Review: 40079 Mini VW T1 Camper Van
Posted by Huw,
The guys in the LEGO CEE team have sent us a box of polybags to use for reviews and competition prizes. Among them was the new Mini VW T1 Camper Van that'll be free with purchases over a certain threshold from shop.LEGO.com and LEGO stores in September.
The 76-piece model sports the same colour scheme as its larger brother, 10220, and from a distance photos of the two look the same.
It's a 4-wide model, so not minifig scale, or at least not current minifig scale, which is of course 6-wide. It would, however, fit in well in an 'old-school' 1970's LEGOLAND town display when all vehicles were 4 wide and too small to fit minifigs into.
It's a straightforward build and not much more than a box on wheels until you fit the windscreen and curved/sloped roof pieces.
The 2 x 2 tile at the front has a sticker which really does need to be applied to give the vehicle its distinctive look.
The bonnet is perhaps a little square and blocky; the designers of the picture on the polybag have been careful to use an angle from which it's not noticeable. I don't suppose it would be possible to improve it though, given the small scale.
The back view looks just fine.
This is an excellent small-scale rendition of a classic vehicle that's immediately recognisable.
Best of all is the price - it's free! There will be plenty of new exclusive sets to buy come September so if you need a good reason to buy them sooner rather than later, this is it.
Thanks to Kim at LEGO for sending the box of goodies -- watch this space to find out how you can win them.
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31 comments on this article
@Huw, is that the sticker at the front or printed 2x2 flat?
Nice looking model. Will go well with the big brother, you should put two of them on picture.
That is as neat as a neat thing!
Roll on the competitionising...
are the front and back part on the roof a new piece? looks like a 4x3x2/3 wedge?
Oh cool, the Cars hood piece in white!
^^ That piece was also used in Arkham Asylum:
http://www.brickset.com/parts/search/?query=93604
It looks great to me, thanks for the review Huw.
Were you sent any other polybags of interest?
Looks cool, i have the bigger one i'd like to see what they look like together.
@nerick9006, a sticker as stated in the review :-) I haven't built the larger one yet so can't do that!
Great review Huw! May be the most accurate 'little brother' model yet!
Hi
great review! But I have another question / problem: here in Germany it seems we don't get the blue Clone Captain in September. Only the VW Bus. That is accoring to some peolpe who have already seen the September Store Calendar. How is it in England?
Awww, what a cute little set! Thanks for the review!
Very nice! Thanks for the review, Huw! I'll look forward to getting one of these myself!
I may break my no box rule and actually keep one of these. The competitions sound fun!
@Hn51, the same I believe: no clone captain :(
Another version of the VW van like this one on Cusoo
http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/16609
No Clone Captain for the UK? ...Arggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I was going to buy the Ewok Village...it can wait until May 4th now.
...think I'll emigrate to the US
nice review :) Gutted that this promo only lasts until the end of september when the winter village market set is released on the 1st of october :(
^if you are a VIP member you should likely get a two-week early window on the Winter Village which would let the Van double up.
Just learnt this was designed by AFOL-turned-Designer Melanie Louise Caddick; she also designed the recent Hot Dog poly but her 'proper' sets include Hayabusa (as in the TLG reworking) and Moulding Machines. Another star job from Mel!
Does this come with flick missiles ? ;)
Awww, it's so cute! It'll look good on my desktop at the office! :-D I wonder what others I could build to keep it company...
This is the reason why we're waiting until Sunday to go CMF shopping - it'll look great on the shelf next to it's big brother.
@Bumblepants brilliant! i'd forgotten about that, thanks for the reminder :)
It appears Ebay is full of them. How can people be selling them when it's not even out yet?
Anyway, if the regular one is still available when this one is out, I will buy the regular one, and get the smaller one as a bonus.
Hmm... This definitely is one of those beautiful pieces of LEGO Microscale, if I'm able to get a scan of that hood stick, I'd be tempted to edit it as to make an assortment of different colored vans...
Oops I called her Melanie... her name is Melody :O)
This looks like a fantastic entry among the polybags! Thanks for the great review!
Great review Huw, I'm really excited to get this polybag and the Star Wars clone trooper with my new AT-TE.
Shame it's a sticker. Competition prizes ooh!
i got one in the mail yesterday...no letter just the polybag...but the sender was Lego Billund..
what a great surprice....i really wanted it for my Legoland City Plan anyway.....
so very many Thanks to LEGO....
looking for 2 of those polybags...
who can help me??