REVIEW: Advent calendar 13 December 2022

Most days it is easy to see what the models we get represent from the movies. But sometimes it can be tricky. That was the case for the 1 December model for instance (which was Ollivander’s wand shop). Today, we got another rather cryptic build. Read on to see what I think it represents…

The symbol on today’s door shows us that we have started on the series of three models from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I quickly opened it to see what was inside.

13 December model

Behind today’s door was another smallish bag with some transparent blue that caught my eye. Looking at the instructions at the back of the door didn’t quite help – I wasn’t really sure what this was going to be.

But I built the model – below you can see how to do it step by step.

A quick count showed we got 20 pieces today, of which 3 were spares.

So, what would this model represent?

Initially, I was thinking Ministry of Magic, with the window facades and statue in the middle of the courtyard. But the colours didn’t make sense. So going back over recent sets that was from the same movie, I realised that this most likely is a micro-scale version of the Room of Requirement from 2020. Below, you can see what that set looked like – based on my review of the set back then.

In particular, I think it covers the bluish windows, the arches above them, the fire place and the target practice figure to the right.

Summary

This was an interesting choice. I do like when the models have a connection to an official set, but this one was a bit tricky I must say. So I’m a bit torn here – and resort to giving it an average score of 3 out of 5 house points. Maybe it would have been hard to do better – but maybe they could have chosen a better subject too.

So will I ever get to give 5 points this year? Have I been too hard on my scoring? And will we get a model that is more recognisable tomorrow? So many questions! Be sure to check back on the 2022 Advent Calendar page tomorrow to see what we got…

Till then, Build the Magic!