@Formendacil:
That’s…they must look so weird, considering who you’d usually see driving one of these.

My first reaction was that this wasn't anywhere near old enough to show up as a random set of the day, and then I remembered that they sold it for nearly ten years. So it's just that it was available for sooooo long.

My dad’s only set owned/built (because I bought it for him).

@Formendacil said:
"Hey, I have this one! I got it used as part of a much larger lot, and since these large model cars are not really my thing, I contemplated selling it off, but it had clearly been much loved--well, much displayed--because the white had all yellowed. Granted, that patina kind of works with the camper van look, but it devalued the set enough that I hung on to it.

Then I discovered that it's pretty well scaled for use with Technic figs and has become my vehicle of choice to display the six I own."

There are some methods out there for fixing that yellowing issue… http://thebrickblogger.com/2020/06/restoring-discolored-lego-bricks/

*Untested yet myself, but getting ready to do so for at least one full side of my 21309 Saturn V that sat in a sun-facing window for a year ?? …Not to mention tons of old bricks. Hoping it works.

I’ve got the VW as well. All those white slopes are great for snowscapes! ????

Hopefully LEGO will keep releasing more classic vehicles in the future, like Citroën Type H or perhaps even a Greyhound's GMC PD-4501 Scenicruiser bus.

@Norikins said:
"There is no way the launch / exit dates are correct for this. This thing almost was available for a decade."
Perhaps there's a glitch in the database and the year got swapped from 2021 to 2012.

I well remember first seeing this on display and starting to look at LEGO seriously again after 20 odd years away. So naturally it was my first big set after emerging from the dark age.

@deathmoth said:
"There are some methods out there for fixing that yellowing issue… http://thebrickblogger.com/2020/06/restoring-discolored-lego-bricks/

*Untested yet myself, but getting ready to do so for at least one full side of my 21309 Saturn V that sat in a sun-facing window for a year ?? …Not to mention tons of old bricks. Hoping it works."
It gives great results when you first do it. Unfortunately, within a couple of months, even if kept in the dark, the bricks revert back to yellower than they were before you started. (also causes old cellulose acetate bricks to warp like bananas!)

Ah, the set I was gifted by a friend who had no use for it. I built it to get a feel for building a large vehicle model for the first time, then parted it out. This set is surprisingly good for parts.

@sjr60 said:
" @deathmoth said:
"There are some methods out there for fixing that yellowing issue… http://thebrickblogger.com/2020/06/restoring-discolored-lego-bricks/

*Untested yet myself, but getting ready to do so for at least one full side of my 21309 Saturn V that sat in a sun-facing window for a year ?? …Not to mention tons of old bricks. Hoping it works."
It gives great results when you first do it. Unfortunately, within a couple of months, even if kept in the dark, the bricks revert back to yellower than they were before you started. (also causes old cellulose acetate bricks to warp like bananas!) "

Ah, bummer. I suppose there are not other known alternative methods more permanent, eh?

@Norikins said:
"There is no way the launch / exit dates are correct for this. This thing almost was available for a decade."

Nope! This product was on the market for just that long!

@deathmoth said:
"Ah, bummer. I suppose there are not other known alternative methods more permanent, eh?"
Er... replacement!
You could experiment with a few bricks... you may get different results depending on age and amount of yellowing, but I don't think I'll bother trying again.
I've also had a few 2nd hand sets that have yellowed surprisingly quickly after buying, so I have a feeling hydrogen peroxide may be an eBay seller's favourite.

@Sandinista said:
" @Toothdominoes said:
" @Norikins said:
"There is no way the launch / exit dates are correct for this. This thing almost was available for a decade."

Nope! This product was on the market for just that long!"

No, that is incorrect. The set was on Lego Store shelves until 2020/2021 depending on where you were. "

It is because there was technically several different versions of the same product. It originally released back in 01-01-2012 and the last version left shelves on 31-12-2020. That is almost a decade.

I still prefer this to the more recent 10279. Apart from the lower price they seemed to do so much more with far fewer pieces, especially check out the interior in the alternative photos. I really love the opening double side doors, 4 stroke engine, fold up table, fold out chair to bed, sink, literal gear 'stick' etc.

@Norikins said:
"There is no way the launch / exit dates are correct for this. This thing almost was available for a decade."

Wasn’t there a slight design tweak (some internal strengthening iirc)? That might account for the discrepancy in exit dates which I presume must come from TLG, possibly their SAP inventory rather than the set number.

First time for me on RSotD that I can go: I have this one!

It's the only one of my modern sets that qualifies for RSotD, as I only got back into LEGO about three years ago. So, a little reminder for me of how long this set was in production. Currently, it is stil sitting in the sealed box, waiting for me to find the time to build it...

@Norikins said:
"There is no way the launch / exit dates are correct for this. This thing almost was available for a decade."

Perhaps that was the originally planned exit. Scroll a bit down and you'll see the dates it actually was available.

This is the set that rekindled my childhood LEGO interests as an adult. Now i've got shelves of (mostly) LEGO vehicles as display pieces. I'm sad this one has been neglected by the sun enough to cause some discoloring on most of the white pieces, but thankfully there's nothing rare that couldn't be replaced easily.

Great set but it reminds of the camper I owned, and had to scrap. I kept the badge and it hangs over my desk amongst my Lego Star Wars planets ...

I love this set so much….. I have 3 of them!! :)
One being sold by instalments right now.
It’s so great in so many ways, and I wish more people would buy and build it to learn this!
Easily a top-10 favourite set for me …. Out of the almost 900 I own!!

My first Creator Expert set! Really opened me to that whole theme

Ah, that one set that had been on sale for nearly a decade. The bus, the myth, the legend!

@deathmoth said:
" @sjr60 said:
" @deathmoth said:
"There are some methods out there for fixing that yellowing issue… http://thebrickblogger.com/2020/06/restoring-discolored-lego-bricks/

*Untested yet myself, but getting ready to do so for at least one full side of my 21309 Saturn V that sat in a sun-facing window for a year ?? …Not to mention tons of old bricks. Hoping it works."
It gives great results when you first do it. Unfortunately, within a couple of months, even if kept in the dark, the bricks revert back to yellower than they were before you started. (also causes old cellulose acetate bricks to warp like bananas!) "

Ah, bummer. I suppose there are not other known alternative methods more permanent, eh?"

Re-yellowed? Not in my experience. In 2014, I used a more efficient variant of the method linked to above. It uses hydrogen peroxide and sunlight but with Oxi Action Crystal White as well. The result was parts from the 1980s that had yellowed became indistinguishable from white ones that were brand new in 2014 (https://brickshelf.com/gallery/AmperZand/Fantasy/atv_a_full.jpg). Since then, I have kept the set assembled in a cool, dark place and none of the parts have reverted to their off-white state.

@sid3windr said:
" @Norikins said:
"There is no way the launch / exit dates are correct for this. This thing almost was available for a decade."

Perhaps that was the originally planned exit. Scroll a bit down and you'll see the dates it actually was available."

Yeah I'm not sure how the "Launch/Exit" dates are determined but under the Lego.com Availability section it give the much more realistic window of 28 Sep 11 - 28 Nov 20.

@Zander said:
"I used a more efficient variant of the method linked to above. It uses hydrogen peroxide and sunlight but with Oxi Action Crystal White as well. The result was parts from the 1980s that had yellowed became indistinguishable from white ones that were brand new in 2014 ( https://brickshelf.com/gallery/AmperZand/Fantasy/atv_a_full.jpg ). Since then, I have kept the set assembled in a cool, dark place and none of the parts have reverted to their off-white state."
That's interesting, and encouraging... I'll give Oxi Action Crystal White a go!

@D0rk said:
"This is the set that rekindled my childhood LEGO interests as an adult. Now i've got shelves of (mostly) LEGO vehicles as display pieces. I'm sad this one has been neglected by the sun enough to cause some discoloring on most of the white pieces, but thankfully there's nothing rare that couldn't be replaced easily. "

They could be my comment... This is the set responsible for all of my AFOLness... For which I'm really thankful!

This set restarted my appreciation for what LEGO could do! Took me 15hrs over 5 days to complete(no numbered bags) and is still on display today after the initial build. Love it!

@holdre007 said:
"Hopefully LEGO will keep releasing more classic vehicles in the future, ... perhaps even a Greyhound's GMC PD-4501 Scenicruiser bus."

That would be a Day 1 purchase for me no matter what the cost!