Advent Calendar #1: Mini Brands by Zuru

It's December!  So now I can dig in and start this advent calendar feature that I've been dreaming about.  I have about ten calendars that I'd like to open throughout the month, but with the way I ramble on and the number of pictures I insisted on taking, I can't promise that I'll get through all of them before the 31st, let alone the 25th.  But I'm sure going to try!

I stumbled onto this idea when a Patreon friend, Lurkins, linked me to an eBay auction for the Bratz mini calendar.  Lurkins thought that Lena might appreciate the minis for her doll collection, and the price was excellent at around $15.  So, I purchased the Bratz calendar and then got curious and searched around to see what other doll and toy-themed advent calendars I could find.  Turns out, there are a lot!

So this month, I'm going to walk you through as many of the calendars as I can, starting with the Zuru Mini Brands advent from 2024:

Lena with a toy from the Zuru Mini Brands advent calendar.

Before I open the Mini Brands calendar, though, I should explain why this is an appealing idea for me in the first place.

When I was a kid, my family had a paper advent calendar from Germany.  The calendar was decorated with a romantic winter scene, complete with lots of animals and wrapped gifts.  There were even glitter accents on the roofs of the houses and in the painted snow.

We used the same calendar year after year, but somehow it never lost its magic.  My sister and I would alternate who got to open the window each day, and we both delighted in trying to find the right number amidst the busy scenery, and then tested ourselves to see if we could remember what picture was hidden behind it.

I looked on eBay to see if I could find a calendar similar to the one I had growing up, and this was the closest I could get:

Key to my enjoyment of these calendars is the presence of lots of animals--especially reindeer.  I think reindeer were my favorite part of Christmas when I was young (and might still be).  This particular calendar has several animals, including two beautiful reindeer:

And puppies!

I also loved our old calendar because there were several wrapped presents in the scenery, and opening those flaps felt almost like opening a real present.  

This calendar has some very tempting packages.  In fact, door one is disguised by a package.  Can you find it?

For me, the harder the numbers are to find, the better the calendar.

Behind the first door, I found a globe:

That would make an excellent gift!

Santa is carrying a pretty nice-looking present, too:

What could it be??

Let's find out:

Hm.

I'm not a huge fan of figgy pudding, so that's a bit of a disappointment.  But no advent calendar is going to have a perfect surprise every single day.

Let's try a few more presents:

This time there's a doll and a book!

Now we're talking.

My old advent calendar also had a stable door, like this one:

And of course the dream here was that there would be another animal hiding behind the door.

But for this calendar, it's a Christmas tree:

A Christmas tree in a barn is a fire hazard.

Most advent calendars, or at least the ones I saw when I was a kid, have an extra-large door for Christmas Eve.  This calendar follows that trend:

That's pretty dramatic.

And usually the picture behind the final door is a nativity scene, like this one:

Having an extra-large or extra-special picture or toy on the 24th certainly feels like one of the necessities of an advent calendar.

Here's another beautiful old German calendar that I found on eBay:

The chaos of this scene is so fun, and it helps to hide the numbers really effectively:

Another feature that I like is when the flaps on the calendar are painted to look like doors or windows:

Then if the scene behind the door is realistic, and fits with the building, it's like we're getting to peek into the house and see what's going on inside:

That's better than putting a Christmas tree into a barn. 

On this calendar, the number one is easy to find, but it's a window, which is compelling:

I love the look of the toy that's behind this window, but the placement is a bit off, with the pony's nose cut short:

I think that angel is laughing at him.

Let's peek into a few more windows, shall we?

These indoor scenes are much better--like things that are actually happening inside the house:

This calendar also has an extra-big door for Christmas Eve:

With the obligatory nativity scene:

Not something you'd typically see right inside somebody's front door.

Those two calendars certainly dredge up a lot of nostalgia for me, and represent the kind of thing that I'm imagining when I talk about an advent calendar.

Now, mind you, most of the family and friends I've talked to recently tell me that good chocolate is their number one priority when it comes to advent calendars.  But I'll tell you right up front that none of the calendars I've bought for this series have chocolate in them.  Sorry. 

Based on my childhood experience with advent calendars, I have a few things on my mind as I go into this project:

1. I like it when the daily numbers are hard to find.  That's part of the fun.

2. Nobody wants a figgy pudding, so it's best when each window has something that's rewarding.

3. There should be some equality to the windows, since you never know when two sisters have to alternate opening doors.

4. The exception to the equality rule is that the last window should be larger or more impressive in some way, and that surprise should be the best of the whole calendar.

5. This is asking a lot, but I also like it when a calendar draws me in with a scene that nice to look at or has something to spark my imagination.  I want those numbered flaps to be tempting!

Lena liked looking at my German calendars and wanted to count down to her first Christmas with Ian by getting a paper calendar of her own.  Let's test out my calendar evaluation priorities by looking at her choice:

I was there when they opened the first window:

What did you find, Lena?

It's a Christmas tree ornament!

That's pretty cute, but I'm distracted by Lena's huge diamond ring:

Lena's calendar, which is from Etsy, is amazing given its tiny size.  The wintery village scene certainly draws me in.  But the numbers are all in order and very easy to find, and the pictures behind the doors do not fit with the overall setting:

From the three doors that Lena has opened, each of the images seems equal in its impressiveness...but none of them are very impressive.

However, the door for the 24th is extra large, and there's a fun picture hiding behind it:

It's Santa and a Gnome!

So I guess Lena picked a fairly good calendar, but let's see what some of these modern, toy-themed options have to offer.

I'm starting with the Zuru Mini Brands calendar for no particular reason.  It was just the first one lined up on my shelf.  It cost $29.99, which feels like a lot for an advent calendar, but it's not the most I paid.

On the surface, this calendar doesn't have any of the romantic Christmas magic of the older paper calendars.  It's very bright, commercial, and in-your-face:

No reindeer in sight.

I've explored the Mini Brand toys several times before, and the cover of this box shows a lot of the toys that I thought would be fun to have:

The Sparkle Girlz doll and Patrick Meme would be great:

And I really like any of the plastic dolls or figures that are enclosed in miniature blister packs:

Especially the Fingerlings monkey!

And I'd love to get a mini doll, like this Dora:

Or even a mini Jojo Siwa styling head:

But it's not clear whether the items shown on the box are the exact items that will be inside the calendar, or just some examples.

The front of the calendar folds down to reveal the numbers:

The numbers aren't in order, like they are on Lena's calendar, but they're still pretty easy to find.  Here's number one:

With a picture of an alligator truck (?) behind it.

There's a picture of a specific toy underneath each number, and at first I assumed that the picture was giving away the secret of what was behind each door.  That would have been completely lame.

Fortunately, the toy behind each window is a surprise:

Not an alligator truck.

The first item is a small Mini Brands ball:

The ball can't be opened, and it's too big to be in scale with 1:6 dolls like Lena:

So, not a bad opener, but not super-impressive.

The second window is in the upper right hand corner:

And I knew right away which toy I'd gotten, because I've seen this one before:

It's a plastic JoJo Siwa microphone mounted against a cardboard backdrop:

It's fun to read all of the print on the backs of these mini toys.  They look like exact replicas of the actual packaging:

And this toy is a good size for Lena, which is always a plus:

Suddenly I want to sing karaoke.

The number three was over a picture of a Fingerlings monkey, which is one of the toys I'd really like to get.  So for once I wished that the pictures accurately predicted what was behind each window!

I want that monkey.

But it's a different toy:

This is really cute.  It's a Rugrats Angelica doll:

Here's the back of the box:

She's supposed to be holding a super-tiny Cynthia doll.

Angelica actually comes out of the box and can stand on her own:

No tiny Cynthia doll, though.

I'm not sure what size the original doll is, but this toy works well with Lena:

She's so funny!

Number four is at the very bottom:

And this toy looked promising right away!

I like fish!

It's a pink baby shark!

Amazing.

This looks like a swimming water toy, which is something my kids would have enjoyed:

Lena was fascinated by it, too:

Number five was back up at the top:

And was hiding what looks like another Rugrats toy:

Sure enough, it's a tiny Chuckie, and his box looks even fancier than Angelica's:

The full-size toy is poseable:

This little fellow isn't poseable, but he's very cute.  I love his spiky red hair:

He goes really well with the Angelica doll, too:

A mini collection.

Number six was easy to find, right in the middle:

And it was hiding what looks like a box of Crayola markers:

Yep, it's some Ultra-Clean Washable Markers:

The detail on the back is good, as usual:

But even though it feels like there's something inside this box (and I got my hopes up that it would be plastic markers), I found only a folded piece of cardboard:

Boo.

At least the size of the box seems about right for Lena:

I have no use for an empty box, though, Emily.

What on earth is the pictured item hiding behind number seven??

Is it fried shirmp?  That's bizarre.

Fortunately, the actual item inside that compartment looks nothing like fried shrimp:

What is it, though?

It's Backpack from Dora the Explorer!

Backpack, backpack.

Here's the design on the back of the package:

Once again, I'm not really sure how large the full-size version of this toy is, but the mini works for Lena at some level:

I couldn't wear this as a backpack, though.

Another thing I was noticing is that under each printed number, there's a logo for a brand.  Most of the logos are for Mini Brands, but here you can see Sanrio, Kung-Fu Tea, and Cards Against Humanity:

I'll admit to being a little turned off by the fact that these Mini Brand sets are mostly just fancy advertising for other products.  Flaunting the consumerism of Christmas feels like the opposite of the simple paper calendars that I grew up with.

But, despite my better judgement, I find some of the miniatures very appealing.  Like this one:

It's a Pets Alive llama!

I suspect that this llama can come out of her packaging just like the Rugrats dolls, but I didn't want to risk ripping the cardboard, so I left her in place.

Apparently the full-size toy can shake her booty and dance?

Like all llamas.

I had to look up the original item for this.  It doesn't look much like the mini version, there's a lot more color in the fur, but it can definitely shake and dance, and costs about $40:

What a strange toy.

Lena was a little frustrated with the mini:

I want her to shake her booty!

The number nine box was in front of another picture of food, which is odd because we haven't seen any actual food minis so far.  I wonder if there will be any?  Toys seem more appropriate for Christmas than fast food, just saying.

This definitely isn't food:

And I'm not sure exactly what it is.  It's called Blaze Speedway:

The back of the box isn't much help.  Is it a racing track set or something?

Lena shook the box and felt certain that there was something inside:

There's definitely something in there.

I agreed that the box felt full, so Lena decided to open it up:

Let's see here...

But it's just another folded piece of cardboard:

Pfft.

I couldn't actually find this exact product anywhere, but the Blaze franchise looks like it has several racing track sets.

Let's hope that number ten is better:

Is it just another empty cardboard box?  Those are always a little disappointing:

Nope!  It's another cool plastic miniature:

This looks like a Nerf gun, but it's Zuru's X-Shot, which is a water gun.

Lena was happier with this:

Ian might like this for Christmas.

The ratio of good miniatures to plain cardboard boxes has been pretty good so far.  With ten windows opened, I'd say that only three of them have been underwhelming.

So it felt like I was in store for another dud with number eleven:

But it actually looks interesting!

That's a blister pack!

FYI, and to build suspense, if you're really sneaky, you can peek into an open window and try to see the toys next door:

I see cars.

If Zuru had made the inner compartments opaque, everything would be slightly more mysterious.

But look what I found in box eleven!

It's a plastic Untamed dinosaur in a mini blister pack.  Very cool.

Roar.

Except...if you look at this toy from the side, it's only half of a dinosaur.  They've made it flat so that it would fit up flush against the backdrop:

Ro--

That's okay, since I don't need to get the dinosaur out of the packaging anyway, but it's a bit of a shortcut.

I think it's fine.

At number twelve, we've reached the half way mark!  And since I peeked, I know that this toy has something to do with cars:

This looks promising!

It's another cute blister pack with an actual toy inside:

It's funny because the front of the box says we got the Stripes character, but the back of the box says we got Starla:

Judging from the pictures on the back, we definitely got Starla.  So the box was assembled incorrectly.

That probably means that this could have been some kind of collector's item, but I really wanted to take Starla out of the packaging for some reason:

Not a collector's item anymore.

Here's Starla up close, with her little cowboy hat:

The figure is very basic, with sloppy paint, and the hat comes off (although I don't think it's supposed to):

The blister pack toys are definitely meant to stay in their packaging, so maybe in the future I'll resist the urge to open them up.  Lesson learned.

Let's look at number thirteen:

Hm.  This looks like another cardboard box:

Yep.  And it's a cardboard box of a toy that I'm not even remotely interested in:

Definitely a dud in my book.

Moving on:

Oh, dear.  It kinda looks like a repeat of the first Mini Brands ball:

It's Toy Mini Brands instead of regular Mini Brands, but I still feel like it's repetitive.  Not as much of a dud as the slime box, but still a bit of a yawner.

Here's hoping for something great behind door number fifteen:

Ooh!  This is different:

It's a potion bottle of some sort, made by Zuru:

I was curious enough to look this toy up.  They're called Oosh Potions, and it's basically a kit to make slime:

Not really my kind of thing.  But the mini bottle is cute.

And it's a decent size for...hey, Lena!  I wouldn't do that if I were you...

Tastes pretty good.

Let's move on to number sixteen:

Oh my gosh, it looks like a Fingerling!

Is it a monkey?

Not only is it a Fingerling, but it's the Fingerlings unicorn!  Eee!  This is a toy that I'd actually buy in full size:

I had a Fingerlings monkey at one point, and she was fun.

But, again, this is only half of a unicorn, missing the two legs on the backdrop side:

Not taking her out of the box, that's for sure.

Lena doesn't mind, though:

I love this one!

The Fingerlings unicorn isn't strictly in scale with Lena, since these toys were designed to clip onto a finger and should be much smaller, but it works as a generic unicorn toy.

I felt like I was back on a roll at this point, and eager to look behind door seventeen: 

Oh.  I've seen this before:

It's a plastic glue bottle that's way too big for 1:6 scale:

Ho hum.

Lena modeled with this item back in 2021, I think, and refused to do it again.

Lena in 2021.

We're up to number eighteen already:

Oh, my goodness.  We got a Dora doll!  I've always wanted to get this one:

She's so cute, and comes in a nice open-faced cardboard box:

She's not flat in any dimension, either:

Here's the back of the package:

I think Lena will be adding this cutie to her collection:

Yay!

For me, it's hard to imagine topping this.  And so I kind-of wish it had been in the Christmas Eve slot, but of course everyone is different, and it's probably hard to determine which of these minis is "best."

But the excitement is certainly building for me, as we edge closer and closer to the end:

Oh!  Look what it is:

It's a Fingerlings monkey!  It's not Zoe (the full-sized one I had), but still cute:

Judging from the back of the box, it looks like this one's name is Bella:

I'm so happy to have gotten two Fingerings!

What's next, Zuru?

This looks like another empty cardboard box:

Oh, well.  We haven't gotten one of those for a while, so it's to be expected.  And this product looks interesting to me:

I've never seen the Teenie Genies before, but they look like little fairies who ride on unicorns?  I had to do some research.

The featured playset, Zahracorn Play Park, doesn't look quite as exciting as the advertising suggests.  It's a big plastic spinning swing ride, with one little mini figure and one little flying unicorn:

That's an empty theme park.

The Teenie Genie toys were hard to find in general, so I wonder if they're already discontinued?  Not much of a surprise.

Here's hoping for no more empty boxes in the final stretch:

Oh, oh, oh!  It's another Dora!

Score!

This one is not as cute as the first, but I shouldn't complain.  She's not an empty cardboard box:

And she's not flat in back:

In fact, she's wearing Backpack, who even has molded features of his own:

I suspect the actual doll is meant to be pretty big, at least huggable size, but this one is very small for Lena:

I'll keep her anyway.

With two Dora dolls under my belt, I wasn't really sure what to wish for anymore.  Maybe a Sparkle Girlz doll?

Not this time.  This time it looks like I got another car:

Is this one labeled correctly, I wonder?  It's supposed to be Crusher, and does, indeed, look like Crusher:

Since I've already looked at Starla in detail, there's not much else to say about this one.  It's a cute toy, but feels a bit like a repeat at this point.

Only two more windows to go!

And this is a good one.  It's the scared Partick Meme:

Definitely wanted him.

This little guy cracks me up:

This box looks like it opens, too, which is great.

Okay, here we go!  This is the final window.  Let's put ourselves in the position of an excited kid on Christmas Eve.  Will this surprise be worthy of the moment??

SO MUCH PRESSURE!

Drum roll, please...

Oh, crap.  It's another empty Crayola box:

I mean, this time it's crayons, not markers, but still.  Ugh.  I mean, I love crayons, but this is not a very good finale.  Wop wop.

Bottom line?  I've grappled with Mini Brands before, and come away feeling like I paid too much for a small assortment of miniatures.  For my Patreon review, I paid $29 to get about three things that I felt were worth keeping.  That was in part because of a lot of repeats, but still, there's no way these items are worth $30:

The loot from that Patreon review.

So in that context, I feel like I got a ton more useful minis with the advent calendar.  There are about 14 things that Lena or I will certainly keep, which averages out to just over $2 per mini.  That's really good.

However, I didn't feel any nostalgic advent calendar magic with this choice.  First of all, there's no picturesque scene to draw me in.  In fact, I think the box design is actively off-putting.  Like, I wouldn't want to include this in any of my holiday displays.  In addition, it's very easy to find the numbers (although it took me a few seconds to locate some of them), there are duds that left me underwhelmed, and the final Christmas Eve prize was definitely not the best of the bunch.  There were no reindeer, either, but there was a unicorn, a monkey, and a dancing llama, so I'll let it slide.

Here are some basic metrics:

Best toy: Dora doll in package.

Worst toy: Empty cardboard slime box.

Number of good surprises: 18

Number of really good surprises: 9

Excitement rating, out of 10: 7

Aesthetic rating, out of 10: 3

So, overall, while I'd recommend this calendar as a solid way to get a quick collection of good Mini Brands toys, I feel like it misses too many marks to be the kind of ideal advent experience that I'm looking for.