LEGO Bricklink Designer Program 10041 Camping Adventure in review: Sit by the campfire, sing the campfire song!
What could be better than spending time with your family? That’s right, spending time with the family in nature. To forget the city for a few days, a father drove to the nearby mountains with his daughter and a lot of camping equipment. Here there is only the chirping of birds and the leaves rustling in the wind. The only light that shines here at night is the light of the stars and the only roof you need is the sky. Now all that’s missing is a cozy campfire and a few marshmallows…
Welcome back to vacation. After I went on holiday in the mountains myself a few weeks ago and presented a matching set, let’s now return together to the heroes camping. The set of our review today, Set 910041 Camping Adventurecomes from the still quite new Bricklink Designer Program (BLDP). It comes from series 3 of the program and is available from October 8th can be purchased via Bricklink.
Unfortunately, the set is only available online and is limited to a total of 30,000 pieces worldwide. That’s why it’s important to me to finish this review before sales open so that I can give you the best possible picture. Purchasing the BLDP sets on the secondary market is often pointless and sometimes very expensive. So let’s take a look together at the father-daughter time our two minifigures spent together.
What adventures will they have? What does your small camper van offer and would I recommend purchasing the set in a few days? Let’s take a look.
The key data
- Name: Camping Adventure / Camping Adventure
- Number of parts: 669
- Minifigures: 2
- Animals: 4
- Retail price: $49.99 / €49.99
- Release date: October 8, 2024
The Bricklink Designer program
Some time ago I introduced you to the General Store from the Bricklink Designer program. This program is an initiative “From fans for fans”, which was created through a cooperation between LEGO and Bricklink. There have already been a few phases of this program and a fixed process has now been agreed upon. You can find everything you need to know here.
Similar to LEGO Ideas, fan designers submit their builds and the community votes on which models they would like to see as sets. The selected winners will then be distributed via a crowdfunding campaign. At least 3,000 pre-orders must be received for each model in order for it to be manufactured (of course, no money will be charged if your set does not reach 3,000 pre-orders). After 30,000 orders, the set is “sold out” and anyone who still wants it is at the mercy of the resellers. After that, it usually takes about half a year to ship the orders. The money will only be deducted upon dispatch.
The advantage here over LEGO Ideas is that there is a studio (Bricklinks/LEGO’s digital model designer) palette with the parts to choose from for the designs submitted to the Bricklink Designer program. This ensures that the sets can be released exactly as they were designed. The changes that will be made to the models after the first round of voting are marginal. The disadvantage is the limited release and this of course attracts investors.
The camping adventure was created and designed by fan designer “KingCreations”. The designer’s real name is Joshua Kingma and we owe this model to him. He has already submitted several projects to this program and now one of his designs has finally made it to the final. The camping adventure can be ordered on Bricklink from October 8th, 2024 to October 31st, 2024. It is usually the case that 3,000 copies have to be sold for the set to be produced at all (if you buy a set that does not reach this hurdle, you will of course not be charged any money). The sets will go into production after the crowdfunding phase and will take around half a year to reach you. During the final phases, the money was only deducted when the sets were shipped.
Scope and assembly
I did not receive a box for this set as the review copy is a pre-production. However, from the latest rounds of the BLDP it can be concluded that the set will come in a white box with a picture of the set. Printed instructions will also not be included. This must either be downloaded as a PDF from LEGO or Bricklink or used in the LEGO Builders app.
Personally, I prefer to build with printed instructions, which is why I find that a bit annoying, but when put together I managed to get the 669 pieces together. However, I noticed small errors in several places in the instructions, such as steps that are not shown or parts that are placed on the model without a firm connection. In general the construction is a bit unstable, but doable.
There are no stickers in this set. However, all prints are generic items that have already appeared in many sets.
Those Minifigures
Two figures are included in this set. It’s about a father and his little daughter (or the horror film cliché of the teenager and the ax murderer). Both figures are nothing special, but use normal city prints.
The girl is wearing a hiking jacket, which I first encountered in the LEGO Ideas A-Frame Cabin. As already mentioned, the prints in this set are “nothing special” but they still fit in great here and I like the design of this torso print.
The back is printed simply and unspectacularly.
The father is wearing a red lumberjack shirt and I personally think this torso print is beautiful because it can be used very universally from city to western. Overall, a very nice minifigure, in my opinion.
These two minifigures populate the set and there is a lot of equipment around them, from bikes to axes.
The camp
Here we have our little diorama, consisting of a tree, the fire pit and of course the camper itself.
There is a chair in the shade of the tree where you can just relax and unwind. In my opinion it’s a little more complicated than necessary, but it certainly looks nice.
And while we’re talking about unwinding, what could be more comfortable than a nice campfire and bread sticks? It’s nice to see that the construction method of LEGO campfires hasn’t changed too much over the years and is often still released as a flash of flame from a log. I like that quite a bit.
The tree in this set is also reminiscent of the trees from the A-Frame Cabin. In contrast to these, this one appears much fuller in terms of its foliage. Maybe it’s because of its smaller size but I think it’s very successful.
There are also some animals hiding in the tree. Butterflies, squirrels and birds. Since animals are always highlights, regardless of whether they are big or small, this of course makes me very happy. The wonderfully printed butterflies in particular are simply great.
In terms of structure, the tree is quite repetitive and admittedly “frimly”, as you have to fit many of the flexible leaf elements with various other parts. But here too there are one or two nice details.
Like this very simple bird’s nest.
In this free area there is space for the camper, which is only attached using two studs. This makes it easy to take it off, even if you don’t really want to.
And speaking of the camper, I think it’s great. It has such a nice cozy look. It is also built with a surprising amount of normal stones. Visually it looks like an old caravan that has been on dozens of adventures.
Through the door we can get a little insight into the inner workings. However, since this only provides very limited access, the roof can also be removed so that we can see everything inside.
Of course, the space inside is a bit limited, but a lot of important things for a caravan could still be stored here. We have the kitchenette with stove and sink, which we already saw through the door. A few cooking utensils hang next to it.
There is also a bed in which a minifigure can sleep. There are also a few drawers indicated on both sides of the car. The white cupboard above the bed contains a red peaked cap for the father and a dark pink hockey cap for his daughter.
There are also a few details to be seen at the back of the camper. Here we see that a few items of clothing have been hung up to dry. We can also see the problems that LEGO has with color consistency on the sand green quite well.
There is also a small tap.
After we have taken out the laundry, we can return to our hikes.
Many thanks to the LEGO Group for providing us with this set for our review. However, the article solely reflects my personal opinion.
Conclusion: 910041 Camping Adventure
The Camping Adventure is a nice little display model. The diorama has a cozy atmosphere and brings a piece of vacation to your desk. It’s also nice that we have a good mix of nature and holiday accessories. The tree is beautifully made and the many animals, even if they are small, are great.
But the highlight is clearly the camper itself. It looks perfect from the outside and it uses its space inside with great efficiency to contain as much as possible and still not seem too squashed. It makes me want to go straight to bed while the rain hits the roof of the caravan. With a price of €49.99, this set is also one of the smallest and therefore most affordable sets in the Bricklink Designer program, which otherwise consists of large sets in the price range often well over €100.
But let’s talk about this price again. While €50 is also in the low price range for the BLDP, I think it is too much for what is offered here. To do justice to the price tag, they probably should have included a city vehicle to tow the camper. It doesn’t feel like a €50 set and many parts are used for the foliage or the construction of the base plate, so the “bulk” just ends up looking quite thinned out.
Still, if you like what you see, then October 8th is the day you should buy the set, as it won’t get any cheaper after that. Rebricking these sets is not worth it in terms of cost. But if you already have a good supply of parts, then it might be an idea to take a look at the instructions. Since the set does not contain any exclusive parts, you can recreate it if necessary. Adjusting a few colors can also save a bit of money here, as sand green, for example, is relatively expensive.
This song is called the campfire song song…
All in all, as is often the case with LEGO, a nice set with a high price tag. I’ll probably see if I can get hold of a certain other set from Series 3 of the BLDP on October 8th…
Evaluation
Grading 🎵
Your opinion!
What do you think of the camping adventure? Are you planning on getting it or another BLDP Series 3 set? What do you think about the Bricklink Designer program and LEGO’s sales strategy here? Feel free to comment in the comments!
