This LEGO VW Beetle is pretty darn neat

LEGO Creator Expert set 10252 has 1,167 pieces and measures 11 inches high, 10 inches long, and four inches wide. The roof lifts off to reveal a beige brick interior with movable seats, and the doors, hood, and trunk all open. There's a spare tire in the frunk and you can see a little air-cooled four in back. The set comes with decals that give the builder a choice of four license plates, including a surfer-appropriate California design and one from Wolfsburg, Germany, where the car was born. The surf stickers on the rear window are a nice touch, too.

Nerds like me will recall that is not the first LEGO Beetle model. Set 10187 was a much brickier take on the very rounded German car, both in form and number of pieces. In fact, the LEGO designers made a new curved piece for the bumpers on this car to get the fenders to look right. (More on that in the video above.) The blocky two-tone Sculpture model was released in 2008 and used 1,626 pieces; it was also a goog deal larger than this one. Sealed boxes of that set are rare one and sell for about $500 on the 'net right now, although they may see residual values drop once this new interpretation hits the market.

The cute blue Bug goes on sale August 1 and will retail for $99.99.