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Packaging - ***
The packaging is very similar to the Kitchen set, and is visually appealing and
nicely designed. The box itself seems a tad weak, and I suspect you'll
have trouble finding one without any shelf wear, but for the openers it will
work just fine.
Speaking of opening - there's far fewer twist ties this time around than
usual. That's always a good thing!
Sculpting - ****
There's two sculpts here - the set and Miss Piggy. Both are great, but
the set blows this score through the roof.
Don't get me wrong...the Piggy is great too. Her head sculpt is very
well done, with a perfect smiling expression, and great detail work on the hair
and texture. The body isn't quite as nice, particularly the arms.
They seem oddly shaped, but it's not a major issue. It's a little weird
seeing both her legs like this, but you get used to it.
The set is amazing in it's detail. There are dozens of buttons, moving
levers, and special doodads on the control panels. There are two main
consoles, but they can be removed and attached to the other accessories if you'd
prefer. And the details don't end there - even the walls and floors are
given realistic textures, pipes, tubes and gizmos. There's nothing plain
about the entire set, and yet it's not too busy or crowded.
Paint - ***1/2
Paint operations seem to be the bane of all companies these days. Finding
factories that can produce consistently clean, neat and high quality paint
applications is tough, but Palisades seems to be winning the battle. This
set looks extremely good, and the paint application on Piggy is particularly
nice.
Oh, sure, there are a few problems here and there. Some of the knobs of
yellow and red are a little inconsistent or thin, and occasionally the detailed
buttons and lights are a little off. But considering the amazing amount of
detail, the overall quality is extremely good.
Articulation - ****
Both Piggy and the set are in this score, since both have plenty of moving
parts.
The divine (or porcine) Miss P has neck, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips,
wrists, knees and boot top joints. She can hold plenty of poses,
particularly the crucial sitting pose for this playset.
The set itself has moving chairs, consoles, and even real working
doors! Don't get your finger in there though - the springs have some
serious snap to them! The moving chairs accommodate both Link and
Strangepork perfectly, and the set looks great with all three pigs sitting
behind the console.
The sides of the set also move in and out, to go from crowed to comfy.
And let's not forget that all the levers move back and forth, allowing you to
personalize the current emergency situation.
Accessories - ****
The set comes with a variety of thingamajigs that can hook together in just
about any way you'd like. There are eight pegs that can be used to attach
them to each other, and I get the impression that there's no 'right' way to hook
these up, but it's really up to your imagination. The sculpting and paint
ops look great, but I would have liked it if I could figure out a way to hook
the two large pieces together. Still, I came up with a way that made me
happy.
Along with the various consoles and attachments, there are six view screens
you can swap out. I liked the Koozebane one the best, but you'll have
enough to choose from to be happy, and better yet, they swap out easily.
You can change them up whenever you feel like it!
Value - ***1/2
I'm grading these at $30, although you may end up paying as much as
$35. At $35, the value drops a little, but this is still a truly amazing
set at this price. No one else is producing this level of quality and
detail for this price point.
Overall - ****
Another exceptional play set in the Muppets line! No, it's not the toy
nirvana that the kitchen set was, but then I don't expect to see another play
set that nice in my lifetime. This set is fantastic, and is better than
the Electric Mayhem, and certainly well above any other sort of play sets on the
market today.
Where to Buy -
I bought mine at the local Media Play, but it was $35 there. Target should
have these soon as well. On-line options include:
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