Advent calendars are a pretty underrated choice when it comes to holiday gifts. Assuming the giftee has the self discipline to follow the schedule, they're guaranteed 24 days of surprises. It's a formula LEGO has really nailed in recent years. But if you're looking for something a little more premium and geared toward that special music lover in your life, Hero Collector's Beatles Advent Calendar is another worthwhile option.
This new Beatles boxset features 24 gifts inspired by the eclectic career of one of the greatest musical acts in human history. The items in this package run the gamut from socks to refrigerator magnets and even to recreations of memorabilia from the original Beatles Fan Club. There's certainly something for everyone in this hefty package. To get a better idea of what's inside, you check out this unboxing video hosted by Bill Morrison, an artist and avowed Beatles superfan who illustrated the Yellow Submarine graphic novel. See it in the video player above or embedded below, and then read on for some photos and hands-on impressions of the full set.
First things first – as far as advent calendars go, this set is fairly pricy. It's currently available on the Eaglemoss site for $139.95. Do the gifts inside justify that price tag, especially considering you could pretty much buy the band's entire back catalog for the same amount?
This is one of those cases where it really depends on your personal level of Beatles obsession. But considering that half the fun of advent calendars is in the unboxing experience, there's enough here to make the set worth consideration.
Hero Collector certainly nailed the packaging in this case. The items come packaged in a roughly one foot cube containing four trays. It's all just as colorful and psychedelic as one would expect from Beatles merch. Each individual item is packaged inside a box inspired by the cover art of the 2000 compilation album 1. And as if that weren't enough, each item is also wrapped in tissue paper adorned with Beatles-centric newspaper headlines.
Among the various gifts, there are a few standouts. The real winner is easily the coaster set inspired by the early Beatles singles released under the Parlophone label. The attention to detail there is appreciated, plus as coasters they're actually useful.
The set also gets a lot of mileage out of the Yellow Submarine movie/album, thanks to both a tea infuser shaped like the titular vessel and some pretty darned amusing window clings featuring all four animated Beatles. The archival photo prints and Christmas card recreations are also nice additions and make for a nice nit of office decoration.
Conversely, there are a few duds to be found in this box. The Sgt. Pepper drum pencil sharpener is small and cheap-feeling, to say nothing of the fact that most adults have little use for a handheld pencil sharpener in 2021. The Rubber Soul bottle opener, meanwhile, seems like a very arbitrary melding of tool and pop culture logo.
There's also the fact that the lineup does become a little repetitive. The album art magnets are decent inclusions, but surprisingly small at just 2" x 2", and including three different magnets seems a bit excessive. It would have been nice to see Hero Collector double down on the socks or Christmas ornament instead.
So back to the original question – is this package worth $140? There's certainly something for everyone in this set. It's more a question of whether there's enough for everyone. Some of the items are a little underwhelming, but there's also plenty for hardcore Beatlemaniacs to appreciate here. Not to mention the fact that a lot of this Fab Four merch seems to be exclusive to the calendar. It's not as if Hero Collector just grabbed a bunch of random merch off the shelves and shoved it in a box. The presentation value alone makes this a solid gift-giving choice.
And if The Beatles aren't really your jam, Hero Collector also sells similar advent calendars geared toward Doctor Who and Star Trek.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.