So, remember when I was ranting about the new LEGO Friends range for girls, and demanding to know when LEGO would get with the programme and make some cool LEGO?

The universe heard my plea.

The lovely people at Idealo know a thing or two about LEGO models and sent me what has to be the coolest LEGO set ever.

Look at this beauty. Okay, I know it costs £80 which is quite a lot of money, but you do get a lot for your pennies.

For starters, there are something like 1,300 bricks and the construction is a fair bit more challenging than the LEGO sets we’ve tried previously.  It says Age 16+ on the box, but with supervision it’s perfectly suitable for children younger than that.

I built this with Flea and her two cousins (aged 6 and 9) and it took us a week, spending an hour or two each evening on the project. My sister-in-law admits that she sometimes got a bit carried away, building while the kids were in bed, then having to undo her work before they woke up the next morning!

Once complete, the camper van has opening doors and windows, an authentic engine in the boot and lovely interior details including a camping table, a tiled floor, pop-up roof, curtains at the windows and (my niece’s favourite) retro surfing posters on the walls.

The model is pretty sturdy, if you want to keep it intact, and is currently occupying pride of place at the other Whittle household.

What did the kids make of it? More fun that regular LEGO, and a little harder to build, but this set is absolutely great for a family to build together.

LEGO VW CAMPER VAN

After something as unbelievably cool as this, perhaps it’s not surprising that my niece wasn’t especially impressed with the LEGO Friends set we were also sent to review last month – she played with it, and said it was ‘quite nice’ but I have to confess, it’s the first time my niece has ever said she didn’t want to keep a LEGO set we’ve tested.

The camper van, on the other hand? I don’t think I’m ever getting THAT back – and who can blame her?