Special Report 4654 Pirate

[Little Jo]

I went to the funpark by today and got the new pirate special (beneath some other suff  ). Not because I'm with priates (sorry folks  )  but because of a new accessory: the compass.

As far as I can see, there is nothing spectecular with this new set, apart from the new legs mold and the already mentioned compass (is the feather new too?!? I don't know, because I'm not that familiar with this topic).  Thas last mentioned is quite interesting: its a brown disk with circular deepenings on both sides, one side for receiving the label with the compass needle and the "compass rose" (is this the correct term in English too? -- I mean showing the directions scale and the star in the middle). The compass has two little holes at the side on West and East location (the one on West location can be seen on the official box photo from PM); this gives me the hint that maybe on later products the compass can be fixed to something. A very neat idea is the "compass rose" (cf. above) which is not just a simple label as depicted on the box but a hologram showing different directions with the compas needle depending on the angle you look in the compass.




BTW, I also bought the plumber special (4655) but there is nothing special to report about -- everything is as expected from the photo on playmobil.de (for me very interesting the green tool set, which wasn't available in Germany so far, and in the US only in blue (as far as I know).

[Richard]

Thanks for the review and the close-up of the compass, Jochen ...

I really like the new pants !!!

All the best,
Richard

[cachalote]

  thanks, little jo, for the review.
some of us already spoke about this in another topic
http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=806.0
i saw the first one for sale on ebay a few days ago.

[Customizer]

Hi Jo,

thx for Update the Special Report Serie ! 

gentle greets

Andi

[playmofire]

Thanks for the review, Jochern, and it is, indeed, a compass rose in English.  The two indentations for fixing it to something suggest a new sailing ship with a binnacle of some sort as part if the ship's wheel fitting to take a compass.  It should in real life have four fixing points so that it could always be horizontal whatever the angle of the ship, but two is pretty good detail.

[cachalote]

 
... actually i think playmofire is wrong.
if you see the 2 pictures in the bottom, you can confirm that a navy compass has only 2 primary fixing points attached to its main case (the inner one) linking it to a ring.
this ring is then fixed to the outside case with 2 secondary fixing points in a perpendicular position.
 
ah, ah!
the problem with this compass is actually the existence of a needle.
in the other topic this was already mentioned.
i don't know if in english you have a distinct name for a compass with a fixed rose and a moving needle ("bússola" in portuguese) and for a compass - the navy one - without a needle and with a moving rose ("agulha de marear" in portuguese).
anyway, the possibility of a new ship to go with the compass is a very clever deduction and it leaves me full of hope.
i think this is really a situation that you can call "wishful thinking".
thanks again, little jo, for the review.

[playmofire]

... actually i think playmofire is wrong.
if you see the 2 pictures in the bottom, you can confirm that a navy compass has only 2 primary fixing points attached to its main case (the inner one) linking it to a ring.
this ring is then fixed to the outside case with 2 secondary fixing points in a perpendicular position.

You're quite right.  If it did have four fixing points it couldn't respond to the motion of the ship so as to remain horizontal.  But with two primary and two secondary fixing points it can.

[Captain Henry]

Thanks for the review Jochen! I can't wait to see this buccaneer on our shores. And the actual compass is MUCH cooler than the photo indicates.

[Hadoque]

Thanx for this review indeed!
And...ahum...I just couldn't  wait to get this one when the new specials arrive in Belgium, so I visited "the well known internet-market-place"...

[cachalote]

  well, mon capitaine, we will be battling for the same prize (i just found 3 or 4 in that well known internet market place).
it's the beginning of this set's history and patiente will no doubt pay.
instead of a complete flotilla (the only way to get/buy a tresure these days) i will simply use a very low cost schooner.
the new target-usa items have already arrived.