24 doors, 195 hours of Netflix: this Advent calendar’s a full-time job
7/11/2026
Translation: Katherine Martin
Pictures: Christian Walker
24 doors, 7 Netflix franchises and nearly 195 hours of streaming. I worked out the time investment for this Advent calendar – and discovered a few surprises along the way.
A muffled, iconic two-note melody, barely a second long. YuMe’s Netflix Advent calendar actually has a small battery-powered speaker built into it that plays the instantly recognisable Netflix jingle when you open the box. Well, well. The box isn’t meant to be just 24 little compartments. It’s designed to be a version of Netflix you can hold in your hands. In miniature format. For your shelf.
At first glance, it does a surprisingly good job of this. The Advent calendar looks like the For You page on my Netflix account, with little doors designed to replicate the tiles on the Netflix homepage. And behind them is memorabilia from seven shows: Stranger Things, Squid Game, Bridgerton, The Witcher, Outer Banks, One Piece and Rebel Moon.
Price: 91 francs.
A full-time job in gift form
If I add up all the seasons and films featured in this calendar (from the year 2024 – which is why it includes Rebel Moon but not KPop Demon Hunters), I come up with pretty much exactly 195 hours (linked page in German). This includes all seasons of these seven franchises that have been released to date. Plus the director’s cuts for Rebel Moon, of course. After all, if you voluntarily subject yourself to Zack Snyder, you can’t just stop halfway through.
195 hours. Sounds like a lot of Netflix. But how much time is that really? To put this figure into perspective, I’ll simply convert it into working hours. For a 42-hour workweek – that is, 8 hours and 24 minutes per day, 5 days a week – that comes out to 4 weeks, 3 working days and 1 hour 50 minutes. In other words – if you commit yourself to watching every single series and film on this calendar from start to finish, it will take you nearly five weeks of full-time work.
A period of time that fits in perfectly with Advent. If you start on 1 December and want to have watched everything by Christmas Eve, it’s doable. But you have to stream 8 hours and 8 minutes every day for 24 days. That’s actually 16 minutes shorter than the working day I just calculated, but there’s a catch – there are no weekends, only shift work.
7 franchises, 24 doors – who gets how much?
OK, enough with the maths. After all, I paid 91 francs for an Advent calendar instead of signing up for a Netflix marathon while working. So it’s about time I checked what I’m actually getting for my money.
What strikes me right away is how evenly YuMe has distributed the items. Stranger Things, Squid Game and One Piece each get four doors, while there are three each for the remaining four franchises. That comes out to between 11.38 and 15.17 francs per Netflix franchise if I spread the purchase price evenly across the 24 gifts.
Sounds fair enough, right? But this calculation assumes that all seven shows are equally important to me. And this is where it gets tricky – a Stranger Things fan will probably be happier to receive a miniature Demogorgon than any piece of jewellery from Bridgerton. On the other hand, it’ll be pretty much the other way around for any fans of romantic costume dramas.
As far as quality goes, I’m pleasantly surprised. Sure, the 24 gifts are just little trinkets, but they’re surprisingly well-made – figurines, keychains, pins, patches, bookmarks and all sorts of other merch.
Compared to the many thoughtlessly cobbled-together Advent calendars that sell for as little as 30 or 40 francs, I think this Netflix box is really impressive. The figurines are beautifully crafted, the designs are detailed and even unassuming items like the gold-coloured Bridgerton teaspoon are visually striking.
Of course, for 91 francs – which works out to an average of 3.80 francs per door – you can’t expect high-quality collector’s items. But to be honest, I was afraid it would be cheap plastic junk. Luckily, I was wrong.
I was particularly taken with the pen from The Witcher, with a grip modelled on Geralt’s sword. A small, attractive piece that really looks great on my desk. I also like the metal School of the Wolf medallion as a pin, as well as the figurines from Stranger Things and Squid Game. There are some other neat additions, like the surfboard bottle opener from Outer Banks, a lovingly decorated bookmark from Bridgerton, and the little Devil Fruit plush keychain from One Piece.
Nothing that will change my life. But it doesn’t have to either. For fans, these are truly charming keepsakes that show someone really put a lot of thought into the original design.
In a nutshell
More Netflix than an Advent calendar?
91 francs is steep for an Advent calendar full of little gimmicks. But this Netflix box was a pleasant surprise. The presentation’s great, the trinkets look higher-quality than I expected and that familiar TUDUM sound when I open the box really does put a smile on my face every time. Sure, there are cheaper Advent calendars out there. But with this one, I at least feel like some of the money actually went towards the gifts and wasn’t just for the Netflix name.
The calendar’s greatest weakness is also its greatest strength – and that’s its variety. YuMe’s trying to please fans of seven completely different franchises. If you like all of them, this calendar will be a big hit with you. But if you’re only a fan of Stranger Things or The Witcher, you’ll end up unwrapping a few gifts you have little interest in. I also think it’s a shame that YuMe apparently hasn’t updated the calendar since 2024.
Now the question that needs to be answered is whether 91 francs is worth it. If you’re a Netflix addict, I think it definitely is. Especially if you’re into small, meticulously crafted collectibles. The best part? You’ll be happy to hear you don’t have to spend 195 hours in front of the TV to enjoy the calendar. But I have to admit that the idea of a full-time job at Netflix for five weeks is starting to sound pretty appealing to me.
Pro
- Premium packaging featuring Netflix branding and the TUDUM sound when opened
- 24 pieces of merch that are surprisingly well-made and feature thoughtful details
- An assortment of gifts from seven Netflix franchises
Contra
- Selection of series unchanged since 2024 – newer Netflix hits are absent
Header image: Christian Walker
Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.chI write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.
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