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Review by James Burnett (SAFOLs Members, CapeLUG Members)

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The Chima theme is centred on the fictional world of Chima, a place inhabited by warring tribes of anthropomorphic animals. There are 12 main tribes living in the various parts of Chima. These are Bear, Beaver, Crawler (sub-divided into Bat, Scorpion, and Spider), Crocodile, Eagle, Fire (sub-divided into Phoenix, and Tiger), Gorilla, Ice Hunter (sub-divided into Ice-Bear, Mammoth, Saber-Tooth Tiger, and Vulture), Lion, Raven, Rhino, and Wolf Tribes.

The Eagle tribe is the most analytical of all the tribes. They live in the Eagle Spire which is a tall spire/pillar of rock jutting into the air with numerous buildings and towers near the top. The Eagle Spire has no windows, doors, or streets because Eagles can fly, making it obsolete.

Even though the tribe has a royal family, the tribe is ruled by a Ruling Council of Elders. The tribe consist of 5 members:

• Ewald (head of the Ruling Council)
• Eris (Princess of the Eagle Tribe)
• Equila (the tournament announcer)
• Eglor (the inventor of the tribe)
• Ewar (a soldier)

The tribe’s vehicles generally resemble white bird-heads with yellow beaks. The body will normally be different shades of blue and azure with white accents. Talons are also a common feature, either coloured pearl gold or black.

The Build

You first build the small glider of the Raven tribe. It consists of only 29 parts. Although it does somewhat resemble a raven, mainly due to the black colour, it is a very plain build and does not use any new or interesting techniques. Luckily it is only a support build and the main focus should be on the larger Eagle tribe vehicle.

Next you build the much larger vehicle of the Eagle tribe after which the set is named. The designers did an excellent job in making the vehicle resemble an eagle. The wings, tail, legs (with talons) and head articulate, making it easy to place the vehicle in different positions. The colours of blue, dark blue, and dark azure (with accents of white and yellow) creates an appealing aesthetic. The vehicle has numerous weapons, while the talons can also serve as a weapon to grab and hold enemies. The head of the vehicle can also detach and be a small recognisance vehicle with its own wings and weapons.

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The Minifigures

The set comes with 3 minifigures. The first is Eris, the Princess of the Eagle tribe. As with all Chima figures, a lot of detail has gone into the printing detail. Her legs are white with yellow talons printed on them (showing the attention to detail as it links to the yellow used in the talons of the vehicle), as well as pearl gold printing on the legs and hips.  

On the front of her torso is a blue circle (representing CHI), with a pearl gold armour printing. Lego does seem to have fallen into the trap in the fantasy realm where all female warriors have a lot of exposed flesh (compared to male warriors that are fully covered and protected by armour). This does however not take anything away from the quality of this minifigure. The back of the torso is the same armour print.

A pearl gold armour piece fits on the torso. I really appreciate the fact that even though the armour covers half of the torso, it did not limit the printing of the torso which allows you to display the minifigure with or without the armour. A trans-light blue round tile represents the CHI on the front. White wings can be attached to the back. As with all Chima minifigures, the head is double-sided with one side being calm, and the other appearing friendly. An eagle head-piece goes over the standard minifigure head in order to enhance the look of an eagle. The headpiece is mostly white is a beautiful pearl gold print that reminds me of a tiara (seeing as she is a princess).

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The second minifigure is Razar (prince of the Raven tribe). His legs have dark bluish grey (DBG) talons printed on them with a red belt and silver buckles.

On the front of his torso is a blue circle (representing CHI), some DBG belts and dark purple feather prints. The back of the torso also has the DBG bels and dark purple feather. He lost his left hand which has been replaced with a flat silver hook.

A flat silver armour piece fits on the torso. A trans-light blue round tile represents the CHI on the front. Black wings can be attached to the back. The head is double-sided with red and silver printing. A raven head-piece goes over the standard minifigure head and has the same red and silver to match the head.

The third minifigure is Rizzo who is half raven and half cyborg. He has one flat silver pirate peg leg and one standard leg. Interestingly it is one of the few Chima legs with no printing on them. I don’t know what the reasoning was behind this/

His torso is almost identical to Razar, except he has a DBG belt printed onto his torso, while Razar has a red belt printing onto his hips. Rizzo also has both his dark purple hands.

A flat silver armour piece fits on the torso. A trans-light blue round tile represents the CHI on the front. Black wings can be attached to the back. The head is double-sided. Rizzo also lost his left eye so that has been replaced with a metal eye patch. A raven head-piece goes over the standard minifigure head which has a beautiful metal plate on the left side of his face.

Conclusion

While the glider of the Raven tribe is functional, the vehicle of the Eagle tribe is a fun and interesting build. The minifigures are also done really well, with enough variation between the two Raven tribe members to not appear monotonous. A definite must for any Chima fan.

By James Burnett (SAFOLs Member, CapeLUG Member)

In 2018 I came across a raven/crow minifigure that I had no idea what theme it belonged too. However, the printing detail was done so exceptionally well that I immediately did my homework to find out which theme it belonged too. And so I discovered the amazing (although short lived) theme of Legends of Chima.

The theme is centred on the fictional world of Chima, a place inhabited by warring tribes of anthropomorphic animals. There are 12 main tribes living in the various parts of Chima. These are Bear, Beaver, Crawler (sub-divided into Bat, Scorpion, and Spider), Crocodile, Eagle, Fire (sub-divided into Phoenix, and Tiger), Gorilla, Ice Hunter (sub-divided into Ice-Bear, Mammoth, Saber-Tooth Tiger, and Vulture), Lion, Raven, Rhino, and Wolf Tribes.

The most powerful natural resource on the world of Chima is Chi. It gives life and energy to much of the world and it contains the raw power of nature, compressed into an orb. Chi flows in the form of magical water into a sacred pool and combines with the minerals in the pool to form glowing, blue Chi orbs. Chi is then channelled into weapons, equipment, vehicle, and more. Most inhabitants of Chima wear a special harness that is designed for holding orbs of Chi and absorbing its power. When the Chi is placed into the harness, it releases a surge of energy into the wearer that increases strength, speed, stamina, as well as enhancing instincts and natural senses.

Figure 1: The tribes of Chima

The Raven tribe is the sneakiest tribe in Chima. They reside in the Raven’s Junkyard (a city in the desert). They are professional thieves with a strong attraction to shiny objects. Their vehicles are often gliders coloured black, dark red, and purple. The tribe consists of 4 members:

1. Rawzom (King of the Ravens)
2. Razar (Prince of the Ravens)
3. Razcal (the tribe’s accountant)
4. Rizzo (cyborg-like leader of some packs within the tribe.

The Build

The build consists of a small glider. Like most of the vehicles in the Chima world, the glider is built to resemble the specific tribe, is this case a raven.  For a small build of only 99 pieces, the designers did a good job representing a raven. The wings and claws can articulate making the glider easy to pose in various attack modes. The colours of black, dark red and purple give the vehicle an overall ominous look and feel, while adding a touch of humour in the form of a bone as the control stick. The glider has 1 main weapon which is flick operated in the centre of the chest.

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The Minifigure

The set comes with only 1 minifigure which is Razcal. The printing detail is exceptional from the claws on his feet to piercings on his eyebrows. His legs have dark bluish grey (DBG) claws printed on them, as well as some gold, purple, and DBG details above there. His hips have gold detailing in the center and a bit of DBG around the gold.

On the front of his torso is a dark azure circle (representing CHI), some gold above it and around it, and a lot of DBG and purple detail. The back of the torso has printed DBG pockets with gold on them, and some purple feathers printed all around the back.

A flat silver armour piece fits on the torso. A trans-light blue round tile represents the CHI on the front. Black wings can be attached to the back. As with all Chima minifigures, the head is double-sided which one side being calm, and the other appearing agitated. A raven head-piece goes over the standard minifigure head in order to enhance the look of a raven.

Conclusion

For the size and number of parts, it is a fun and interesting build. It is a good introduction to the world of Chima.

Review by Cerry-Lee Chelin and Troy Chelin (SAFOLs Members, jhbLUG Members)

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Set number 10292 The Friends Apartment is an adults set that was made off the back of the very popular 21319 Central Perk set that featured the cast of friends in the Central Perk coffee shop which they spent time at throughout the TV Series. This set features Joey and Chandler’s apartment as well as Monica and Rachel’s apartment separated by the hall way which can be placed in-between the two apartments or separate it is your choice.

Box Art and instructions

The box features the Friend’s iconic logo with the picture of the two LEGO® apartments on a black background, it features the characters on the bottom right corner with a blue LEGO® pieces band at the bottom stating the set name and piece count of 2048. Brickset has the piece count of 2047, but you are welcome to count for yourself. To be honest I don’t know why LEGO® chose all the 18+ Adult sets with the black background because on store shelves it does not really pop out at you and I find it very odd, adults do enjoy bright colours and fresh backgrounds I just find the adult box art unappealing and rather boring, even the instruction manual cover is black, luckily the instructions are in a lighter background so you can actually see what piece goes where. Talking of the instructions you get a heavy book with 291 pages, with some lovely pictures and notes from the designer and an overview of all the characters featured in the set. The set comes with 15 bags and a sticker sheet with 17 stickers to apply.

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The all-important Mini figures

Rachel: This mini figure has matured from the last figure we received in the Central Perk set, she has a beautiful long ponytail and only Rachel’s character can pull off a printed cropped turtleneck, plaid kilt and knee length socks which makes her look fashionable.

Ross: This mini figure is based on the season 5, episode 11, and ‘The one with all the Resolutions” where he shows off his leather pants. Friend’s fans will know how that turns out. He has a long sleeved grey collared shirt; the hair is a perfect resemblance to Ross.

Joey: This is Cerry’s favourite mini figure because as soon as you see his torso you know the episode. “The one where no one’s Ready” Chandler and Joey have a fight over the couch and it escalates to where Joey does not have any clean underwear to wear with his tuxedo and to get back at Chandler he wears all of his cloths. (This was a two part episode and a must watch for non Friends fans) The legs are nicely printed and he has a scarf to represent the amount of cloths he has on.

Chandler: His character in the series has never had the best dress sense so it is great that the LEGO® designers have created his torso with a brown jacket and a very ugly tie from his collection. Nice hair piece which looks like a harry potter hair piece re coloured to brown. Chandlers alternative face print of him laughing is a nice addition.

Monica: Her hair piece has changed to a nicely moulded longer style; her mini figure is based off the episode “The one with all the Candy” where she makes candy for the neighbours to get to know them better and it all goes wrong. Her legs are beautifully printed to match her torso and are well matched to the episode.

Phoebe: She has a really nice flowing moulded hair piece with a nice pink cardigan torso with purple flowers, and plain purple pants, on the torso’s neckline you can make out a necklace printed in silver, we both find this character rather bland has she has such a spontaneous personality in the series and wears lovely different outfits throughout the. We would have liked to see her in a printed floral dress piece to match her personality on screen.

Janice: Central Perk we got Gunther and now we get another memorable figure in Janice, the torso is classic Janice style, leopard print top with plain legs and with the printed laughing face print you can almost hear her iconic laugh. Her hair piece has been adapted from a harry potter mini figure Bellatrix Lestrange but in dark brown.

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The Build

Very enjoyable build and had a similar building experience to the Central Perk set. The same building techniques are used for the mats and furniture, not surprising as the fan designer had input in the building of this set. The best parts where all the Easter eggs that came out of every bag. When the hall way was finished it reviled the episode where Ross, Rachel and Joey eat the pie off the floor. Finding the Kayak, Duck and Chicken were an absolute treat.

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Final thoughts

A must for Friend’s fans but even if you are not a Friend’s fan the details in the two apartments and the pieces would sway you to buy this set. Lovely use of colours and the addition of the lighting give the feel of a studio set, which you can remove if you want to display this set without them. This set takes up a lot of space so make sure you have enough room to display it. However the apartments can be separated and you could display the Central Perk and Apartments underneath each other in a display case.

Here is an alternative build https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-90906/beewiks/10292-friends-the-apartments-in-photo-frame/#details

Press Release images:

By Andi Glogauer (SAFOLs Member)

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Firstly, a disclaimer – I am fully certifiably Harry Potter obsessed.  So, if a Harry Potter Lego set comes out, I am likely to buy it, not because it is Lego, but because it is Harry Potter.

The only non-Harry Potter set that I own is the flowers set.

Secondly, I am not an advanced builder, and I struggle with perceptual issues, so I get help from my son if I need it.

Thirdly, I like cute and shiny things, and the fact that this set comes with potion bottles, gold minifigures, a golden snitch and a chocolate frog meant that I was sold from the outset.

Unboxing the huge box revealed 22 bags; an instruction book (which has lovely information at the end of each section, as well as information about the designers) and a small sticker sheet. (Yay! Fewer stickers meant printed bricks.)

The first part of the build was the wand, and I couldn’t figure out whether the core was there for stability or a representation of the actual core of the wand (phoenix feather). Needless to say, it did both jobs well because you can swish and flick the wand without any issues. It does not actually work – although that is quite fortunate since my son tried to do a spell on me to keep me quiet…

Harry Potter’s glasses are lovely and have round pieces that I have not seen before (one of the things that we love when building Lego is finding pieces that are new to us) and can actually be worn if you want to.  My only issue with the glasses is that they have no specific placement on the complete set.  I have put them on top of the scarf.

The base formed by a pile of books is incredible and creates a stand and support for the huge Hedwig.  I was fascinated by the engineering/technical side of the insides of the books, but I did need some help with some of them. The instructions were not always that clear to me, and I missed some steps without realising until a bit later – that was easily fixable, and I eventually got into a rhythm of how the build works.

It is not obvious that the bottom book is Tom Riddle’s diary if you don’t know any better, and I would have loved the designers to have added an ink splash or some writing on the book. The design of the open pages is wonderful and gives a very nice finish. I especially liked sliding the pieces into place rather than the usual pressing down of studs. The attention to detail on the books – particularly the spines and the angles that the books are placed is great. It looks so impressive that I think that the set would be ideally displayed where you can view it from all angles. You definitely miss out on seeing details if you place it against a wall or shelf.

And then we get to the great mystery… the box on top of the books.  It is an ornate, black box with the initials “H.G.” printed on one of the bricks. Who is H.G.? We had a lot of discussions about this. It seems to be Hermione Granger’s, but then why would Harry have Hermione’s potions? We wondered if they had made a mistake, and it should have been H.P. More about spelling mistakes later.

Building a giant owl – a feat of design and engineering. 

It’s a big owl, and although building some parts of Hedwig are monotonous and repetitive, it is incredible to see the owl take shape. The separator tool came into use a lot here as I sometimes struggled to see exactly where I was in terms of the placement of pieces. Once again, there were a few pieces that I had never seen before. 

For anything that needed two elements built, it was a joint effort between my son and I. We built the elements simultaneously or he sorted pieces while I built. Each feather on the wings and the tail is attached by either a ball or a hinge joint which make it possible to adjust their angles. The attention to detail with black and grey highlights gives her a beautiful and realistic effect.

The exciting parts – shiny and colourful – the potion bottles look incredible and are very satisfying to build.
The bottle tops look like realistic stoppers.  All the bottles can fit into the potion box. The labels for each bottle have meanings related to previous Lego sets, as well as classic Harry Potter references. As a bonus, the Felix Felicis vial glows in the dark.

The scarf is customisable to your choice of house.  It seems quite a simple element compared to the rest of the build.  I chose to use the colours of my house, Hufflepuff, but then wondered if it was true to the set because this is, obviously, Harry’s belongings, and then logic would say that the scarf should be in Gryffindor colours.  I have also heard people complain that the colours for the scarf are too bright and not true to the colours of the Hogwarts houses.

The golden snitch is also a quick, but very clever, build and is attached to the base with a technic piece so that it “floats” next to the books and potions.

The last element is the acceptance letter which is hinged to look like it has been folded and unfolded and is placed in Hedwig’s claws.

There is room to add your own name on the acceptance letter – again, this is Harry’s set, and I’m not sure that I will write my name on it.  Also, this is an adult set, and I don’t know how many adults want to write their name on a Lego set in permanent marker.  There’s a lot of upset amongst Harry Potter fans (and Latin purists I guess) about a spelling mistake on the crest on the letter – “titillandos” instead of “titillandus”.

Overall, I think that the finished set is really stunning and makes a great feature piece for any Harry Potter (or Lego) fan. It towers over Hedwig 75979 and is definitely a conversation piece and a beautiful addition to my collection.  I highly recommend it.

By Luke Comins (SAFOLs Member)

This delightful waterfall of colour began with the LEGO® Company’s design vice president, Matthew Ashton, initially creating this awesome set for his own desk at LEGO®’s head office in Billund.

Visitors to LEGO®’s offices noticed and commented on it to the point where he was prompted to make it an official set.

Other than one LEGO® Architecture set, 21045 Trafalgar Square, which includes a tiny 1×1 printed rainbow flag placed on the inside of the National Gallery, LEGO® has never represented the LGBTQIA+ community in sets. Until now, well the 1 June 2021 release date to coincide with LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, this is the first LEGO® set dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community in the company’s 72-year history.

One wouldn’t really get the main purpose of this set unless you are familiar with Gilbert Baker’s 1978 six coloured rainbow ‘pride’ flag. Red, orange, yellow, green, dark blue, and purple. Three further colours (pale blue, white, and pink) representing the transgender pride flag, and another two (black and brown) representing the diversity of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds within the LGBTQIA+ community are also included. All 11 colour stripes together are known as the ‘Progress’ flag.

The set number is 40516 and the set name is inspired by ‘Everything Is Awesome’, a song from the LEGO® Movie released in 2014. The song was performed by Tegan & Sara, both of whom are openly gay and vocal supporters of LGBTQ+ rights.

One wouldn’t know any of this though as LGBTQ+ (did I miss any?) is not mentioned anywhere in the accompanying instructions booklet.

The box design, being predominantly black works well as this is technically an 18+ set. The exception to LEGO® ®’s age rating system seems to be sets that are regarded as ‘collectors’ items and these adult-targeted sets, which the Everyone is Awesome set seems to share branding with are routinely rated 18+. A LEGO® spokesperson said “this set is intended to be a display model rather than a play set and was designed with our adult fans in mind. That’s why we have suggested the age-grade and used the packaging designed for our adults’ products.” I’m curious to know how many under 18’s felt/feel led to buy this set.

There are 346 pieces and the set includes 11 minifigures matching the 11 colours mentioned above.

All those alphabet letters aside, and I’m certain that this set is sure to have made the LGBTQIA+ folks ecstatic but, for plain old me I just saw 11 totally featureless MONOCHROME minifigures!

But let me first mention the display stand…

The stand, a superb way to display the monochrome minifigures, looks like a waterfall of colour paint flowing down and painting these minifigures. The top curves are really nice and give reference to a rainbow without it looking too much like one.

Other than the studs for the minifigures to be attached to, the build is entirely studless which will please SNOT (Studs Not On Top) fans. Construction is rather straightforward and most of the build can be accomplished without actually referring to the instructions and despite being rather simple, it’s extremely impactful and the perfect platform for a bunch of colourful monochrome minifigures. Only takes about 15 minutes to put together.

Yes, back to the minifigures! They are the absolute highlight of the set and, although this set is primarily designed to be displayed as depicted on the box and as instructed in the booklet, you can by virtue of them being minifigures display them in all sorts of different positions and poses. You can also choose where you want them to be using the studded 1×2 plates in a different arrangement and then rearrange the smooth tiles around them.

Being ‘monofigs’ all 11 are an excellent expansion to minifigure accessories even if you’re a veteran ‘monofig’ minifigure collector. Some of us (me included) haven’t got too much of a ‘monofig’ collection so this is a sure and cheaper way to boost the collection. These single colour minifigures are highly collectible but the task isn’t easy as not all the elements are available in every colour. The minifigures available in this set really push that especially as they also include hair elements. Most of these are not available in the colours featured here. The Bright Blue ‘Johnny Bravo’ hairpiece is also brand new. Some of the display stand parts also appear for the first time in Dark Purple, Dark Pink and Bright Green.

Whether you are a member of the LGBTQIA+ community or not, there is much to love about this clean, colourful… awesome display piece.

It’s the first LEGO® set to contain multiple ‘monofigs’ and a fantastic way to display the almighty LEGO® minifigure in all ‘it’s’ colour and glory and to help get a jump start on your ‘monofig’ collection.

Oh yes, it’s a splendid set to photograph!

By Rakesh Gosai (SAFOLs Brick Deputy)

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This year’s long-awaited LEGO® Modular Building is the Police Station. Designed by Chris McVeigh. With styling cues from the 1950’s era, this building would fit perfectly in any LEGO® Modular scene. As predicted, this year, the LEGO® Creator Advanced Series has changed styling to fit in line with the 18+ Range and has the “Modular Buildings Collection” name on it. As with all sets of this size, the instruction manual is sealed in its own bag. A favourite in these sets are all printed tiles and no sticker sheet.

Chris McVeigh has been designing LEGO® models long before he started working for LEGO®. Please have a look at his website for the unofficial models he has made : https://chrismcveigh.com/cm/welcome.html I started following his work when I was looking for some inspiration for the interior of the earlier LEGO® Modular Buildings, as these were bare inside. Chris has also designed a few popular sets, namely the LEGO® Brick Sketches series, LEGO® Botanical Collection 10289 Bird of Paradise, and the LEGO® Winter Village Collection 10275 Elf Club House to name a few.

This set has 14 numbered bags with a 32×32 baseplate. This set has 2,923 pieces in it with a few new printed pieces, rare colours, and a few new pieces. One of my favourite printed pieces from this set is the daily brick newspaper with the headline “Donut Thief Still Hungry”. Depending on your building speed, this build should take a few hours. As you build, the three structures takes shape quickly with the donut shop on the left, the news stand on the right and the police station in the centre. Two of the printed pieces form a billboard for “Soap ‘n Suds”, the laundromat from the Brick Bank Modular Building.

The stairs in this build are amazing. Be sure to keep an eye out for this when you are building. The other items that really make an impact are the two desks which have a typewriter and a rotary telephone. Chris McVeigh has a lot more of these designs on his personal website. The donut shop is two stories high with a few hidden gems on the second floor. The bed is able to lift up, revealing an opening to steal donuts from the shop. Sneaky hey!

I do not know how important this detail is but there are two toilets in this building. One in the jail cell and the other in the police station. You would also notice that inside the jail cell, the bed is able to lift up, revealing an opening to a tunnel with a spoon, apparently used for digging. There is also a tunnel at the base of the building which adds an exciting element to the build.

I would rate this build 9/10. The Minifigures selection are good, build has many hidden gems and overall, a beautifully designed building. 

By Marick Hornsveld (SAFOLs Member, Founding member of CapeLUG. Loves Creator vehicles, Harry Potter, and Ninjago dragons. )

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Creator fans rejoice, another Volkswagen icon has just been released – the T2 Camper Van. Available in South Africa from the beginning of August 2021, it joins the LEGO Volkswagen line-up which includes the 2008 Beetle, 2016 classic Beetle, and most notably, the 2011 T1 Camper Van – a fan favourite which was available for almost 10 years.

With Creator sets, especially the Creator Expert or 18+ line, becoming ever-more detailed and impressive, I had high expectations of this set, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The box is enormous and is filled about ¾ of the way. Pieces come in the usual numbered, plastic packets. The instructions and stickers are shipped in a plastic sleeve. The instructions feature some history of the T2 and photos of the designer, Sven Franic, who based the model on his own T2.

The build offers a master-class in SNOT-techniques (studs not on top), and the direction in which sub-assemblies are placed and attached is sometimes quite surprising. The body mainly uses tiles (flat and sloped) attached to SNOT plates, rather than bricks.

The size of the model quickly becomes evident – it measures 42 studs in length, 20 studs in height, and 18 studs in width, and is therefore considerably larger than its predecessor, the T1 Camper Van.

The build starts with the chassis, and once that’s together the frame starts to take shape. The focus then turns to the interior where delightful details are added, including a fridge, sand-green kettle, and folding bench/ bed. Exterior details continue to be added, and eventually the front interior, and nose area is completed. The build up to this point has been very enjoyable, and I’m sad to see that I am nearing the end. Then comes the pop-up roof…

The next 47 pages are dedicated to the construction of the pop-up roof. The mechanism is built mainly with Technic pieces. It is tedious and non-Technic builders will more than likely not enjoy this part of the build. The pop-up roof is completely over-engineered and the amount of parts it takes up does not nearly warrant the resultant operation, which is disappointing at best. I am quite certain that a similar operation could have been achieved with far fewer parts. The inclusion of so many Technic parts to create such a small part of the model is rather perplexing. The piece count could have much rather been used to add details to the dash, such as instruments (represented with only a sticker), more interior details, and better interior finishing, such as on the inside of the doors, and the boot area.

In stark contrast to this, the sliding door is executed brilliantly, and with very few parts. Its movement captures the closing motion of the real VW van perfectly, and it’s the one feature I believe truly makes this model. The two front doors close satisfyingly well – the joints and transitions of the model overall is exceptional with almost no gaps visible.

During the build, a few areas feel quite flimsy, especially because of the pop-up roof which essentially floats on top of the model. Most, but not all, of these flimsy areas are strengthened. Two notable areas that could have been strengthened further is the panel above the left rear wheel – pressing too hard here pops the interior SNOT panel right off and fixing it requires some disassembly. The front-bumper also falls off at the slightest touch. The use of stickers are also disappointing, especially because the colour-matching of the stickers are poor. These are minor gripes, however, and don’t detract from the overall great impression the model gives.

The set also features steering which is connected to the interior steering wheel, and to the front spare tire – a really fun feature.  

The colour combination of white and medium azure is very attractive. The tan and dark orange upholstery is equally attractive, and really gives it that era-specific feel. The chrome hubs with VW-logo adds that special touch. A sticker sheet is also included that allows the builder to customize their bus with flowers and lettering – flower power!

The added surfboard gives it that California feel, and the two folding chairs add another fun detail.

Considering its size and the level of exterior detail, the set feels like good value for money. It is a beautiful display set and offers a great building experience. Younger AFOLS will definitely remember someone who drove a ‘ou, blou Kombi’, while the older generation may even reminisce about driving one of these beauties.

I highly recommend adding this set to your Creator or Volkswagen collection.