5829 US firefighters

[playmofire]

Thanks to Timotheos I can review the new US firefighters set.  It's the usual drill, box front and box back to start with. The the two figures, a firefighter and a fire chief.  The basic uniform is a dark blue as per the fireman Special, but with a different pattern of reflective striping and a printed belt and buckle.  The fire chief also sports a buff top coat with his rank on the bank.  A nice touch on the firefighter is the separate collar rather than a printed one as on the Special.

[playmofire]

The crew come with a pair of yellow work gloves each (this is a better sort of the kind which the Special should have had), a loud hailer, an axe (from the pirate theme, but handy with its rearward blade for smashing windows), and a stand.  This is to stabilise the klicky holding the hose when operating the pump.  There is also a two piece pump, a hose branch of the modern type, one length of hose, and a straight and a bent hose connector.

[playmofire]

Now for the pump.  This comes in two parts, a stand and the pump part itself which is both water reservoir and pump mechanism.  On the box, the pump/tank is fitted in to the stand at an angle, but it is clearly meant to be fitted vertically with the hose connected to it by means of the bent hose connector.  The controls are stickers; the second photo shows the dials and gauges on the "foot" of the pump.  The tank is a simple one piece item in a soft, flexible plastic.  It is filled with water either by holding it upside down under a tap and dribbling the water in or by submerging the open end in water, squeezing the body of the pump to drive out the air and then letting go so the water is sucked up.  (Strictly speaking, I think the water is driven up into the tank by atmospheric pressure rather than being sucked up.)  The water is pumped out simply by squeezing the front and back of the tank, the water coming out in a steady stream so long as you continue to squeeze the tank.  The system is basic but effective and the range of the jet is quite appreciable.  (I'll do some tests in the  next few days and post detailed measurements.)

[Little Jo]

Thanks for this review! 

The pump is great and integrates much better to the Playmobil-world itself than its predecessor.

[playmofire]

Thanks for this review! 

The pump is great and integrates much better to the Playmobil-world itself than its predecessor.

Of the two earlier pumps, I prefer the original one which fitted into the top of the 3880 fire engine, even though it wasn't possible to have a continuous stream of water from it.  The later, pressurised version was a good idea but too clumsy because of the need for a long length of hose being needed to absorb the pressure otherwise the connections either came out of the tank or the hose nozzle.  I've got the version from the fire boat, but as yet haven't had time to try it out.