Wasgij Advent Calendar 2026: what's behind the 24 doors

The Wasgij Advent Calendar 2026 has a name at last — Christmas TV Special — and by the look of the box, Santa is having a very bad week. It is open for pre-order now, alongside a new Destiny puzzle, and both are expected in September.

What's behind the 24 doors

Twenty-four doors, and a 54-piece jigsaw behind every single one. The box front puts Santa in a director's chair at Hollybush Studios with a mug in one hand and a slice of Christmas cake going spare, while a director in a yellow shirt bellows at him and a boom microphone swings overhead. Two people in superhero costumes wait for their cue. It is, apparently, the busiest fortnight of his year, and none of it involves a chimney.

Each door gives you one scene from his day around the studios — a chaotic cook-off, a glittery game show, another set to sprint between. They are small enough to do over breakfast, which is rather the point. One a day through December, ten minutes apiece, and the fun is working out the punchline before the last piece goes in.

Pre-order: Wasgij Advent Calendar 2026: Christmas TV Special – 24 x 54 Piece Jigsaw Puzzles (Wasgij)

Wasgij

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The twist, if you are new to Wasgij

The rule is the whole thing: you do not build the picture on the box. On the advent calendar you are puzzling what happens next — the moment just after the one printed on the lid. On a Destiny puzzle you are puzzling the future. Either way the image you are assembling is one you have never seen.

It means there is no glancing at the lid for help once you have started, which is why people tend to either love Wasgij or find them thoroughly maddening. Paul Gibbs draws them, and he packs every scene with more going on than you can take in at once — a dog in a hat here, a disaster brewing there.

And a new Destiny: Passion for Fashion!

The other new one is Wasgij Destiny 32 — Passion for Fashion!, a 1000-piece set on a 1960s catwalk. Three models work a pink-checked runway in swirl-print minidresses and white knee boots, flashbulbs going off at the back of the room, and a critic in the front row is already scribbling "TOO SHORT!" in his notebook.

That is the past. What you build is the same scene as it looks today, with sixties style swapped for whatever fashion has turned into since. The crowd of faces and that flat expanse of runway make the middle stretch the slow part, so it is a proper 1000-piece evening rather than a relaxed one.

Pre-order: Wasgij Destiny 32 - Passion for Fashion! - 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Wasgij)

Wasgij

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Pre-ordering these two

Both are expected between 1 and 30 September 2026. That date is Jumbo's estimate rather than a promise, and release dates do move — if it shifts, we will let you know rather than leave you wondering.

A pre-order reserves your copy from the first batch that reaches us, but it is not a guarantee. In the rare event a manufacturer cannot supply something, we email you straight away and refund that item in full, so you are never left waiting or out of pocket. You can see everything currently open on our pre-orders page, and the rest of the range lives in Wasgij.

Advent calendars are the one thing we would not leave until December. They are made once for the season, and when a year's run is gone it is gone.