. — Y-Wing (2017)

There was another model of Anakin's Y-Wing in the original 2011 advent calendar, but it was identical to the 2014 version.

Day 7: Minikit

LEGO minikit collectible from the LEGO Star Wars video games. A white cylinder with dark gray highlights, green and red lights, and an antenna.

The minikit collectible from the LEGO Star Wars series of video games. My son and I used to play this together on the Wii. I am indifferent, but my son was enthusiastic. According to him this build redeems this year's calendars recent stumbles (he was more critical of the AT-AT and Y-Wing). 👍

Day 8: Jabba's Sail Barge

LEGO micro-scale model of Jabba's sail barge in brown with tan highlights and two dark orange sails.

This is an excellent little build and easily recognizable. They even managed to get the sails hoisted on two little masts. 👍

Previous Advent Sail Barge

Jabba's sail barge has appeared in the advent calendar once before in 2015, but it was much more rudimentary. The following day gave us the Sarlacc Pit to pair with it.

LEGO microscale model of Jabba's sail barge. The build is mostly brown with orange curved slopes for the sails. — Jabba's Sail Barge (2015)

LEGO microscale build of the Sarlaac Pit from Return of the Jedi with Jabba's sail barge floating behind it. — Sarlaac Pit (2015)

Day 9: Millennium Falcon

LEGO micro-scale model of the Millennium Falcon

Another great micro-scale model. The cheese grater slopes are perfect to form the Falcon's signature mandibles. 👍

Previous Advent Millennium Falcons

The 2020 version was pancake thin. I prefer the chunkier versions like we got today or in previous years.

LEGO microscale model of the Millennium Falcon. This version uses a single 4 x 4 radar dish to form the top of the Falcon. — Millennium Falcon (2015)

LEGO microscale model of the Millennium Falcon. This version uses a cheese slope to form a square radar dish, indicating that this is the Force Awakens era Falcon. — Millennium Falcon (2017)

LEGO microscale model of the Millennium Falcon. This version is built from stacked plates making it very thin and flat like a pancake. — Millennium Falcon (2020)

Day 10: Ahsoka Tano

LEGO minifigure of Ahsoka Tano wielding two light sabers with metallic silver hilts and colorless blades

Great minifig and I love that they included both of her light sabers. Great printing on her arms, legs, and Lekku. 👍

Backside of LEGO minifigure of Ahsoka Tano

Day 11: Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser

LEGO micro-scale model of a Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser, which is a gray triangular ship with a dark red stripe down the middle, a midline gap, and a vertical tail fin.

Another great-looking, solid little ship. The Star Wars advent calendar is on a roll. 👍

Previous Advent Republic Attack Cruiser

While similar in many ways, the previous model had a much narrower midline gap than today's model.

There was supposed to be a pair of dark gray binoculars atop the fin to suggest the Venator's dual bridge tower.

Day 12: Emperor Palpatine's Shuttle

LEGO micro-scale model of a a light gray tri-wing imperial shuttle with a black windscreen with its side wings folded down in flight mode

Yet another nice spaceship model. The wings seem a little thick at this scale but still a solid 👍.

LEGO micro-scale model of a a light gray tri-wing imperial shuttle with a black windscreen with its side wings folded up into landing position

Landed. The wings perhaps don't fold up as much as they should.

Previous Advent Shuttles

All of these were shuttles with wings that folded up in landing mode.

LEGO micro-scale model of a white tri-wing shuttle — Imperial Shuttle (2014)

LEGO micro-scale model of a black tri-wing shuttle — Director Krennic's Imperial Shuttle (2017)

LEGO micro-scale model of a gray shuttle with four side wings (one missing) fixed in folded up landing position — Zeta-Class Cargo Shuttle (2018)

LEGO micro-scale model of a black shuttle with two side wings and no top wings and a red windscreen. It looks like a malevolent bat. — Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle (2019)

LEGO micro-scale model of a dark bluish gray tri-wing shuttle with a red windscreen and a prominent top fin — Bad Batch Shuttle (2022)

LEGO micro-scale model of a white tri-wing shuttle with a very bulky vertical top fin — Imperial Shuttle (2023)

Day 13: T-6 Jedi Shuttle

LEGO micro-scale model of a white spaceship with red trim

Today we get Ahsoka Tano's spaceship. Looks good enough although you just have to imagine the wings rotating around the central axis of the ship. 👍

LEGO micro-scale model of a white spaceship with red trim rotated to vertical (so that wings are on top and bottom)

Vertical. Just don't look at it from the other side.

Day 14: Mandalorian Guantlet

LEGO micro-scale model of Mandalorian guantlet spaceship in gray with blue highlights.

I had to look this one up. Apparently it's Pre Vizsla's Kom'rk Class fighter transport, the Guantlet. Unfortunately this isn't a particularly good representation of that ship. The mandibles need to be longer and should have been light gray, and a clip would have been better than the tooth-piece in the center. Like yesterday's shuttle, the wings are supposed to be able to rotate between horizontal and vertical. 👎

Enjoy the cat hair in the photo. That's life with cats. I'm not retaking it.

Day 15: 501st Clone Trooper

LEGO minifigure of a Republic Clone Trooper with blue highlights on their armor and holding a blaster

I never watched much of the Clone Wars cartoon, but apparently the 501st was the legion that fought under Anakin Skywalker's command. Anyway it's fine. Happy they gave them a blaster to go pew-pew with. 👍

Day 16: The Ghost

LEGO micro-scale build of the Ghost spaceship in white with red, green, and yellow highlights

The Ghost from the Rebels cartoon (and also the Ahsoka live action series). My son was so happy when he received the full-sized LEGO Ghost set for Xmas 2014. It was the first larger set we'd given him. Good times.

This is a nice representation of the Ghost and better than the one we were given back in 2017. 👍

Previous Advent Ghost

Pretty similar but a bit chunkier than today's model. The new version benefits from using a 1 x 5 plate as its base.

LEGO micro-scale build of the Ghost spaceship in white with red, yellow, and green highlights. This model is a bit chunkier than the 2024 version being only 4 studs long. — The Ghost (2017)

Day 17: Ugly Sweater Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker as a LEGO minifigure with a green knitted holiday sweater decorated with his homestead on Tatooine, complete with twin suns and a moisture vaporator. Luke holds his signature green light saber in one black-gloved hand.

Back side of holiday sweater Luke Skywalker minifigure. His green knitted sweater is decorated with a Jawa Sandcrawler and another moisture vaporator.

With his green light saber and black gloved right hand, this is clearly Return of the Jedi Luke. Maybe not quite as fantastic as Leia's holiday sweater from day 2, but still pretty great. I love the knitted twin suns and the moisture vaporator (plus the Sandcrawler on the reverse side). 👍

Holiday sweater Luke Skywalker LEGO minifig stands next to holiday sweater Leia minfig.

Look, twins!

Day 18: U-Wing Starfighter

LEGO micro-scale build of a U-Wing Starfighter in white with quad engines and yellow and blue highlights

A U-Wing from Rogue One. Pretty decent model even though once again wings that are supposed to be movable are fixed. 👍

Day 19: Yoda's Jedi Starfighter

LEGO micro-scale build of Yoda's Jedi Starfighter in gray with dark green highlights

What is this, some kind of undersea submersible? No, apparently it's Yoda's Jedi Starfighter, as seen in a handful of Clone Wars cartoon episodes. The blue stud on top is supposed to be R2-D2, and I suppose the hint of lime green behind the windscreen is Yoda. 👎

Day 20: Praetorian Guard

LEGO minifig of a Praetorian Guard, which looks like a red stormtrooper holding a double-ended energy staff

These were the (supposedly) elite troops guarding the First Order's Supreme Leader Snoke in the sequel trilogy (they didn't do a very good job). That helmet looks like a bucket though. 👎

Day 21: Darth Vader's Castle

LEGO micro-scale build of Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar. It is pointy and black with a glowing red door.

Why did Darth Vader have a castle? We see the entrance in one scene in Rogue One. Simple but well-executed representation of the source material. 👍

Previous Advent Castles

LEGO micro-scale build of Darth Vader's castle and his personal TIE fighter. The castle and ship are mostly black. — Darth Vader's Castle (2020)

LEGO micro-scale model of a sand castle in shades of tan that has the two-towered shape of Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar. — Mustafar Sand Castle (2022)

Day 22: Razor Crest

LEGO micro-scale build of the Razor Crest, a light gray spaceship with two engine clusters. This version is only 6 studs long, making it chunkier than earlier versions.

The Mandalorian pilots a neat spaceship, but this version feels off somehow. I think they should have used open studs on the engines to represent the engine intakes, and it should have been one stud longer. As it is, the engines are too far forward and it feels stubby. 👎

Previous Advent Razor Crests

LEGO micro-scale build of the Razor Crest, a light gray spaceship with two engine clusters. This version is 7 studs long, which gives it nice proportions. — Razor Crest (2020)

Both of the previous renditions were one stud longer than today's offering, which allowed them to center the engines front-to-back. The 2020 version had its engines mounted too close to the ship's midline.

Day 23: Luke's Landspeeder

LEGO micro-scale build of Luke's landspeeder in tan using a half-circle tile to shape the hood. Stacks of round studs represent Luke and C-3PO. Right and left engines are identical.

Another classic original trilogy vehicle with Luke and C-3PO riding in it. The hood seems a bit stubby (could have been one stud longer), but otherwise fine. The half-circle tile is an improvement over previous parts. 👍

Previous Advent Landspeeders

LEGO micro-scale build of Luke's landspeeder in tan with a small hole in the hood and no passengers. Right and left engines are identical. — Landspeeder (2014)

LEGO micro-scale build of Luke's landspeeder in tan also with a small hole in the hood and no passengers. The left engine is dark gray because in the movie that engine had its cowling removed. — Landspeeder (2018)

LEGO micro-scale build of Luke's landspeeder in tan with two quarter-circle tiles used to shape the hood. White and pearl gold round studs represent Luke and C-3PO. The left engine has a different color and shape because its cowling had been removed. — Landspeeder (2022)

The 2018 and 2022 versions used a different appearance for the left engine because in the movies the cowling had been removed from that engine. I was sorry to lose that neat little detail in today's model.

Day 24: Crimson Firehawk

LEGO micro-scale build of a red and white spaceship the looks a bit like a flying saucer.

What is this? Santa's UFO? Some sort of holiday-themed Clone Wars era spaceship? No, apparently it's the Crimson Firehawk from the Young Jedi Adventures cartoon. I think it's insanity that the U.S. lets teenagers drive automobiles at the age of 16, but giving a tween their own spaceship is even more bonkers. An ignominious ending for the 2024 advent calendar. 👎