December 1, 2016

2016 LEGO Friends Advent Calendar Reveal

LEGO Friends Advent Calendar
#41131
Piece Count: 218
Year: 2016

This set was provided by the AFOL Relations & Programs team (AR&P) of The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer. 
Photographs are property of Friends Bricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.



It's December 1st, so the time is finally here to open the advent calendar!

Let's flip the box to see the back!

The box has the playmat and backdrop for the fun holiday scenes you create.


LEGO Friends started in 2012, so this is the 5th LEGO Friends Advent Calendar. 

I thought it might be fun to show you what we got in the advent calendars in the past. Do you remember these?


Now let's open this year's advent calendar!




Day 1


It's Emma! She is the last of the five Friends to appear in an advent calendar. 

Her exclusive jacket is cute, and this kind of dark green is rather uncommon in her wardrobe.

Now that Emma is here, we have all five Friends!

Whose holiday outfit do you like best? I personally think Andrea's is the most fashionable.

Day 2

Today's door reveals...



two pairs of ice skates and a small stool/bench! Extra pieces are shown on the bottom right corner.

We got pretty much the same things last year, but this year's door contained slightly more! 




Day 3

Today's door reveals...


a mailbox with a letter! 

Emma is probably sending a handmade Christmas card to someone special... like Matthew!

Here's what's happening in Heartlake City on the 3rd day of December!



Day 4

Today's door reveals...


a candle centerpiece!

The five Friends are enjoying different activities on the 4th day of December! 
Stephanie's friend Lily and a fawn friend are also there to join them!

It is the first Sunday of December today, and the surprise for week 1 is now available online; it's the instruction for the new model built with pieces from this week! 

So here's this year's Week 1 combo-model, shown here with the first weekly surprise from last year.

The one for this year looks like a skating rink locker with a bench. 

I'm not too sure what the model from last year is supposed to be... an armchair, a table, a lamp and a hat display? 


Day 5 

Today's door reveals...


Naomi! 

She was first introduced in Heartlake Cupcake Cafe in early 2016. 

Today she is sporting the new red riding jacket from this year as well as the exclusive dark red skirt and boots.

Here's what's happening on the 5th day of December!


Day 6

Today's door reveals...

Heidi the hamster & her place!

Stephanie got perfume bottles to sell on the market stand from the day before. 

Mia and Olivia each met their holiday friend on the 6th day of December.


By now all the 5 guest characters have made their appearance. 

Liza and Naomi have been included in at least one other set before, but the other 3 characters are advent calendar exclusives.


Day 7

Today's door reveals...


a fireplace decorated with a wreath!

We see quite a variety of advent calendar gifts on the 7th day of December. 

Mia got a large dining table for the holiday feast, which is the main theme of her advent calendar. Stephanie got the second market stand for her Christmas market. 


Day 8

Today's door reveals...


a cookie and milk for Santa as well as a carrot for his reindeer!

Here's what we got on the 8th day of December for the past 5 years.

Some of them supplement the gifts from the day before: Mia's chairs for her dining table, Andrea's sound speaker for her stage, and Stephanie's cupcake and drinks for her market stand! 

Day 9

Today's door reveals...


a small stage and a microphone!

Let's see what the other girls got on the 9th day of December!

Olivia and Mia got something nice for their tables. Stephanie got a container and a display stand for her market. Andrea got a cute saxophone and keeps her music theme going!

Day 10

Today's door reveals...


an upright piano or organ!

It looks like Emma took over Andrea's favorite theme, and has gotten a music-related item two days in a row!

What did the other girls get on the 10th day of December?

Three of the girls got an accessory pack. Olivia got her second sled that could be connected to her first one from Day 2.

Day 11

Today's door reveals...


a guitar and stand! It's the Pop Star guitar with Livi's star design. I guess Emma borrowed it from her!

See what the five Friends are up to on the 11th day of December!
Olivia has wrapped a large gift and Mia has started the oven! Andrea is trying on the elf hat found in her costume storage!

It is the second Sunday of December today, and the combo-build instruction for week 2 is now available online! 

These weekly surprises started in 2015. Last year we got a rabbit hutch & a vanity table and a stool. This year it's a fun area with a swivel stage and a table.


Day 12


Today's door reveals...

kitchen accessories! This set is the same as the one Mia got on Day 10.

A couple of animal friends joined the girls on the 12th day of December: the baby bunny (either Mini or Minu) and Coco the dog!
Stephanie has wrapped two gifts, and Mia has cooked something red garnished with something green on top! What can it be?

Day 13

Today's door reveals...

two chairs and two cupcakes on a baking tray! 

We got a few supplementary items on the 13th day of December: Olivia's chair goes with her table and chair, Mia's kitchen drawers are perfect next to the stove from Day 11. And Stephanie's sled can be attached to her snowmobile from Day 2!

And it looks like Andrea has opened her own market stand, too!

Day 14

Today's door reveals...


a teapot and two mugs on a small side table! 

It's the teapot used at Heartlake Cupcake Cafe where Naomi works! It's my favorite LEGO piece introduced in 2016.

It must be pretty cold in Heartlake City on the 14th day of December. Stephanie is standing by the frozen fountain!    

Mia's got dinner for two served on her plates from day 10! I thought Mia was vegetarian, though... 

Day 15

Today's door reveals...


a camera on a tripod! Strictly speaking, it's a quadripod. 

Emma's been into photography lately!

So what's happening on the 15th day of December? There are some inside and outside activities going on.

Olivia got another sled for her snowmobile! 

By now, everyone except Emma got a sled or a snowmobile in their advent calendar.

Will Emma get one later? Let's hope so. If not, maybe she's getting one for Christmas!

Day 16

Today's door reveals...



a small craft table! Emma and Naomi can wrap presents or make holiday decorations here!

In the meantime, what are the other four Friends up to on the 16th day of December?


Once again, Stephanie and Olivia are enjoying the cold weather outside, and Andrea and Mia are spending their time in the kitchen!

Day 17

Today's door reveals...

two gift boxes with goodies inside! These 2 gift lid designs first appeared in the Birthday Party sub-theme from the first wave of 2016.

It looks like the girls are taking it easy on the 17th day of December.

Maybe it's a perfect day to sit by the fireplace and relax while listening to some music, wrapping presents and sending out a Christmas card.

Day 18

Today's door reveals...


a Christmas tree!

Emma put her Christmas tree up on the 18th day of December. How about her best friends?
They seem rather busy with other activities...

Their trees will be decorated later, but let's go ahead and compare all five of them now!
Who do you think has the nicest Christmas tree?

And now it's time for the combo-models for Week 3!

Both models are quite fun to build! 

These alternate instructions definitely encourage us to try building something new!

Day 19

Today's door reveals...


a record player and two party hats! And there's an extra antenna besides the leftover one... Perhaps it's supposed to be a party popper!

Let's see what the other girls got on the 19th day of December...

We see a nice variety here! Andrea's hockey sticks & rack are quite unique, and Mia's couch goes well with her side table & lamp from the day before.

Stephanie has been outside in the cold every day! Let's keep her warm by the fire!

Day 20

Today's door reveals...

two turkey legs on the grill! 

This is what the five Friends got on the 20th day of December.
Andrea's hockey goals go with her hockey sticks from the day before. Stephanie's tree is shaped a bit strange for the reason you will see soon!

Day 21

Today's door reveals...

Christmas pudding and a cake decorating tool!

This is what the girls are doing on the 21st day of December! 
Andrea got a snowball launcher! 

Day 22

Today's door reveals...


a table! The Christmas pudding from Day 21 looks great displayed on top of it.

Let's see what's happening in Heartlake City on the 22nd day of December!
Andrea got some knock 'em down game pieces to go with her snowball launcher from the day before.

Stephanie's little box is meant to be attached to her oddly-shaped Christmas tree from Day 20. 

Mia got another gift box. By now we have seen several of them, so let's look at them all!
Oh no! Andrea didn't get any!!

She actually got great special stuff like the hockey sticks, the saxophone and more, but nothing she got is wrapped!

Mia's two larger boxes have removable lids like Emma's, and small gifts can be placed in the boxes. 

Day 23

Today's door reveals...


a snowman!

The two remaining Christmas trees are finally up on the 23rd day of December!  

Stephanie's friendly squirrel can go in the little box from Day 22 attached in the Christmas tree she got on Day 20. 

Since Emma made her snowman, let's see how it compares to the snowmen her best friends made!

Which one is your favorite? They are all quite cute, aren't they?

Mia has spent so much time inside the house this month she hasn't had a chance to make one... 

Day 24Today's door reveals...


a polar bear cub curious about the fish jumping out of the water!

This is the last day of the advent calendars, and here's what the five Friends got on the 24th day of December!

In the two most recent advent calendars, the last surprise comes with a rare animal friend from a remote cold place.

Many fans look forward to finding cute animals in LEGO Friends Advent Calendars. 

Which animals do you think we will get in next year's advent calendar?

And here is the combo-builds for Week 4 from 2015 and 2016! 

So this is it!

All the doors from all the five LEGO Friends Advent Calendars have been opened!  What do you think?

With all those fun builds and accessories, your Heartlake City must be perfectly decorated for Christmas by now!

Happy Holidays!

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I agree with you. I like Andrea's outfit.

Soupperson said...

I can't wait to see what they do next year now that we have all five friends. Santa? Please Santa! It be cool if we could have a Santa village themed calander, with the girls performing some sort of Christmas play.

Great job as always Maya!

Maya said...

Thanks for the comments, Lucy and Soupperson!

I was just assuming they would bring Olivia back in 2017, but Santa would surely be nice! And we haven't gotten a single male character in Friends advent calendars yet, either. Perhaps someone like James can dress up as Santa! :)

Unknown said...

Who's James? 😆

Maya said...

James is Stephanie's father and he will be included in 41314 Stephanie's House to be released in January 2017! :)

Unknown said...

I love this years advent calender

Unknown said...

I hope they do a santa village to! and I like olivas and Stehpenies ouftits!

Maya said...

Hi Corey!

Yes, this year's advent calendar is quite nice! But I like them all!

I think I would have liked Stephanie's outfit more if Mia hadn't gotten the exact same torso the following year...

Unknown said...

I like the tea pot to

Unknown said...

I think you are right Maya and do you think Lego Elvels makes a advant calander?

Unknown said...

i also like Emmas ouifit

Maya said...

Corey, a LEGO Elves advent calendar would be nice, but I'm not sure if we are gettig one any time soon. First of all, those elves don't have the holiday season (check the webisode "Another kind of magic"), but my biggest reason is that it wouldn't sell quite as well as a LEGO Friends advent calendar. But that's just my personal opinion at the moment, and let's hope I'm wrong on that one!

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