Creator has taken a decidedly outdoorsy bent in the latest wave of sets, with 31052 Vacation Getaways, 31053 Treehouse Adventures and 31051 Lighthouse Point. Today I'll take a look at the first of these sets, with reviews of the other two coming in the next few days. Full props to Huw, who makes many of my reviews look good with the most excellent pictures. The front of the box shows the main build - a camper with all the accessories: folding table and chairs, a BBQ, a small boat on a trailer, some greenery, and the best part - the bear! I love brick built animals, so it was a given that I had to try this set. Other smaller art on the front of the box show the alternate builds - a summer home and a yacht. The back of the box show all three builds with some of the features of each build. Inside the box there are 9 unnumbered bags with another bag dedicated to the perfect bound instruction book. Sadly, no cardboard was provided to keep the book from getting bent. Included with the parts is a brick separator.
There are two minifigs for these three builds: a woman and a little boy The woman's torso is somewhat new, having first been seen in Temple of Airjitzu last year. The boy's torso has previously only seen in the Deep Sea theme last year. Both have some nice detailing on the back. Neither head has an alternate face. Unlike the sportsman in Lakeside Lodge, at least these two look happy to be here! These minifigs do not change over the three builds. The instruction book classifies the three different builds as quick (the yacht), medium (summer home) and advanced (camper). This build starts with the use of Technic pieces to build the chassis of the camper. I really enjoyed this part of the build where you can slowly see the frame of the vehicle take shape and you start to add the detailing such as the lower fenders and the front grill, up to the start of the lower red racing stripes. After building the base, we waste no time in building one of the many cool features of the set - the back portions of the RV that swing out.
The tail lights are included in the walls with the use of translucent bricks. The first half that swings out is a seating area with a table top that can be folded up. The other half contains the start of a kitchenette with a fridge with a mystery meat sandwich. As we'll see throughout the build, the designer uses space quite efficiently - in this case by having the back wall of the fridge also be the back wall of the RV. There's a nice use of 1x2x2/3 roof tiles as the front grill of the vehicle. Further detail on the inside the rear part of the camper include a sink and small stove (complete with skillet), a TV with an adjustable screen, and another gigantic mystery meat sandwich. The whole back of the camper gets lots of natural light from four windows. There'a also a couple of storage compartments for a paper map (how old school) and small suitcase. There's also a commode right behind the driver's seat and a couple mugs stored above the stove and sink. So far, the camper is looking great.
There are lots of great details with a very good living space for our minifigs with all the comforts of home. Next is the bed compartment, which has yet another surprise detail with the storage space underneath the bed. The bed itself hinges up to allow access to the storage space. The bed compartment is attached to the main RV through grooved plates. Pulling out the compartment is very smooth and works without any issues. With the interior detailing done, we turn to the finishing the exterior of the RV. The upper sets of racing stripes are accompanied by the tinted wind shield. Speaking of which, that is another great feature of this set - the windshield portion just slides into the front and clips on at a single point. The detachable roof comes in two parts: both look to have some storage capacity. I like the choice of the dark blue for the interior section; it complements the racing stripes and is a more imaginative colour than white, which could have been used. In adding the awning -yet another really cool feature of this set - it's a little challenging to fit the holes in the fabric around the hooks on the vehicle.
It has a bonus of being secure, but it's also difficult to make it fit without tearing the fabric. However I love that this awning (new to this set) has the ability to be furled and unfurled so easily. What another great touch by the designer. With the RV complete, the rest are finishing touches. First, storage on the RV - a rather clever folding table and two chairs that can be stowed on the roof. The table clicks into place and the folded chairs are secured with a 1x2 clamp on a hinge. The BBQ grill likewise clicks into place in a separate compartment on the roof. The final additions are the skateboard to the back of the RV as well as adding a ladder to gain access to the storage area on the roof.That's a great build. But we're not finished yet! We have the boat, the bear and some foliage to go! The boat trailer is a straightforward build and has nice rear lights for safety. The boat is a sunny bright yellow - a terrific choice - and features six of the new 1x4x1 inverted bow pieces in yellow.
So far the only other set to have this piece is in the next Elves wave. They're put to very good use as the bow of the boat. The finished boat is a nice little motor boat - doubtful it would fit two minifigs, unless one is standing in the front. There is only one life preserver included, so perhaps it's just meant for one. One of my favourite parts of the build is the bear. He looks like a rather friendly bear and has an interesting construction. There's a hinge piece in the middle of him that serves no purpose; I can only assume it's needed for the other two models. At first I thought he was rather small, but compared to a minifig he's a decent size. I love brick built animals, and I like the bear. But really, LEGO needs to make those ball joints in a colour other than grey, and I wish the bear had a mouth. Otherwise, how does he get to eat the fish that he's caught? Although I built the summer home unfortunately neither Huw or I took photos of it. Overall it's an OK model, but for some reason I wasn't as charmed by this build as I was with the others.
The mystery meat sandwiches from the advanced build make a another appearance here! Now that we know our minifigs have something to eat, we build the yacht. To me, this yacht seems more like a catamaran with the double prow, but there's actually too much space to call it that. In any event, we start building both of the prows, which are ultimately connected by the foredeck. Racing stripes are added that are similar to that on the camper. Then, we start seeing some of the furnishing inside, as well as some of the walls. In the forward part of the yacht, a couple of comfortable beds are built using 1x2x3 wall elements, the first time I've seen that particular use of the part. In the middle section of the boat, chairs and a table are added for an eating area as well as a small kitchenette. There's storage space for a suitcase as well as a place to hang a couple of mugs on the wall. A couple of swiveling chairs grace the aft deck, and a ladder leads to the top. The large windshield prices are used in an inverted orientation again (they were also used this way in the summer home) to provide a skylight for the sleeping area of the yacht.
The entire windshield is hinged to tilt the windows in the right position - a rather nifty use similar to what's used in the summer home. The cockpit of the yacht is built in the upper deck, with steering wheel and computer navigational system. Finally, the satellite systems are added to the top and the awning is installed that stretches over the lower aft deck of the yacht. I think the designer has done a terrific job with this set. The primary build is excellent and a really fun build. Even though I wasn't as big a fan of the vacation home, the alternate models are still quite good and could very well stand and be sold as models on their own. Plus it has the bear. The designer has gone out of their way to use some of the more interesting parts (the awning, the large window pieces) in each one of the builds. All of the uses flow well and none of them feel forced. I think there is great play value in all three builds, especially since there are so many ways to access the models (detachable roofs, sections that swing out, windows easily removed, etc.).