Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,295: Gonk (Gift Snowflake, Advent Calendar 2024)

GONK Gift
Star Wars Droid Factory 2024 Advent Calendar
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: R2 Gingerbread Droid, BB-8 Snowman, Chopper Penguin, Gonk Gift, D-O Holiday, B2EMO present, R1 Holiday Bell, wreath, Santa hat, drink tray, scarf, tiny top hat
Action Feature: Hat, open hatch to reveal mechanical guts inside
Retail: $79.99
Availability: August 2024
Appearances: n/a

Bio: All different types of astromech droid populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. Open up the Sandcrawler to reveal and build 7 new droids to celebrate along with them for 25 days this season. May the Force be with you... and your droids! (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: This Gonk (Gift) is not poison, despite what your High School German classes may have told you. Wlel, maybe it was - the $80 set is going for about $40 on eBay now, which means it likely underperformed. As of my writing this there's no 2025 Advent Calendar, and based on last year's designs I'd say that might be a good thing. They weren't bad - heck, some are great! But I feel like it's getting harder and harder to make something stand out as original. Thankfully, this Power Droid is plenty weird.

Making use of the ever-popular Santa Claus Hat, the existing droid mold gets cast in white plastic with a blue snowflake wrapping paper pattern. It's very good for what it is - a holiday souvenir. We don't tend to see a lot of figures with printed-all-over patterns, let alone ones with painted red ribbon motifs. The deco is sharp, and a couple of bolts - plus the face - also get some paint. There aren't special eye details or anything, which is unfortunate - I would have loved a little more face here. The 2022 gift Gonk was similarly underpainted in that region, but the 2024 model spends its paint budget. It looks distinctive. Depending on your vision, you might be able to squint at let this guy roam around your dioramas hatless and he'll fit right in.

In terms of action features, there's not much here. This formerly gray droid with his festive hat's legs swing forward and the legs swing back, but where's he bobbin at? Probably Hoth. The dome is removable revealing molded gray detailing inside, but there's not a lot of paint or special detail in there. This is normal for the mold, and Disney has been continuing to get dividends from its droid tooling investments. As they should. But I don't think they've ever done a carded Power Droid for their parks or proprietary stores.

I like this guy a bunch - he's hung out on my desk since getting him last year, partially as a reminder to review him now and partially because it just looks neat. Given that the whole big cardboard Sandcrawler is reasonably inexpensive due to lack of consumer interest, I'd recommend the set to droid fanatics and those who need holiday droid things. I also wouldn't mind seeing Disney let their designers go wild and do "designer droids" in whatever colors they deem worthwhile, because that sort of thing sure works for Be@rbricks and Glyos.

Collector's Notes: I got mine with some coupons from DisneyStore.com last year. They're out, but it can be had on other marketplaces, as can the 2022 version.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,295: November 20, 2025