Set Review - Camper Van 60057

For my birthday I only had one request.  That was for set 60057.  Nothing more.  As an added bonus I got a LEGO shaped cake.  A 3022 to be exact.  It looked nice until the kids (6 & 7) decided that the studs needed X marks sunk in them as part of the decoration.  It kind of looked like someone had bitten it up.  But it's the thought that counts.

For a previous birthday I had requested set 4435, Car and Caravan.  I passed on the Friends' Adventure Camper 3184 but I've been eyeballing the Friends' Summer Caravan Set 41034, waiting eagerly for it to be released.  I am fascinated with campers, travel trailers, and other small living spaces.  I have been spending the last few years hopelessly building my own teardrop trailer.

This set is a rehash of 2009's Camper 7639.  But bigger and better.  And now with a real bed.  But about that.  This beautiful camper has a big bulbous overcab section yet the bed is on the floor in the back.  That place where you would expect a bed to be is just empty storage.  Well, not completely empty.  They did manage to just barely squeeze a couple of life vests up in there.  From a residential designer perspective, the use of the inside space could be better.  A bed over the cab and a kitchenette below would have been a better layout.  But unlike it's predecessor, at least this one has a bed!  Though, it's not like they can both lay down at once unless you remove the arms or something.  But the thought is nice.

My other gripe is the canoe.  I am not a big fan of canoes.  And when I say not a big fan, I mean that I would rather go down with a sinking ship than to have to escape on a canoe.  But that was from some trauma 20 some years ago.  I should be over that by now, right?  RIGHT?  Maybe I would have preferred any other sort of outdoor adventure equipment.  Maybe the rubber raft?  Then again, I'm not a big fan of white water rafting either.  What's the matter with a nice croquet set?

The idea of brickonomics or whatever you call it is very apparent.  There were several places where a white 1x4 plate would have been perfect.  But the 1x4 plate with 2 end studs was more appropriate where the roof attaches to the body.  The less studs, the easier it is to remove the roof.  Rather than include both the 2x4 plate and it's partially studded cousin, all the white 2x4 plates were the 2 stud variety.  This makes sense from an economics standpoint.  Just not something that I'm used to.

The swing open wall is a nice way to allow play on the inside.  This is not a new feature as it has appeared in other vehicular sets but it is a good trick to keep using.  But perhaps my favorite feature was the way the nose of the vehicle went together.  The previous Camper had a 2x6 45° slope for the nose.  Fine, perfectly acceptable.   On this set the designer (E.R.?) did some wonderful sculpting with some newer parts.  The mini vehicle nose 98835, used extensively in Cars sets, was put to use.  In several other City vehicles, there is a 1x2 45° slope on either side of it.  Looks alright.  On this set, it was used with the new baby bow and a cheese slope turned sideways for a headlight.  It looks very sharp and reminds me of a Freightliner/Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter Van.

Overall I enjoy this set and give it two bricks up.  You can grab this set direct from LEGO.  Don't forget, shipping is free on all orders of $75 or more.

More leisure time:

Set Review - Mini VW T1 Camper 40079

As a purveyor of all things mini my heart skipped a beat when I saw the September Shop at Home promotion from The LEGO Company.  This miniature little Volkswagen Camper Van was waiting to be shipped free when I spent $75.  Done deal.  I dropped the cash on a couple of Minecraft sets and was surprised to receive the whole shebang sooner than usual.

The set comes in a larger than usual polybag.  It also includes a smaller polybag of parts almost like it was a real set.  What was really surprising is that the stickers come in a cardboard protector.  As if the sticker would get any more ruined in a polybag than it would rattling around loose in a box with a bunch of parts and instructions.  A nice gesture all the same.

Admittedly it's hard to get the curves of a VW just right when using square blocks.  The back end should be rounded in three dimensions.  But the use of the white wedges on the roof helps to soften things up a little.  The model shown comes with grooved jumper plates but mine were non grooved.  I prefer this as it gives a smoother look as if it really were canvas.  The grooves make the pop-up look like it's built of bricks.

When I was younger I had friends that had a 23 window van.  Those curved gallery windows were so cool that you hardly noticed the whopping 42 horsepower trotting along.  That and the headlight bezels hitting your knees in the front seat.  You could recreate the windowed look by replacing the white double cheese slopes with alternating white and clear single cheese.  Some sort of accommodation and reworking would need to be made for the front roof piece to get the two forward most side gallery windows.  (The rearmost side windows have no such additional windows).  You'll still be shy about 6 windows though.

TLG lists the set as being worth $4.99 on the invoice.  This seems way too low in my opinion.  With 76 (+2 extra) parts this should be more like a $7.99 set.  Several sellers have them listed on BrickOwl for about $18 each while the larger supply on Bricklink has dropped the average price to a little over $16.  You can find it for lower if you are patient and snag it at the right time.

If you can, I would recommend making an order at LEGO.com or going to your nearest LEGO Brand Retail Store to get it free.  If you're already planning on purchasing $75 worth of stuff then you'll get free shipping in the US and this little set.  Definitely worth the purchase.

Of course you could build the bigger brother as well. Find it at The Official LEGO Shop: