The 2026 LEGO City Advent Calendar, set 60510, is priced at 49.99 CAD for 252 pieces and rated for ages 5 and up, the most accessible entry point in this year's five-theme lineup. Rather than City's usual vehicles and everyday town builds, this year's calendar commits fully to a Santa's Workshop theme.
That's a meaningful departure from a franchise normally built around police cars, fire trucks, and construction sites. For one box a year, LEGO City sets aside its everyday-town identity for something entirely seasonal.
The theme shows up most clearly in a fold-out playmat built into the box itself, turning the packaging into a genuine play surface once the calendar is empty, a mechanic unique to this calendar among the 2026 lineup.
This guide covers the confirmed cast, the playmat mechanic, and how this calendar compares to the more character- or vehicle-driven approach used across the other four 2026 themes.
The calendar includes Santa and Mrs. Claus figures, three elves, a snowman, and a baby reindeer figure, seven figures in total across the full set. That's a notably larger named cast than City calendars have typically featured in past years built around generic townspeople.
Having three separate elf figures, rather than one generic elf repeated, gives the workshop scene more visual variety once everything is displayed together on the fold-out mat.
Once every door is opened, the box itself unfolds into a playmat depicting Santa's Workshop, giving all seven figures and the accompanying mini builds a dedicated scene to be displayed and played on. No other 2026 LEGO Advent Calendar folds its packaging into a usable play surface this way.
That playmat mechanic is the single biggest differentiator for this year's City calendar, turning what would otherwise be discarded packaging into the actual centerpiece of the finished set.
Every mini build in this calendar comes with simple instructions printed directly inside its calendar door, a detail LEGO specifically calls out as designed for newer builders. Combined with the 5-plus age rating, the lowest of any 2026 theme, City is clearly positioned as the entry-level option in this year's lineup.
That accessibility doesn't come at the cost of genuine content, 24 total surprises still fill out the calendar, just built around simpler individual constructions than the more vehicle-heavy Star Wars or Marvel sets.
A standard LEGO City release usually centers on functional vehicles, emergency services, or town infrastructure. This calendar abandons that entirely in favor of a single unified holiday scene, more comparable in spirit to a dedicated Christmas-themed playset than a typical City release.
For collectors who specifically enjoy LEGO City's usual vehicle-and-infrastructure format, this calendar will feel like a genuine departure rather than a seasonal variant of the normal theme, worth knowing going in.
At 49.99 CAD, City ties with Friends for the lowest price point across this year's five calendars, a full 13 CAD below Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney. Combined with its 5-plus age rating and simplified build instructions, it's clearly the most budget- and beginner-friendly option in the lineup.
That doesn't mean it's the least substantial, seven named figures and a fold-out playmat scene give it real standalone appeal even without the licensed-character pull of Star Wars or Marvel.
LEGO City's core identity is built around functional, everyday vehicles, police cars, fire trucks, garbage trucks, the kind of sets that mirror a real working town. A Santa's Workshop theme has almost nothing in common with that formula on paper.
The reasoning becomes clearer once the fold-out playmat and simplified builds are factored in. A holiday-specific, character-driven scene gives younger builders and City's usual buyers alike a seasonal reason to pick up the calendar without needing it to fit neatly into the theme's normal vehicle-and-infrastructure catalog for the other eleven months of the year.
Because City sits at the lower 49.99 CAD price tier alongside Friends, it's a natural pairing for a household buying two calendars in the same season rather than committing to a single higher-priced theme. The Santa's Workshop cast doesn't overlap in style with Friends' winter-activities framing, so the two don't feel repetitive sitting side by side.
That combination also spreads the age range nicely, City's 5-plus rating covers a younger builder while Friends' 6-plus rating suits an older sibling, letting one household cover two different collectors without stretching into the pricier Star Wars, Marvel, or Disney tier.
Santa's Workshop, a departure from City's usual vehicle-focused sets.
Seven: Santa, Mrs. Claus, three elves, a snowman, and a baby reindeer figure.
Yes, it folds out into a Santa's Workshop playmat.
Ages 5 and up, the lowest minimum age of any 2026 LEGO Advent Calendar.
A fold-out playmat scene is worth keeping intact well past December. An EVORETRO Acrylic Modular Case protects the finished Santa's Workshop builds from dust while keeping the whole scene visible year-round.
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