To round out 2018, we decided to go whole hog with the advent calendars. Not one, not two, but THREE separate sets! We chose the LEGO Star Wars set, the Playmobil Santa’s Workshop set, and the Funko Harry Potter set.

Click here for the first part (Days 1-12) of this adventure. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may have seen our daily reveals throughout December (and if you don’t follow, why don’t you go ahead and do that now).

So what were our final thoughts? I’m so glad you asked.

We’ve gotten the LEGO Star Wars advent calendar in previous years, so we knew what to expect. Though the sets do vary from year to year, the “feel” of them are basically the same. Every day, you get a micro-build that consists of fewer than a dozen pieces. It’s remarkable what can be done with so few pieces, but I have to admit – as big a Star Wars fan as I am, there were a few days that stumped me and sent me to Google to identify. The builds are fun, and my son really enjoyed this calendar, but I know that most of the ships will fall apart and end up in the big bucket of LEGO pieces. (Many already have.) The minifigures this year were great – including Rose, IG-88, and a pilot from Rogue One that hardcore nerds on the Internet went nuts for – but unless you’re a massive Star Wars fan, you’re probably better off going with one of the other LEGO calendars, such as City or Friends. Verdict: 3/5

This was our first year getting a Playmobil calendar, but it won’t be our last. Santa’s Workshop was far and away our favorite set this year (spoiler!). With the exception of only a couple days, every day gave us another adorable piece of the workshop. The kids had so much fun with this one. I was honestly a bit surprised. I thought for sure the Harry Potter set would be the clear winner, but they spent more time each day arranging and playing with the Playmobil toys than anything else. The final Santa’s Workshop playset will also probably be a regular feature of our Christmas decorating now. Verdict: 5/5

Speaking of that Funko Harry Potter calendar . . . it was the most anticipated set by far. And I’d even go so far as to say it was the kids’ favorite set to open. But once the figure was revealed, they went back to Playmobil and LEGO. The mini figures were all adorable; I’m not going to lie. And they’ll definitely stick around my Potter-obsessed daughter’s bedroom, but she was more than a bit let down by the lack of diversity among the characters included. With 24 figures, they could’ve really included a LOT of different characters – and they did – but they also gave us two Rons, two Hermiones, and THREE Harrys. I don’t think that’s necessary, especially when there wasn’t a single Voldemort, which is the one character my daughter REALLY wanted. She was holding out that Day 24 would be He Who Shall Not Be Named, but when it was just another Harry (in his Weasley Christmas sweater), she was totally bummed out. The closest we got to any villains at all were Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy. Verdict: 3/5

It’ll be interesting to see if Funko makes this a yearly offering with different themes. Despite our lukewarm reception to the Harry Potter set, I might not be able to resist another one if the theme is right. Playmobil will almost certainly be on our to-buy list for advent calendar season 2019, and I’d wager that a City LEGO set will be in our future as well.

But until next year, here they are, our roundup of the second half of all of our amazing advent calendars….