Passing it off as an ironic choice? Got my Dora the Explorer one, courtesy of my flat mates I have now learnt all of two Spanish words, and hope to learn more
I wouldn't have minded this one last year: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/23/porsche-design-unveils-million-dollar-advent-calendar/ But other than that, the nice ones here cost upwards of 50 Euros here... (converted into euros for convenience)
I simply take part in a number of online advent calendars in which you can win free stuff. Today's prize on komplett.no for instance is a UPS, and the main prize for the 24th is a 50" plasma. For the kids we made each their own calendar with lego stuff in them.