Review: 41120 Adventure Camp Archery
Posted by MeganL,One of the sub themes in the most recent Friends wave is the Adventure Camp. A couple of months ago LostInTranslation reviewed 41122 Adventure Camp Tree House. Today I am reviewing the smallest of the series, 41120 Adventure Camp Archery, and in the next few days I will finish the sub theme with 41121 Adventure Camp Rafting.
The box art shows Mia at the archery range firing the bow at one of the intended targets. There's a shelter close by as well as a hedgehog that seems to be supervising the action. The back of the box shows close-ups of different features of the set. The packaging is the kind with the annoying thumb tab (or maybe I'm the only one bothered by it - I don't like to tear the box open). Inside you find two unnumbered bags and an instruction booklet. No stickers!
Mia is the mini-doll for this set. She is dressed for her adventure in a new pair of shorts in purple as well as a very sporty top in fuchsia that we also see Emma wear in the Tree House. Her hair does appear to clash with her top, or perhaps not. I thought Mia's hair was red, but my husband thought it was purple. Mia comes with the de rigueur Friends animal, this time a hedgehog. Mia's accessory this time is the bow, which works quite well. The only issue is trying to get Mia to stand upright on her own while holding the bow. I found that due to center of gravity issues, she needs to be holding one of the spare shots while holding the bow at a slight angle.
The first part of the build is the hutch for the hedgehog, which as always for Friends animals, is very cute. I'm not quite clear why a hedgehog is supervising the target practice.
Building the targets is next, and Mia has two targets to practice her aim. First, she can practice her own William Tell skills and shoot at an apple, or there is a large bullseye. The bullseye piece appears to be new to this set, and thanks to the use of an angular plate the bullseye is easily removed when the projectile hits its mark.
The last part of the build is a reclining chair under a shelter. Final accessories are a trophy, a bottle of water and a rather enormous sandwich. Mia will definitely need the help of the hedgehog to eat all of it! But again like the hedgehog, the connection to the main activity is tangential at best.
Overall thoughts
I like the target range, especially including the apple, and this is one of the first sets I have bought that has the bow. It's rather fun to try to hit the bullseye. Those projectiles can fly rather far if you miss the target, and they can get easily lost in carpeting (theoretically that is; it's not like I'm speaking from experience).
However, with the inclusion of the shelter and the hedgehog hutch, it feels like LEGO was adding parts to make this a set instead of a polybag. I'm guessing they wanted to have at least three sets for this subtheme with one set at a pretty low price. Otherwise I think the archery activity and the other accessories could have been easily added to the Adventure Tree House or Adventure Camp Rafting.
I would get this set only if you absolutely must have the target practice section or the new bullseye piece, or if you are insistent on completing the subtheme.
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8 comments on this article
You forgot to insert the kind of piece there. ;)
Nice review, indeed the random hedgehog is a bit of a weird addition - luckily my daughter loves all of the animals, even if she has 3 turtles, 2 penguins, 4 hedgehogs, etc...
The hedgehog is a bit unnecessary, but I totally understand the chair. At most archery ranges, there is an instructor/supervisor who is there to make sure everything is being done correctly and to make sure everyone is safe. They also seem to often have a chair under a small pavilion. Just thought this might help clear up the confusion.
Maybe Mia is the supervisor and the hedgehod is shooting. Who knows.
That's a cute set - nice to see them ensuring there's stuff to buy under a tenner for that theme, and it'll make a good parts pack when it gets discounted: you get a barrel, a brown cylinder with vertical grooves, an apple, the target, various handy bits in brown and those yellow slope bricks for roofing. I could see myself picking this up if I see it at a lower price.
It's great that the target element is printed and not a sticker.
@sid3windr: Oops....fixed! This is what happens when you write the review on a plane and don't proofread thoroughly before publishing :-)
@Buile & Rebuild: Good to know! I can't say as I've spent any time at target ranges.
I love the target, great to get an updated one...it will work good for a dart board. And I love that it's a print...I hate putting stickers on the round tiles.
I'm in no rush to go buy this set but it will make a great parts pack when it gets to clearance price. I'm happy the target is a print and I'm always happy to get more cute friend's animals and colorful parts :) thanks for the review!