Featured set of the day: Volkswagen T1 Camper Van
Posted by Huw,
danieltheo has chosen the set that brought him out of his dark ages and started him on a slippery slope, one I'm sure we are all aware of...
Despite having received my first Lego set at the age of 2 (I was an early starter), 361 Tea Garden Cafe in 1975, and from that moment on being completely absorbed by Lego up until the age of 11, my featured set which ended my dark ages is much later, 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van.
I discovered the set by accident; having an interest in classic cars, the magazine I sometimes buy always has a feature on die-cast models, accessories, books and other bits and pieces. I spotted the van and felt a wave of nostalgia – could I justify the purchase though; sure this was Lego but it was an ‘adult’ sculpture and a mile away from any of my old sets, which were still at my parents house – those that were left anyway, most of my collection having been sold off or given away in my teens.
After a period of a few days, I decided that I could justify the purchase – unable to source from Lego.com I eventually purchased online and almost immediately started the build, but almost in a state of secrecy. Living alone at the time this was not a problem, but I was aware that an interest in Lego when approaching 40 would need to be seen at best as a guilty pleasure, justifiable in my case by saying that I had seen the set featured in a serious car magazine…
Bearing in mind my Lego building stopped in early 1984, opening the box was a shock. All those colours – there was a lot of red, but also a dark red, tan, pale blue, and all sorts of different parts and construction techniques which I was not aware of.
Everything went together well over a couple of evenings and the set went on display – I even let a few people see, keeping the magazine handy as a back up if needed – it wasn’t!
The problem with the set was the last few pages of the instructions, not the actual instructions but the features on other products which may be ‘of interest’…
Late 2013 I bought 10214 Tower Bridge, assembling between Christmas and the New Year with my then partner – she enjoyed the experience as much as me and the set was great as a team building exercise as 2 people can work on the same part at the same time!
I then became aware of the modular buildings – initially sceptical as they incorporated Minifigs which I considered perhaps harked back too far to childhood builds. Whilst pondering this, my father became seriously ill, dying within a few days and I felt the need to recapture happier times – thinking back to Legoland, light grey road plates, Christmas 1981 and receiving the intercity train, my 10th birthday in 1982 and receiving the shunter train (why didn’t I keep all the parts and the box…?), town layouts, elevated roadways and all sorts of basic but realistic builds which I loved at the time and continue to love – my builds always had a sense of social realism!
So I bought 10243 Parisian Restaurant - followed by all modulars before and since, except Café Corner and the Greengrocer, although these have been built and modified in different colours, all installed with dark bluish grey road plates in a ‘Lego room’ on a raised platform with a full street layout and vehicles. I was never precious about keeping sets as Lego intended – or didn’t intend; it can all be altered around and returned to original anyway – at least I keep the boxes now!
As a result, almost all of my sets have been modified / extended / altered, with extra floors, extensions added. I spend far too much money on it, it takes up far too much room, but I have an understanding and supportive partner who likes Lego too.
That room upstairs continues to be a place to get away from work and stresses, regress to childhood and escape – my only regret is that these parts, colours and funds did not exist when I was 10!
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33 comments on this article
Can someone confirm the Campervan is the longest selling LEGO set? It was released in 2011 and I still see it in LEGO stores (at least since last year before quarantine, and LEGO.com only says "temporarily out of stock", so there must be more in production. )
This set also brought me out of my dark ages, now look at old sets and wished I’d seen them earlier
@Agent00Z said:
"Can someone confirm the Campervan is the longest selling LEGO set? It was released in 2011 and I still see it in LEGO stores (at least since last year before quarantine, and LEGO.com only says "temporarily out of stock", so there must be more in production. )"
I think the campervan was repackaged with more modern box art a few years ago, though. I don't know if it would still count but it seems unchanged from the original model build-wise. I think the 2008 death star might be the longest lasting one without any changes to the set's box art or model (2008-2015).
@minishark1000 said:
" @Agent00Z said:
"Can someone confirm the Campervan is the longest selling LEGO set? It was released in 2011 and I still see it in LEGO stores (at least since last year before quarantine, and LEGO.com only says "temporarily out of stock", so there must be more in production. )"
I think the campervan was repackaged with more modern box art a few years ago, though. I don't know if it would still count but it seems unchanged from the original model build-wise. I think the 2008 death star might be the longest lasting one without any changes to the set's box art or model (2008-2015)."
But the death star was not continuously sold and labeled under different set numbers with the original as 10188 and the "UCS" set as 75159. There was about a six month hiatus between the two sets. There were also some subtle changes to the build and some different minifigures in the sets.
@boneheadhh1 said:
" @minishark1000 said:
" @Agent00Z said:
"Can someone confirm the Campervan is the longest selling LEGO set? It was released in 2011 and I still see it in LEGO stores (at least since last year before quarantine, and LEGO.com only says "temporarily out of stock", so there must be more in production. )"
I think the campervan was repackaged with more modern box art a few years ago, though. I don't know if it would still count but it seems unchanged from the original model build-wise. I think the 2008 death star might be the longest lasting one without any changes to the set's box art or model (2008-2015)."
But the death star was not continuously sold and labeled under different set numbers with the original as 10188 and the "UCS" set as 75159. There was about a six month hiatus between the two sets. There were also some subtle changes to the build and some different minifigures in the sets."
I meant only 10188, not the next one after it. I was talking about the 7 year run of the Original from 2008-2015ish, this one was completely unchanged throughout that 7 year time span.
Just rebought this set a few months ago fantastic really shows what Lego can do I hope they never retire this set
10188 underwent multiple piece updates along with print updates in 2010~ while not being relabeled. This set i would argue, by getting a smaller box, is a much smaller change.
I feel like this should've retired long ago
Can we all talk about the "suspicious potted plant?" hidden in the back? Dang hippies! :P
^Shhh, it's just the Piranha Plant waiting for someone to Smash!
@colby_figcustoms said:
"I feel like this should've retired long ago"
Disagreed. Maybe due for a redesign, but if TLG has kept it around this long, there’s a good reason ($$$)
It’s either this or the 2008 Death Star which I think have had the longest shelf life of any LEGO set. I think. Gosh, this looks neat.
I loved building the camper, no numbered bags:) shock by today standarts.. but my first set that got me back into building was the pet shop, followed by fire brigade and town hall:)
@Glacier_Phoenix said:
"10188 underwent multiple piece updates along with print updates in 2010~ while not being relabeled. This set i would argue, by getting a smaller box, is a much smaller change. "
Yup, you're right. My bad
@Agent00Z said:
"Can someone confirm the Campervan is the longest selling LEGO set? It was released in 2011 and I still see it in LEGO stores (at least since last year before quarantine, and LEGO.com only says "temporarily out of stock", so there must be more in production. )"
In the set department this is the longest selling set but if you count ever LEGO product made then the longest selling set is the 2304 DUPLO Large Building Plate from 1992 then Red Brick Keychain from 2007
This is one of my favourite sets that I own. I spent 5 weeks travelling around Europe with friends in a camper van (albeit an orange T2 not a red T1) in 1998 and that remains the best trip of my life so far.
Building the set was such a joyous experience as it felt like I was recreating a happy part of my youth. And the incredibly smooth way the roof goes up and down makes me happy every time I do it :)
This set is great, loads of detail, functions and its really accurate too.
I too got back into buying Lego in 2011, but it was the Unimog that started me off again!
Great set choice! Though not my all-time favourite set, this is definitely a great set, by any definition, both when it was released and now. Mine had to make way for the Creator Mini Cooper on my shelf, but it is a set I will definitely enjoy rebuilding at some point.
A very good article. Thank you for it.
This has to be my favorite non-minifigure scale set I own. I love how it has had such longevity, it still looks good today!
One of my favourite sets. I actually stripped mine down at the weekend as many of the white pieces have yellowed but I have ordered all new ones on BrickLink to return this to its true glory.
The set also seems to be sold/used for competitions in Volkswagen dealers, in Ireland at least, maybe part explaining it’s longevity.
@KIERAN2400 said:
"One of my favourite sets. I actually stripped mine down at the weekend as many of the white pieces have yellowed but I have ordered all new ones on BrickLink to return this to its true glory.
The set also seems to be sold/used for competitions in Volkswagen dealers, in Ireland at least, maybe part explaining it’s longevity. "
In the future, consider treating your yellowed pieces with hydrogen peroxide instead of buying replacements. I’ve found it works really well, and it’s cheaper than buying replacement parts!
I love mine. I have been thinking about buying a second set to modify into a matching trailer or pickup.
The set that will never retire...
Even my non-Lego friends have this set. I'm keeping one in the box.
Why did this set appear in the 'Site updates' panel please?
Unless there's a way to see what has been changed about it's page and I'm just slow
This is very similar to my story/timeline but it was the UCS batmobile that rekindled my interest in Lego
@Merlict said:
"Why did this set appear in the 'Site updates' panel please?
Unless there's a way to see what has been changed about it's page and I'm just slow"
I think it’s the availability in the U.S. has been updated, although the actual page on lego site shows only temporarily out of stock.
Hey Huw, if you run out of "set of the day", you could just replace danieltheo's name with mine and put it up again... Even the purchase of the Parisian matches, even though I didn't built the other older ones yet :)
This set was also the set that brought out of the dark ages!
Wonderful article. Really got to my heart.
About longest running set though, I think the honor would have to go to the grey 48x48 baseplate. Both the original light grey as well as the newer light bluish grey version have lasted decades each. LEGO might have changed to product number from time to time, but the fact remains it is still a grey 48x48 baseplate.
I don't have this set , but I loved when LEGO did a surfer-bus inspired 3-in-1 set in 2018, and it has a VW Beach Buggy inspired alternate build as well.
https://brickset.com/sets/31079-1/Sunshine-Surfer-Van
I got real tears of happiness when I first saw this back in 2011. Today I have 6 copies, just to be on the secure side. I LOVE the original real car, I dream of it and want to own one one day.