Going back to my early days growing up in Europe, advent calendars were always something you would find in our home during the holiday season. In fact, so many European confectioners made advent calendars that we'd sometimes have one little door to open for each person in the house.
Starting in the early 2000s, some of the top names in the German tool industry have been making their own versions of advent calendars. But these are not filled with chocolates – behind each door is a small part belonging to a complete toolkit.
Brands like Wera and Stahlwille compete to see who can make the coolest product each year, and a quick search on Google and YouTube shows that there are quite a few collectors who cherish the day they can start opening that first door on the first of December (assuming they can wait that long).
Of course, the Christmas side of the tradition behind the advent calendar is something that isn't relevant to everyone, so today we'll focus strictly on the contents and not the concept.
It would be much easier for the tool companies to just put these little kits together, and sell them complete, but that takes away a lot of the fun and anticipation of waiting on the announcement of the new kits each year.
In addition to the “fun” element, the price is also important – the Wera calendar seen above has an MSRP of $87, but can easily be found for under $60. Purchased on their own, a similar Wera set would cost around $100.
Those with a more flexible budget can opt for even higher quality sets, like the one seen above from Hazet which retails for $170.
Now, techtown wouldn't be a true community without showing our appreciation to the members, so we've got our hands on three advent calendars (2 Wera and 1 Stahlwille), and will randomly pick winners from those who leave a comment below.
That's it; just leave any comment below, and you are in the running to win one of these great calendars. The promo starts today, December 2nd and runs till 11:59 PM on Sunday, December 8th. Due to shipping time and customs, the contest is limited to those in the United States, and you must be older than 18 to enter. Good luck!