Review: 41121 Adventure Camp Rafting
Posted by MeganL,The Adventure Camp subtheme has been an interesting one - I like the premise of all the outdoor activity. How does the 41121 Adventure Camp Rafting measure up?
The box art looks promising, showing an exciting scene of Andrea winning a rafting race set in the middle of a forest. Olivia is there to take pictures of all the action and the winning time is reflected on the scoreboard mounted on the bridge. Of course it wouldn't be a Friends set without a cute animal, in this case a little bear watching from the shore. The back of the box shows close ups of the different play possibilities including Olivia working on her rock-climbing skills. Love these active Friends!
Inside the box we find three numbered bags, a small sticker sheet, a blue baseplate, two plastic sheets for the tent and an instruction booklet.
There are two mini-dolls in this set: Olivia and Andrea. Both are dressed appropriately for their adventures with Olivia in a fuchsia skirt, tank top and green shirt, and Andrea in a striped sleeveless top and beige shorts. Both torsos are new, so I'm hoping this means that the Friends will have more outdoor adventures in the future.
Andrea and Olivia are well equipped with sunglasses and of course a hair decoration. Life jackets are provided for safety while rafting as well as a helmet to be used on the climbing wall. There's an extra accompaniment of a compass, which we see in the new Elves sets this year as well. Both mini-dolls fit comfortably in the raft.
The build starts with the ancillary parts of the set. The signpost gives directions to the archery set (previously reviewed a few days ago) as well as the tree house (previously reviewed a couple months ago). I do like how this set references other sets in the wave.
Next is the rock where the rafting finish line is indicated, accompanied by a cute animal that seems to be a requirement for Friends sets, in this case a bear. However, the bear is far more interested in the fish that's swimming by rather than the race. There's a bench, and then two marshmallows on sticks, which I suspect are meant for the campfire to be built later.
The last part of the first bag is the inside of the tent. It's more detailed on the inside than I expected, with two comfortable cots, a small bedside table and a lamp. The tent is completed by using one of the printed plastic sheets for the top, being attached through holes on the edges that are looped through grey (what other colour would they be?) ball joints.
The second bag starts the main part of the set. The bridge over the river is a straightforward but fun build. Next is the rock wall, but most of it is a BURP. It's decorated with a couple of sticker butterflies which are clearly stickers added just to fill out the sheet. The BURP does save some time in building but I think this is a case where filling it out with bricks would have been so much better, not to mention being able to add more grips in the wall.
After the summit of the building wall, the dock is built out with some interesting lights on the side that have printed tiles on the top. As always there is some detailing with flowers. The second bag is finished with the detailing on the top of the bridge, which also acts as a podium for the trophy and the official time keeping clock for the rafting race.
The third bag starts with the campfire, which I found to be a creative use of parts. I really like how the larger black ring is used as the base with "logs" built around and flames in the middle. Considering the scale, I think this may be more accurately described as a bonfire!
After building the campfire, next comes the landscaping on the other side of the bridge which includes a little waterfall. The level of detail is lovely and it's a great idea but it's an example where having translucent blue pieces would convey the idea so much better than the pale blue. Considering the possibilities for including water in creations, I am surprised LEGO has not produced more translucent blue pieces by now.
There's also a tree for this side of the river that includes a falling bough. It seems that the Friends designers always build something into the set that provides some movement and this one is no exception. The last part of the tree is that falling bough that can fall across the river, adding an element of uncertainty to the rafting race. It certainly can be a near miss for the rafters!
The final touch is the camp flag, which of course is using a sticker. Considering how some of the stickers were gratuitous in this set, I'm surprised they did not have a sticker for both sides of the flag, but that's a minor quibble.
Overall thoughts
I bought this set a little reluctantly, mostly because the Adventure Camp series seemed to me to be very similar to the Jungle series of a couple of years ago. That really isn't the case and I like all the outdoor activities that are included in this subtheme. I may just have to go buy the Adventure Tree House now, especially since LostInTranslation has given it such an excellent review.
It feels like a more substantial build than its price point (320-pieces, $29.99, £24,99, 29.99€). For a $30 set it offers lots of play value with the tent, rafting, rock wall and the bridge. My only complaint is the use of a BURP for the rock wall - while I'm sure that cut down on the cost, building this from bricks would have added even more play value and produced a much more interesting climbing wall. Of course, that's the brilliance of LEGO - if you don't like the climbing wall in the instructions, you can use the parts to build yourself a different one!
One thing I have to note is the marked lack of any pink in this set, or much in the way of typical girly colours. Sets like these are examples of where it's a shame that any LEGO set is marketed to a particular gender. Using one of my yardsticks, I can easily see this set being included in a City theme, plus it has the added benefit of having the detail of the falling bough.
For those who dismiss Friends sets because of the colour of the packaging and assume the build is in the same colour scheme, I would recommend this set as a "bridge" (no pun intended) set to discover some of what the theme has to offer.
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8 comments on this article
IMO The worst set of this series. It's a good idea for a set, but not with this pricepoint. This set BEGS for sloped area where raft can be slided to make water slide effect.
I do like how bonfire is made though!
It's a nice set, I particularly love the bonfire and tent. However £24.99 seems a little expensive... The box would give me the idea that this set was closer to £14.99. Is it just me?
I hadn't seen that model of BURP before but it seems like a bad choice - no places to click anything else onto, including hand/footholds, as per the review...
Good idea, but much too small to really convey it. This rafting set is only 1/3 dedicated to any activity involving water... could have been so much more interesting than a generic scenery build with a river and some camping gear.
Looks nice, but like other people are saying, seems a little small/squished. The tent looks really good, and I know there are tents shaped like that, but is there a way to pin down the triangular flaps so that it looks more "normal"? Kinda looks like it has wings as it is.
I have not bought anything Lego Friends however this sub theme has appealed to me!
Not much pink?! Not that I'm offended by it or anything, but to say there's not much pink is slightly inaccurate. Pink raft, pink flags, pink flowers, and most of the tent is pink!
And as for the tent - what ON EARTH is going on with that? It looks more than a tad strange, and the box art makes it look a bit more tent-like. Misleading packaging perhaps?
It seems they taken the same tent as set http://brickset.com/sets/6584-1 , but I would rather see also the same baseplate.