One of the things my daughter did when she was 2 was to scold crows (real or imaginary) and tell them to go away, à la Rabbit from the Hundred Acre Wood. When I noticed the Sylvanian Families / Calico Critters Vegetable Garden Set, I imagined Small Sophie scolding the huge-in-comparison stuffed crow as it tried to enjoy vegetables belonging to the hardworking Sylvanian animals. I generally like toys that that offer more/different play opportunities and prompt usage of different vocabulary and scenarios. (Also, my only Sylvanian Families food was ice cream, so that was the main diet of the critters besides the babies calling for and getting imaginary milk.)
I purchased mine on Amazon. My clearly excited daughter hurried to get the box out of its shipping bag without even taking off her boots and socks first. After I opened the box, which took longer than she hoped, her little fingers excitedly tried to grab the plastic-wrapped pieces (but, being a mere 3 years of age and unsuccessful in finding the opening, she decided to put them down and let me handle things). Like the UK site claims, the Vegetable Garden Set comes with 1 kitchen garden, 1 water tap, 1 planter rack, 2 planter, 1 barrel, 1 rake, 1 pumpkin, 2 cabbages, 2 cauliflowers, 2 corns, 2 radishes, and 4 carrots.
Unfortunately, I am unimpressed with the quality, design, and playability. The issues I see are:
- The garden plot has has colour that was not applied well; the brick colour is smeared into the dirt. (Quality Issue)
- The water tap piece has color that was not applied well; the brick color is smeared onto the stone, too. (Quality Issue)
- The water tap piece is not very heavy and is in fact hollowed at the bottom; this means that a child moving an attached hose easily makes the water tap piece tip and tilt, and that helps the hose disconnect. Furthermore, the water tap piece’s bottom does not sit flush because it is mildly curved rather than completely flat. (Design/Playability Issue. Possibly Quality Control Issue, too.)
- The hose detaches too easily from the faucet, which led to me reattaching the hose for my 3-year-old daughter several times. (Design/Playability Issue. Could have been solved easily by providing a hose with a smaller inner diameter.)
- The corn could have had stalks, for verisimilitude and education. (Design Preference / Lowers educational value.)
- The two pumpkins could have been in two separate pieces instead of one large piece connected by the vine for better play. (Design Preference / Decreases Playability)
- The pumpkins, radishes, and the carrots are not very well-done, with sudden breaks, folds, and changes in plastic/texture. I was rather surprised that this is Epoch quality now. (Quality Issue)
- The rake has shaped rather than actual tines. (Design Preference.)
- The sprouts in the planter are not removable from the dirt; this could have helped to provide more play. (Design Preference / Decreases Playability)
- The sprout planter has visible obvious lines where the two pieces of plastic dirt were pushed together to lock the sprouts in place. (Design or Quality Issue)
- The planter rack is basically the same hard plastic the usual tables/chairs are made of, but it is slightly more sloppily made with the lack of symmetry for the lines on the sides. (Quality Issue)
In contrast, the cauliflowers and cabbages are very nicely made! Some blotchy plastic (has typically been an issue, even on their hard plastic furniture, so not unusual) and color smudging, but overall well-shaped, fit well in their garden plot slots, and look overall as a vegetable ought to. The barrel-basket is sturdy, textured, and usable, too!
There exist products sold using the same molds but with inferior plastic and color application. I started to suspect I had been sold one of those— but one of the main indicators for this set, the strawberries’ red color being inaccurately applied, was not as present! (The red strawberry color was a bit sloppily applied here and there, but generally okay.) I suppose this is what people mean when they say that the quality of Sylvanian Families / Calico Critters has decreased. It is disappointing when companies start coasting on their reputation and go this way, whether it is the airplanes I ride (Would I be willing to take a Boeing plane again if I had other choices?) or a toy company.
I do not really feel this Vegetable Gardening Set is worth the US$12.55 + tax on Amazon, given the lack of quality control, the play issues, and my personal preferences. However, Small Sophie likes this set even more than I thought she would, is playing new stories, and is indeed giving her Sylvanian Families a much healthier diet with more vegetables.
We actually have not done the “Go away, crows!” scenario at all yet.
