That little boy with the snowball is in so many minor variants in the winter themes, but this is the only one I know of where he has a snow block launcher.

Firefighters have the equivalent of weapons racks. Yeah, those must have been terrible days.

@Jacopyright said:
"What confuses me is that hat-rack in the back: it is not part of the 24 instructions, so how and when were you supposed to build it…?"

That's interesting. I wonder if it was actually included in the set.
And are there 2 or 4 helmets included (there are 2 on the rack)? The inventory confusingly has 3 if those listed :)

It looks impressive all out on display like that but I feel a lot of it would get repetitive opening doors daily. “Oh look, another segment of wall build exactly like the other two I already got…”

I actually got this one in 2012, and I personally really enjoyed it! it was a great thing to have, and I still have those firefighters and masonry brick parts around that I use quite a bit in Mocs!

@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"Is this the first 2012 set? I’ve always liked the firefighter minifigures from that year."

No, we just had a Hero Factory set from 2021 a few weeks ago:
https://brickset.com/article/68658/random-set-of-the-day-thornraxx

Also, I agree, the Firefighter Minifigures from that year were some of the most unique we have ever gotten. I think this was the only time when LEGO made some actually realistic looking firefighter suits.

@Reinier said:
" @Jacopyright said:
"What confuses me is that hat-rack in the back: it is not part of the 24 instructions, so how and when were you supposed to build it…?"

That's interesting. I wonder if it was actually included in the set.
And are there 2 or 4 helmets included (there are 2 on the rack)? The inventory confusingly has 3 if those listed :)"

I don’t think it was, I have this set, but have no recollection of building it, nor do I have the pieces for it.

In truth, I believe the fire service is usually busiest at Christmas.

Two things:

1. The hat rack did not come in the set and appears to be a weird promo photo only thing.

2. This set came with a ton of spare helmets. Like, three.

Also, the calendars in 2011 to, I don't know, 2015, tended to be reflective of the larger theme for Lego City for that year and almost came off as a "year in review" set. 2011 was Police-themed and reflected the City cops and robbers that year. 2012 had a lot of forest police in the orange fire suits, and the Advent Calendar was again reflective. The Calendars became a little more diverse for the following years, but still tended to show *something* from the City themes. Like, there's one with a volcano scientist in a heat HAZMAT suit (he's taking a cookie out of an oven in the calendar).

Lately, I gather that the current calendars are based on the Lego City TV show, which I don't watch?

Wow, that was a nice one; that whole fire department theme is neat.

I don't know if its Santa's Hover board, but everything appear to be floating in the clouds to me?

@watcher21:
He’s also wearing a plain red sweatsuit.

@LegoDavid:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen firefighters wearing outfits in that color. Black with high-visibility reflective stripes is fairly normal in the US, which was probably the basis for the coolest firefighter design from the late 00’s, where the reflective stripes glow under UV light.

@PurpleDave said:
" @watcher21:
@LegoDavid:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen firefighters wearing outfits in that color. Black with high-visibility reflective stripes is fairly normal in the US, which was probably the basis for the coolest firefighter design from the late 00’s, where the reflective stripes glow under UV light."

I've worked in a volunteer fire department. We had suits roughly that color. More tan than orange, but it's not far off from what we had. Remember, 2013 was also themed with "forest" firefighters, so I assume the color is supposed to be evocative of a woodland utility uniform.

While this is "old" , still a lot better compared to 2020/2021 calendars unless you were after LEGO City Adventures characters I guess.

As for the suit color, the 2019-2022 fire minifigs use those bright-yellowish-orange suits when they are driving air or water vehicles in sets, just an updated version with more neon greenish striping.

@Jacopyright said:
"What confuses me is that hat-rack in the back: it is not part of the 24 instructions, so how and when were you supposed to build it…?"

i had this set and i believe the hat rack was not included

@LegoDavid said:
" @RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"Is this the first 2012 set? I’ve always liked the firefighter minifigures from that year."

No, we just had a Hero Factory set from 2021 a few weeks ago:
https://brickset.com/article/68658/random-set-of-the-day-thornraxx

Ah, I see. Thought was from the Savage Planet line (2011)

"

@Jacopyright:
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...”

The only 2012 Advent Calendar that featured a black 3x3 radar dish was 9509, according to the Bricklink inventories. Clearly, with no cops around to keep an eye on things, the fire department stole it from the SWAC.

@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"
Lately, I gather that the current calendars are based on the Lego City TV show, which I don't watch?"

Correct. All the characters in the last two calendars were from that show, though the minibuilds usually represented other City sets, not necessarily connected to the show.