Review: 7414 Elephant Caravan

[ZeeK]

7414 - Elephant Caravan

Year 2003

Parts 102 (including 3 minifigs и 5 playing cards)

MSRP 20$

Description at Brickset

Inventory at Peeron

Invetory at BrickLink

Let's begin review as a typical - but we're not typical - customer: take a look at the box.

The face of the box is ordinary - the set in action, Orient Expedition logo and Johny Thunder's shadow on the adventurer's map.

LEGO's tradition: the box is LARGER than the set itself.

The back of the box has pictures of "alternatives". Stop. Have you ever seen an alternative elephant? Neither have I. So It's just an IDEAS of parts implementation.

Also you can see the orient map and a goal of the expedition - Scorpion Palace (7418)

The book has a small 4-pages comic story

As usual the good has won (thanks to the driver and the elephant) and the expedition's on its way to the palace.

"Easy building" - that' the word! You can enjoy the full set after ten minutes of combining pieces together.

Let's imitate the front of the box - the caravan is on its way, the car is chasing them!

The Caravan

Let's take a closer look at the coupling device. It's unusual but reliable.

The elephant's back is covered with the cloth, the "driver's seat" is made of wood. I wonder how comfortable is it?

The dark grey elephant is exclusive figure!!!

The cart is VERY simple, but it has angled sides and - once again - a "wooden" container with all kinds of stuff.

The Lord's Car

A small but neat old-fashioned car. Is this Jeep's grandfather?

The wheels, the cabin, The radiator, the windscreen are VERY useful, especially if YOU know HOW to use them :)

The trunk is packed with demolition-set. Is the driver going to blow everything up?

The driver has taken his place

The whell is on the right (LEGO think that it should be on the left) - otherwise the driver'd have to shoot through the windscreen. Now he can use hook to steer the car.

No wipers, no dust on the glass, no cracks on the glass... Why? Just left the carwash?

There are three minifigs

From left to right:

• Babloo, driver
  
• Pippin Reed, adventurer
  
• Sam Sinister, lord
  

Accessories:

Two containers, scimitar, camera, whip (Indi, where art thou?). The showel and the pickaxe are more common, AFAIK.

The cloth is also an exclusive deetail ;)

Those who plays table games - check playing cards images at BrickLink

Extra parts are OK

The gun, the round studs and the T-bar are useful too.

Fun with Babloo and the Elephant

Maybe one day LEGO will make circus theme in System... But we CAN do it right now!

Allez! On your legs!

Allez! On your arms!

And let the tamer sit on the trunk!

The elephant is the key of the set!

Conclusion:

The set is ordinary as long as we do not pay attention to the elephant :) Since only TWO TYPES of elephants were produced - the dark grey here and the light grey in the Palace, the set is accounted as "useful".

PROS

The elephant, the red turban, accessories

CONS

A very ordinary set, except the things mentioned as "pros"

[Kliq]

Very nice review, Kobe! I remember wanting this set several years back to add onto my Scorpion Palace display. It's true that the elephants are rare, so picking up a couple of these back in the day would have been a great idea. Good amount of unique parts all for a decent price.

[KimT]

Thanks for reviewing this great Adventures set.

I've got this myself and it's a good set.

I'll add this instantly to the index.

[Asuka]

Thank you for that very good and comprehensive review, kobe!

Orient Expedition´s really a wonderful line, and that set´s pretty nice.

The elephant, the fine MFs (I always liked that Pippin´s equipped with

a camera - that´s a neat touch especially compared with nowadays a

little too humdrum set conception... although, the dynamite´s also cool )

and the charming vehicle... a real classic!

[KimT]

Ooops!

Looks like we're missing a Review Index here.

There's an old index for the Adventures, but no real Review Index.

I'll fix that tonight - or at least get started at making one.

[UsernameMDM]

Nice set and nice review.

I'm glad I got this set on sale. Love the elephant (the only one I have), and the pieces to make the jeep.

[KimT]

There you go.

This has now been indexed as the first set to be so, in our brand spanking new Adventures Review Index.

Review Index

[Sir Dillon]

Nice review and excellent photography! This seems like a pretty neat set.

[Guss]

Nice review and excellent photography!

+1 ^^

the sad thing is that I was in my dark age when these sets came out... I wish I had an elephant, turbans and other great stuffs

[Righteous Squid]

The idea of this set is nice and the driver Babloo is very cool. However the use of cloth as a harness for the buggy is a complete disaster. It might look nice when carefully arranged but it really doesn't work as a toy to be played with. That and the fact the elephant isn't that well done brings it down from excellent to average.

[Bonaparte]

This is an very good review Kobe. Your photographing skills are excellent. You know how to present a MOC and take the most amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing this review!

I never knew this elephant was so flexible and good looking. Too bad Napoleon didn't have any in his army, else I would certainly buy a few of them.

[MoonCheese]

Ya know, in some countries (such as the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Japan), the steering wheel is on the right because people drive on the left side of the road.

Edited November 19, 2008 by MoonCheese

[Svelte]

Lovely review. Beautiful, crisp photography and very detailed overview. The circus action shots are especially fantastic

I have to agree with Righteous Squid though - I always found the elephant kind of annoying tp play with. You have posed it superbly!

[ZeeK]

Thank you very much for so many replies, i wasn't expecting it. So I am very pleased.

Ya know, in some countries (such as the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Japan), the steering wheel is on the right because people drive on the left side of the road.

You're absolutely right! Moreover, I'd like to add Hong Kong and Indonesia (at least in Jakarta - I've been there) to the list.

One of the major reasons to cahnge the place of the driver seat (besides the opportunity to shoot without damaging the car) was to make the look more tru-to-the-history: Since Great Britain was the most power empire at that time (I believe 20s of the XX century) their habits, including traffic rules were accepted in the Far East, where the adventures of the Orient Expedition takes place (or took place :)).

[WesternOutlaw]

Wow! These are some of the best review pictures that I've seen - so crisp and clear. Excellent review!

[WhiteFang]

A very good review with excellent quality pictures.

I missed this set somehow, during my dark age. The nicest thing about this set is its unique elephant, which I could use it to mount soldiers to attack, similar to Lord of the Rings. While the cart could be modify to a rickshaw. I do like the whole caravan concept that makes it very unique looking. The jeep is nice and can be placed side by side with Johnny Thunder's Scorpion Tracker. It seemed both are made under the same manufacturer. Lastly, the pictures which demostrate the elephant's playability is lovely. I enjoyed reading this review. Great job!

[mania3]

This is a cool set. I've never seen it before. This was definitely a release during my Dark Ages. Cool Elephant!

[Bonaparte]

I bought one of these sets yesterday at LEGO World.

I'm totally in love with the amazing elephant

[Nightshroud99]

This set was alot of fun when I got it years back. But unfortunately my elephant is broken now

[K-Nut]

I bought one of these sets yesterday at LEGO World.

Lucky. I'm gonna need to get my hands on one of these soon!

[ZeeK]

I bought one of these sets yesterday at LEGO World.

I'm totally in love with the amazing elephant

Lucky you! Three years ago you wished you had one, btw

It's REALLY nice to know that the review has encouraged other people.

[Big Cam]

Lucky you! Three years ago you wished you had one, btw

It's REALLY nice to know that the review has encouraged other people.

I'm happy to see this review getting bumped because I didn't know a LEGO elephant existed.

Bonaparte I assume you got this second hand?

[Bonaparte]

Lucky you! Three years ago you wished you had one, btw

It's REALLY nice to know that the review has encouraged other people.

Yes, it is most certainly inspiring. And it also shows that a good review is timeless: I can be discussed and viewed by people over many years.

I'm happy to see this review getting bumped because I didn't know a LEGO elephant existed.

Bonaparte I assume you got this second hand?

This elephant is one the best LEGO animals ever made. However, it's rare and expensive these days. The set I could find second hand for 22 EUR.

[Blondie-Wan]

I love this set. I'll have to rebuild mine soon, I think.

\

Yes, it is most certainly inspiring. And it also shows that a good review is timeless: I can be discussed and viewed by people over many years.

Yes, although unfortunately the photos no longer seem to be there.

This elephant is one the best LEGO animals ever made. However, it's rare and expensive these days. The set I could find second hand for 22 EUR.

You can get the whole set that includes the elephant for 22 EUR, but the elephant on its own is rare and expensive?

[Bonaparte]

Yes, although unfortunately the photos no longer seem to be there.

I see the pictures...

You can get the whole set that includes the elephant for 22 EUR, but the elephant on its own is rare and expensive?

The elephant costs >17 EURO on Bricklink. Finding the set (with box) for 22 EURO was a good deal.