4082 Mega THW set

[playmofire]

Having eyed up the THW sets produced for the German store Kaufhof, I finally succumbed to temptation and bought two, the 4082 mega set and the 4089 compact loader.  As the THW work closely with the German fire brigade and as my own Playmobil fire brigade's appliances are based on German ones, I felt there was some case for including these sets.

The THW is a largely volunteer civil emergency organisation which can be called on to deal with natural disasters such as floods and man-made emergencies such as major road and rail incidents and building collapses.  You can find more information on the THW here:

http://www.thw-ffm.de/english/

I bought the set on a buy it now offer on UK eBay from VW Aircooled Classics in Aachen who I can recommend.

The word "mega" is an accurate description of the 4082 set and I was surprised by the size of the boxed set and Diane was shocked!  It was 90cm by 50cm by 15cm and weighed in at 5.6kg!  It contains five vehicles, five figures and lots of accessories.  In addition, the necessary batteries were included by the seller and a free THW figure keyring.  Delivery was by DHL and very prompt.

To start the review, then, here are a picture of Diane (looking suitably serious) with the box, front and back views of the box and a line-up of the five vehicles, a digger, a GKW (equipment truck), an equipment/lighting trailer, a dropside/tipper trailer and a dropside/tipper lorry.

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The main vehicle is the GKW or equipment truck in the middle of the line-up. This is basically the 3880 fire engine produced in THW blue and with some variation in accessories.  This is quite acceptable as in real life the THW equipment trucks are based on fire service vehicles, often externally being quite indistinguishable from them apart from the colour.

The main differences between the 3880 and the THW version, apart from the colour, are the finish of such items as the roof rails and access ladder in white rather than black, the white THW logo and the absence of the hose reels and the roof  monitor.  The hole where the monitor fitted has been blocked off in the casting process, while two blanking plates are provided to fit into the apertures where the hose reels would go on the fire engine.  (Here, maybe someone in Germany could help me - the THW certainly have turntable ladder fire engines, do they also have the 3880 type of fire engine?  I have a THW custom in mind if they do!)

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On more photo of the GKW showing the interior of the rear section.  This is exactly the same as that of the 3880, which in some ways is a disappointment as the pump panel is redundant, although the storage area for the portable pump is still needed.  A revised rear area with a space for the portable pump and storage for other equipment around and above it would have been nice, although I can appreciate Kaufhof's and Playmobil's wanting to keep costs down.

The equipment/lighting trailer is a revamp of the 3178 fire brigade trailer, the major difference, apart from the obvious ones for its new role, being the replacement of the hoses with "ropes".  Maybe in view of its lighting role, imitation electrical cable may have been more appropriate, but this is a minor quibble and the "ropes" provide more play value.  A more serious criticism is that the wheel rims on the wheels supplied were to big to take the blue hub caps securely and so these kept falling out.  Rather than glueing them in, I got out a spare set of wheels from the 3178 trailer and the blue hub caps fitted these perfectly.  Whether mine is a one-off for this problem I can't say, but it does seem that the internal diameter of the wheel rims has been slightly increased.

All the road-going vehicles with the exception of the trailer for the tipper truck carry registration plates using the letters THW just like the prototypes do.  (playtown on Klickywelt has pointed out that the numbers on the plates run from 70000 to 70006 but without a 70004.)

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The  main feature of the equipment/lighting trailer is the working lighting mast which when travelling is disassembled and stows neatly on the top of the trailer, the mast itself being stowed at one end and the base at the other on the roof.  The battery compartment is under the trailer body at the towing end of the trailer and there are four outlets so up to four lighting masts can be plugged in.  The power source is three AA size batteries.  There is a neat projection for storing the cable when  the lighting mast is not in use, the design of which is the same as on the real thing (although it is aligned horizontally rather than vertically as on the prototype).

The lighting mast can be used either on the top of the trailer or on the ground and the light comes from four blue/white LEDs, one on each of the four lamp heads.  (The original 3178 LEDs were a yellow/white.)  There is an on/off switch in the side of the lighting head.

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Here's the lighting mast being used at ground level, and also a photo of the ropes being got ready for use.

Inside the trailer is a double storage area, one side being a single rectangular area which can take large items and the other side being two slide out trays for smaller items, e.g. the red and white barriers.

For stability when parked, the trailer has a neat, fold down foot at the towing end.

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I'll have to break here, but I hope to post the rest of the review later today.

[Martin Milner]

Wow, I'm trying to get my head round why Playmobil would release such a huge set, instead of making it 3 or 4 smaller sets. How many of these do you think actually sell?

Very interesting to read about the THW on their site, thanks for the link, Gordon.

I'm wondering how the authorities divvy up work between the THW and the regular emergency services, such as the fire brigade. I'm impressed that so many people are willing to put in so much time and effort, and put themselves in the way of danger, with no financial reward.

[Bill Blackhurst]

Excellent review so far Playmofire   , I wish Playmobil would offer these items for sale in the USA, but I can understand their marketing prejudice  ! But still,....... I want them  !

[Bill Blackhurst]

I'm wondering how the authorities divvy up work between the THW and the regular emergency services, such as the fire brigade. I'm impressed that so many people are willing to put in so much time and effort, and put themselves in the way of danger, with no financial reward.

Hi Martin,
 From what I have read about this THW organization, is all young people are given a choice to join the military for a period of time or volunteer in the THW or other emergency services for 6 years. That is a definite way to keep the manpower issues taken care of  ! Most people start their training at a very young age! I am sure there are members on this site that can elaborate on this topic for sure! I am definitely interested since Playmofire has brought this theme to light.

[Martin Milner]

Hi Martin,
 From what I have read about this THW organization, is all young people are given a choice to join the military for a period of time or volunteer in the THW or other emergency services for 6 years. That is a definite way to keep the manpower issues taken care of  ! Most people start their training at a very young age! I am sure there are members on this site that can elaborate on this topic for sure! I am definitely interested since Playmofire has brought this theme to light.

Aha, kind of like National Service in the UK, that was got rid of back in the 60s.

I can come up with so many reasons why National Service would be good for both the individual and the country they serve, it would be top on my list of things to reinstate if I were in a position to do so.

If anyone's interested in my theory, let me know and I'll start a separate thread.