Well this escalated quickly.
Santa has visited early this year, and has brought a Lego Advent calendar. There are 24 little numbered doors, each containing a dime bag of Legos. There’s a new toy or doodad to build every day, which, in turn, builds anticipation for Christmas.
I will build these and attempt to discern what they are.
December 3: Festive Mailbox?
Three days in, and I’m already at a loss. I can only assume that this is a festive mailbox. This is based primarily on the fact that the previous prize was a Postal Nerd, but humans are pattern-seeking animals and I may be reading too much into the potentially coincidental order of things. It is easier to accept the mailbox part than the festive part, which I can’t begin to identify. The mailbox does open, which I guess is cool.
Rating
Fun ★★☆☆☆
I suppose that on some level, having a festive mailbox gives the Postal Nerd’s life meaning, but again, I don’t know that I’m ever going to connect on a deep level with this character or his postal fixation. It gets an extra star for being articulated.
Ease of Build ★★★☆☆
There are few parts, but the general confusion about what it’s supposed to be makes it difficult to know if it has been built correctly.
Comprehensibility ★☆☆☆☆
Ok, I’m just going to assume it’s a mailbox. Sure, it opens like one of those newspaper vending machines where a hobo can open the door for $0.50, take all of the newspapers, and then sell them manually for $0.50 each, but I can overlook that detail. The real question is: what is next to it? Is that a cake that’s half the size of a public mailbox? A package placed near the mailbox with holly on it? A very small segment of a brick wall upon which someone has left P.F. Chang’s hottest new dessert item, a gluten-free cherry pie filling lettuce wrap? I have no idea.
Extra Parts ★☆☆☆☆
While I never really need extra parts, this one comes with only a single round red thing. Ask your server to “make it a double” and get twice as much cherry pie filling in your lettuce wrap for only $4.99 more!
Overall ★☆☆☆☆
This would only be medium confusing if it weren’t festooned with the extra object that elevates it from a regular mailbox to a festive mailbox. If I were forced to come up with an explanation for the additional item, I guess I’d say that it’s a decorated package. Leaving a package near a mailbox might fly in Denmark, but it’s a sucker move in these parts. Even if today’s build had the words “Definitely a Mailbox” written on it and lacked the enormous petit four (grand four?), I’m not sure how much fun I could have playing make-believe about mailing a letter.
