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71423 Caravan with car -- more money for less product?
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Alex4420:
Going through the new paper catalog one of the items which caught my eye was the caravan with car, which is essentially a marriage of sets 5434 (caravan) and 5436 (family SUV), both of which were originally released in 2013. The new set retails for $84.99 in the US. The original caravan went for $47.99, although it was marked down to as low as $19.99 in 2015 (as noted by a member here at the time). I don't know what the original price was on the family SUV.
The reason the new one caught my eye is 5434 and 5436 are both rather expensive NISB on Ebay (especially considering the SUV seems to only surface on Ebay in Europe), so I thought 71423 would be a great substitute... until I started breaking down the pieces and discovered the new set was now missing the following:
- BBQ grill, tongs and food
- Tool set w/6 tools
- Small green base w/plants, stump and RV charging station
- RV charging cord
- Dalmation w/leash
- Toy boat
- Teddy bear
- Baking pan
- Map
- Green apple
- Child's swim floats
- Mother's sunglasses
- and a few other small sundry items
The ONLY addition to the new set? A child seat. Yup, that's it. One extra child seat for the SUV.
Some of the missing items can be found in the new "Family Camper" (70088, which isn't being sold in the US) and "Family BBQ" (71427, which is being sold in the US), but my question is why did PM decide to strip out all the fun details from THIS new version of 5434? It just strikes me as cheap -- which is funny, because the new set is anything BUT cheap at $84.99. I wasn't in love with the new colors (the old bright white and reds of 5434/5436 are better imho), but once I found out they removed so many play elements I decided against buying it. It may take longer and cost more to acquire the old sets, but at least they will have more play value.
Oliver:
Playmobil USA is currently offering 20% off it, if you're interested.
Caravans are a pretty standard part of the line up and seem popular with kids, so I would expect it to turn up cheap second-hand on Facebook marketplace/Gumtree.
I wouldn't think of it as them taking elements out - these sort of sets that are usually in the line up will always have slightly different combinations of accessories/figures. From a play value point of view, I think they'll think that having the car/caravan together makes it a complete set, which definitely seems to be the way they're moving even if it means sets are more expensive.
GrahamB:
That is quite bizarre, Alex4420. Way overpriced.
Alex4420:
Ah ha, just saw the 20% Valentines's Day sale started today... BUT I may have found an even better substitute by accident. When searching around for PM campers I came across a "Camping Mega Set" (http://tinyurl.com/2hkftdns) with camper, 3 klickys, quad, trailer, kayak, dog, bicycles and a ton of accessories for only $69.99!! It even has a few raccoons 😆
It's listed in the most recent PM catalog on page 53 (Set #9318), which oddly enough is not the Camping page. The only way to get it is via Amazon, though... US PM doesn't appear to sell it.
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