I got this set about a month or so back, and held off on opening it because of the rumors of its scarcity. There were a few things that attracted me to this set from the beginning, a new Friends friend, and some great elements, some of which are brand new. As purely a parts pack this set will be a favorite of all those AFOLs who don't care that it's got mini-dolls instead of minifigures, but instead love all the great colors and new and interesting pieces that the Friends line has brought to us.

Box/Instructions

Parts

This is where this set really stands out. There are great parts, some rare, some brand new, and plenty of great colors to go around!I think the easiest way to go through them is going to be breaking this down into each of the 24 days:

1- Olivia. This is the same head & hair, and the legs have been used twice before but the torso is a new design. It's a light blue sweater with a design reminiscent of holiday sweaters. Of course since it's Olivia there's a heart front and center in the pattern, as all her torsos have had a heart design. She'll make an excellent Imperial Friendstrooper =-)

2- Sled. The highlight here is the new 2x1 panel with central divider in bright pink. This is a great new part from Friends and otherwise has only been in one set, the new Pre Viszla's Mandalorian Starfighter. The beauty of this part is that it's the only way to get a mini-doll to sit in place, but it works perfectly with a minifigure as well! Now the 9516 Gamorrean Guard is riding the sled with his axe as a rudder =-) I hope they start making these in a part other than yellow and pink soon.

3- Street Light with Garland. Nothing fancy here but a great little design.

4- Skis & Ski Poles. Same as the CMF series but for the first and so far only time in Medium Azure. Only one pair? Sort of a weak window. But it's 2 parts in a new color, so more yay!

5- Snowman. Be honest... this is WHY YOU BOUGHT IT! BROWN CARROT STEMS!! Yep I said it! They're great! And they give you an extra one!! YESSSS! Ok I'm better. Get a nice top hat and a white Erling brick too. Oh yes... the first of the plain white minifigure heads in this set! I'm obsessed with monochrome minifigures so this is a huge bonus I wasn't expecting. Also has a pink flower stud, the kind with 4 points sticking out, and a spare (which you will get 3 more of as we go)

6- Christina. You don't have Christina! Just get this set! You need her. Who else will hang out with Chloe in the "Ch" section of the Friends alphabetical line up at school? Or does she go to school? Maybe she just visits for the holidays? Her yellow hair was used in Marie, her head is from Emma, but the body & legs are brand new. She's all red with black boots with white tops and a christmas tree design on her sweater.

7- Accessories. 20 of them. In light aqua blue. No ladybugs =-( Available in 2 other colors in regular Friends sets, but some cool stuff. FYI, stick the pins in a flower and you can put it up in a stud (think reversed headlight brick) 2 each of 2 different flowers/hearts/butterflies/stars, 3 bows, oval glasses & heart glasses, a tiara, a hand mirror, a brush, a comb & a hair dryer.

8- Table & Stool. No interesting parts, a cup, some regular elements, colors are Friends-y but common.

9- Breakfast. Another cup. A plate. Brownies with flowers on top? I could go for a brownie right now. A carton of milk made from a printed 1x1 brick and a white cheese slope, it's been in 3 other sets, and there's a matching OJ carton in at least one other, they're really a great piece. I had the OJ in my take on the Death Star Canteen for I LUG NY's New York Comic Con 2012 fan display on a (wet) tray being carried by a Stormie =-)

10- Sled Trailer #1. Goes behind the sled. normal parts. Not sure why for all 3 of these they used 2 1x4 white plates instead of 2x4 plates? Has a pair each medium azure 2x1 panels & 1x1 corner panels, which are nice.

11- Present for Dog. 3 2x1's a plate, some 2x1 tiles and a jumper in white and pink... but the lime green 2x2 round tile with dog paw print is sweet! It comes in 3 other Friends sets bu none I have so I'm glad to have it.

12- Dog! Apparently named Coco. I have a friend with a dog named Coco. This dog is waay cuter (than her dog, not my friend, she's a looker ;-) Friends pets and animals are one of the best things about the theme, so it's great to get this. Same dog is apparently in the Cool Convertable set.

13- Stool with Plate & Candies. Matching stool for the table. Matching plate for the other one. 'Candies' are just 1x1 round plates in trans-light blue... how far can Iron Man fly on candy? I kinda thought it was supposed to be a water dish for the dog, but Candy is what BL says. Moving on.

14- Dog Basket. Nothing fancy, some stuff we've already seen in this set and a short bone. More medium azure panels and corner panels.

15- Sled Trailer #2. The end of the sled. 1x4 lime green fences have only been in one other set (Ninjago Fangpyre Wrecking Ball)

16- Basket with Broom & Snowballs. Picture shows 4 white 1x1 round plates, there's 8 in the bag. Bricklink says 4 are extra. That's nice. The bucket is nice but no handle. The broom is very nice, as i'd only just gotten my first of this style with the Monster Fighters/Halloween Accessory Minifigure pack.

17- Mailbox with Letter. Pretty plain. Regular letter (blue lines, red square). No unusual parts but a box with door never hurts.

18- Present. Lime green & white with Gandalf's letter on top

19- Handbag. And that's it. New style purse from friends, also in the Riding Stable set. well done piece, but another underwhelming window with just one piece in it. Imagine you opened a SW window and just got a blaster?

20- Flower Arrangement. Keep moving nothing to see here.

21- Fireplace. Wait I have to build something. This actually comes out very nice. Nothing special parts wise, but would fit well in most small homes or cabins.

22- Christmas Tree. Didn't seem like anything was unusual aside from the rare trans yellow star fish (only seen in one other set in 2005) but apparently this is the first ever 2x2x2 cone in Green?! Seems a little hard to believe but that's what BL says. Cool. Extra 2x2 round plates in brown (BL says 1, I say 2) and 1x1 round plates in red.

23-Present. Medium blue & white with Gandalf's letter. 5 medium blue cheese slopes and 2 2x1 plates too! Another copy of Gandalf's letter, he needs to get an email account already.

24-Corner Table with Beauty Accessories. A wig? Really? Mia's hair in Black, also available in the beauty shop set. A Glitter-Trans-Dark-Pink 1x1 brick is pretty cool though. Another plain white minifig head makes me happy.

Minifigures

What minifigures? There's only Mini-dolls here. I think I covered this above.

The build

Overall the builds are all simple, but you get some nice little models out of it. There's a 3 car sleigh that has some very nice pieces, including lime green 1x4 fences. There are 3 different gifts, 2 have 'Gandalf's letter' on them and one has a lime 2x2 round tile with a dog paw print, which looks great. There's a small dog bed and a little table with 2 stools as well. Wrote this before reviewing all 24 windows so it's a bit out of step... Two of the best builds are the Snowman and the Lamp-post. The lamppost is a simple straightforward build of regular parts but comes out spectacularly and would easly fit in any cityscape. The snowman looks great and will fit perfectly with minifigures, especially with the awesome brown sticks/carrot stalks although with the magic of 1x1 round plates with center holes they're probably getting stuck in Snow2-D2

The completed model

It's a bit underwhelming overall. The box says "5-12" I can see a 5 year old loving this, but a 12 year old will probably be bored with the simplistic builds and skimpy parts. Luckily i'm 6 and change 5 year olds and I love it. Lots of interesting parts and a couple of fun builds. It won't stay built long but I'm glad I opened this up after sitting on it for a month, and can't wait for clearance season to get them in bulk. Lego campfires never looked so good before the brown carrot stalks =-)

Summary

A definite buy, but unless you're getting it for a child who likes friends, or need a part that's only in here for a MOC it can probably wait until after the holidays when they'll undoubtedly drop down in price. Now if you'll all excuse me I need to integrate Star Wars into all the other scenes from the set =-D

Hello, Missingno (a.k.a. just2good) here, with a review of the super-rare set, number 3316 'Friends Advent Calender'.

Why is this set so rare? Well, it had a short production run due to quality issues. That run of sets is supposedly (in the US) only being shipped once to LEGO Brand Stores. My LEGO store was lucky to still have a lot of these left when I went, but I heard from other people that their LEGO store was sold out, or only had less than 5 left. In the US, eBay is selling this set for around $60, so that's why I rated the value for money a bit low. The MSRP of this set is $35 though, and that isn't too good for 195 pieces. But we will get into that later.

Advent Calenders are usually the most fun LEGO sets to build. Nothing beats waking up in the morning, and going straight to the calender to push open a cardboard door and build what ever gift lies inside. So, I have to say, if you intend on opening a door-a-day during December, you will have an amazing building experience.

As I said earlier, the price-per-piece ratio (10 cents per-piece) is not too good on this set. LEGO could of easily "matched" the UK price and make this $20, or at least $25. Most of the other Friends set give you so much bang for your buck, why couldn't LEGO lower the price on this one? Otherwise, the pieces in this set are fantastic. To point a few out, there is a new brown carrot top, the new Friends purse piece in a snowy color, the new Friends dog,(complete with a dog tile and brick-built doggy bed), two lime 1x4 fences, a pink Belville bucket, medium azure skis, a pink car divider, and a whole bunch of minifigure accessories in some type of light sky blue color, including (but not limited to) a hair dryer, a mirror, a bow, a pair of glasses, and a comb. With the figures, there are only two, which in this set, which is a bit of a disappointment for $35, and another reason why it should of been $20-$25. Both figures (Olivia and Marie) have exclusive sweaters and winter leggings, which is a nice touch, and will probably be more expensive in the future. Alas, the set also a loose black version of Mia's hairpiece.

There isn't any playability features in this set, except for a pull out cover that can be used to make a scene out of. The cover has a design featuring the floor of a cabin and a frozen pond. Additionally, each little scene can easily be put in a cabin MOC or in any LEGO City, so there is some playability there...

Overall, though this isn't a great set, I still think it's a decent buy, especially for collectors. Additionally, it's probably the best Advent Calender this year.

7.5/10

You can see my video review of this set on YouTube.