4082 Mega THW set

[playmofire]

Now for the crew.

A total of five klickies come with the set, four male and one female.  The first thing to notice about them is the detailed printing of the uniforms.  Printing a light colour, yellow, on to a darker colour, blue, is prone to problems as the darker colour is likely to show through, and this is the case on the more curved area of the arms and is probably most noticeable on the arms of the female figure.  On flatter surfaces such as the front of the figure, showing through of the base colour is not a problem.  As it is, the problem is only really noticeable in close-up photos.

[Bill Blackhurst]

I find that slightly offensive and a bit 'stereo typical' to be honest. Obviously you have formed these views based on a bad experience or very little knowledge of the Scouting movement, in other words ignorance. I am 30 this year and have been involved in the scouting movement for 23 years in one way or another and have never found it prejudiced or overly religious. I have been a leader of both cubs and scouts for 14 years of that.
In 23 years i have met many people from different backgrounds and walks of life. Quite a few of these have had physical disabilities or learning disabilities of some description but they are never treated any differently to anyone else. Infact we had a Cub with Downsyndrome for a year or two before he left to join a local athletics club. Along with the scouts perhaps you consider people with disabilities to be of no general use to the public good ? Just to draw your attention to what the scouting movement really do for the public good i went to the World Jamboree last year. Whilst there we met a group of scouts who were giving demonstrations on land mine awareness and how they help disable land mines in their country. If that's not serving the public good then i really don't know what is . Dare i even mention what the Scouting movement did for my country during World War 2 or is that a taboo subject ?

HEAR! HEAR! Excellent rebuttal, Tim!

[playmofire]

Three different types of helmet come with the figures, two construction type helmets, two safety helmets (as used with then forester) and one fire brigade style helmet.

Lastly, on the crew and specially for Heather, a rear view of the female klicky showing the hair style.  You can also see the problem with the printing on the arms, although, as I said, this a very close shot.

[playmofire]

On to the accessories now.

In the equipment line there is a chainsaw, welding/cutting gear and two cutters of the sort found with the 3880 fire engine and used, for example, to free people trapped in vehicle accidents.  Obviously, while work with this equipment is in progress there is the need to keep the area clear of onlookers and other people who shouldn't be there, so two barriers each with two orange warning lights and two triangular warning signs are included.

I'm puzzled why two cutters are included rather than one set of cutters and one set of spreaders (as with the 3880). It isn't because the THW don't use spreaders because they do.  Maybe it's a sign that new extrication equipment is on the way in 2009, possibly combined cutters and spreaders.

[playmofire]

Especially where spillages or flooding are involved there is a need for cleaning up equipment and so this is included too.

The portable pump from the 3880 appears in THW livery for helping pump out flooded properties or wash down spillages on roads.  A shovel and brush can also be useful in these circumstances, so these are included too.  However, I'm not keen on the blue finish of these and so I'll be replacing them with the standard grey versions.  In addition, a spade is also included.

Some spillages need to be contained more than others, so two barrels are provided together with a folding trolley for moving them.  For shifting solid rubble and waste, there is a wheelbarrow.  The bucket, funnel and pouring can with a spout will be useful both in dealing with spillages and clearing up, while the fire extinguisher is handy to have by when dealing with inflammable materials.

A large metal box is provided for storing equipment.

[playmofire]

To wind things up on the equipment side, there are two open top tool boxes, a lidded box, and two sets of tools, a seven piece mechanic's set and a six piece set containing a hydrant key.  Lastly, there is a length of chain for securing items or for pulling purposes, e.g. pulling tree branches away from the roadside.

One more piece which doesn't usually come with this set is the keyring figure, item 4091.

The catch for securing the sides and tailboard of the tipper and trailer may be of interest to anyone with the old 3476 truck with a catch(es) missing.  The part number is 30 61 5200.

Oops! forgot some parts.  There are a number of miscellaneous items, torch, radio, petrol can (it's in yellow which suggests it might be for foam concentrate, but maybe it was just a handy colour), axe, megaphone and a red bucket.

[playmofire]

To wind up, value for money and what I call the "dangers" of the set.

The set itself cost me about £80 and postage on top from Germany took it to £100.  Looking at what I got, prices per item based on equivalent items from the main Playmobil range look as follows:

Equipment truck - £25

Lighting/equipment trailer - £25

Truck and trailer - say £30

Five figures - say £2.50 each - £12.50

Loader - £30

Total main items: £122.50

Value for money, therefore, very good.

Quality in general is up to Playmobil standards apart from the hub caps for the lighting/equipment trailer.  The drop sides of the truck and trailer are quite a soft plastic and one had become slightly curved in the box (they are not attached to the truck and trailer in the box), but once fitted to the trailer the curve quickly vanished.

The "dangers" of the set now.  The main one is the possibility of custom models and adding extra equipment.  An officer's car is needed (I know there is the Smart version available, but it is too modern for the time setting of my fire brigade) so a custom based on the blue family car is planned.  This will replicate my fire brigade staff car, but in THW livery.  (See http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=1579.0)  I have already got or have on order the parts for an extra trailer (I would like to make a canvas cover version), plus extra figures (e.g. the officer, the other female member), and the trailer with the 4323 set is just crying out to be converted into a THW trailer.

As regards extra equipment, well, THW members are trained to use BA (breathing apparatus), so we need four sets of BA, plus extra spades and brooms and shovels, work gloves all round (only the welder qualifies for work gloves in the set), timber ofr shoring up, chocks for stabilising vehicles, torches, radios, portable lighting gear - you see the problem?

Thanks for taking the time to follow this thread through and I hope you found it interesting.

[LHAAP]

Hello Gordon

Thank you very much for this very detailed review. I really enjoy your desripctions of the equipment included.
I've been thinking of buying this set since it was released in Germany at Galeria Kaufhof, but my money was spent on other things and now I need ( ) to buy the new sets in the Modern Living theme. Maybe some day I'll buy it.

Once again - thank you very much for the review and I'm looking forward to seeing some of your creations.

[Rasputin]

Thanks for taking the time to put together such a extensive review of this big set . I only wish it would come to the US shore in some form or another. I guess it is hard enough to sell the regular sets here and to release such a large set could be risky or not financially lucrative . With your photos I was able to appreciate the blue tone Playmobil chose and am wanting it even more . 

thanks Playmofire 

[Gepetto]

Thank you for such an exhaustive review Playmofire, even though I am not interested in collecting this theme I really enjoy reading about it and find the subject matter itself very interesting. I have also learned a lot about Fire/Rescue and the THW.

One of the beauties of the forum and having people with varied interests is that it does expand your horizons, make you pause and think and hopefully appreciate the diversity that is available to us here. BTW I noticed in several photos your figures had stands, I am assuming these are old stock and did not come with the kit? Do you know if they are still available?



Gepetto