PlaymoFriends
General => Report & Review => Topic started by: Morgan on December 10, 2012, 20:55:22
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I would like to make a short review of the 3811 U.S. Cavalry set. As you know, it is no longer in production and can almost only be found on eBay. But the numbers are low, and few are complete/MIB. Perhaps this set did not sell very well - but the reason for that beats me.
First a picture of the box' front side. We can basically see the whole set there - a cavalry platoon (squad) from the Union Army of the USA. The box was a bit smashed when I got it, but that did not matter. Klickies are mainly a toy, and therefor not meant to live their lives inside a blue box. :)
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The backside of the box gives a clear idea of the set's content - four armed and mounted soldiers and a scout.
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Wonderful set, I love it. :love: Thanks a lot for the pictures of the box.
George. <*)
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The box art on the side of the box. The scout and a young soldier doing morning gymnastics. And the rest of the guys are cheering at them. While the officer seems to be stuck in a dead three... Or is he sleeping? The sergeant will wake him up with the bugle, and thus also blow away his own stripes :D
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Thank you, George.
Here is a picture of the content of the box. All neatly packed in plastic, for our convenient ::)
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Behold: the klickies!
One officer whit beard and curly brown hair. One first sergeant with standard brown hair, one young trooper and a buffalo soldier. Finally the Indian scout, who has adapted the white man's way of dressing. All with boots.
I like the klickies, it is nice to see that so many as three soldiers have the same propper uniform. They are soldiers, not a group of bandits, and should dress accordingly. It wouldn't hurt if the officer also dressed as the enlisted men, but I guess the heavy responsibility of leading such a formidable squad as this burdens him beyond the ability to look smart in the uniform ::)
Also, the klickies are of good quality, all have strong backs and arms. But the scout is a bit nervous, and turns his head for a gentle wind.
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Nothing surprising with regards to the arms and equipment. The colours of the 5th cavalry regiment/squadron.
Four Winchesters, one feathered musket/shotgun for the scout, a bugle to sound the cavalry charge, and pistols for everyone.
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The horses. not so much to say about them. They are the old type, and my favourite. All with strong necks. As you can see, four of them are sadled the standard western military way with saddlebag with holster for the rifle and a nice blanket. The scout's horse is simpler, as he probably prefer a lighter outfit.
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Here is a close up of the officer and the sergeant.
The sergeant seems to hold the rank of first sergeant. Unfortunately, all NCOs of this generation playmobil western sets are first sergeants. And there is a lot of them. The former cavalry set, 3485, at least had a corporal as well. But the corporal rank is reborn with the new western sets, I believe one is included in the new fort 5245. But still, playmobil is probably the only army in the world where the ratio sergeant:privates is 1:2.
The officer has an unknown rank, as this patch with diamond is based purely on playmobil's fantasy. I allways imagined the officer in 3485 to be captain, so I guess this new officer is captain or lieutenant.
It is nice to see that the colours are correct: blue and yellow. The 3485 used blue and red - and thus confusing my union officers, since red is the colour of the artillery while cavalry use yellow.
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I quite like those winchester rifles, my favorite kind yet I dont own any. Same for those saddles which have room to place a rifle in it.
It's such a wonderfull theme, western. There's sadly no room for a third theme for me. :(
Great review, these kind of sets are wonderfull. At a friend's place they had the older version of this one.
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A small scenery is included in the set. A dead crooked tree, with a mysterious and scary painted skull from a longhorned cow.
I like the spare feather that comes with it. Perhaps these feathers are used for path finding purposes by the scout. Or perhaps he use them to mark where they have been, so they don't ride around in circles.
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The only real minus with this set was the scout's neck. It is so loose, he almost turns his head by my blowing alone. And you can clearly see the crack in his neck that makes his head so loose.
Is there any way to repair this?
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This scout... Can he be trusted? Will he lead the squadron into an Indian ambush - from which only the scout return? Or does his loyalty stand next to the Stars & Stripes? Or can he be bought? Oh, where will he lead them... ;D
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Nice seeing a retired ACW set. Thanks for sharing! <*)
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So, as a summary I would recommend this set. I also have the older 3485 (as seen here, picture from collectobil), and will have a hard time picking just one of them. So why not buy both :)
Anyway, you get a small squad of armed soldiers, capable of acting on their own and can without problem play the role of the charging cavalry that saves the day at the end of a good story :)
Also, since the playmobil's fort are too small to house more soldiers than the soldiers included with the fort, and perhaps one artillery unit, I think the purpose of more soldier sets, is that they will patrole the rest of the wild west, escorting the stagecoach, fighting wild Indians, cowardly bandits and rebellious Dixies wherever they can be found. This set is perfect for that task.
The trouble is to find one, since it has been discontinued for quite a long time. But maybe a new cavalry set will emerge with the new western theme. I hope they get the colours right, and assign the sergeant to different task ::)
Thanks for viewing :)
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thanks for this nostalgic review....these and the old redcoats were what started me on Playmobil
they have never lost any bit of charm till today...even when compared to those modern Fi?ures
<*) :elf: :xmascheer: :xholly:
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great set and thanks for doing a review of it. The loose neck might be solved with a new skeleton
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One of the best western sets ever produced. And quite expensive from ebay - loose soldiers often go for 7-8 euro. I think in such cases rarity has also to do with how long the set was on the shelves. Thanks - it's nice to get reviews of old stuff like this, from time to time.
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I will agree this is one of the harder sets to find, as 4 of the 5 figures are unique to this set only. Sadly I have not found this set intact and still miss the scout. I did luck out buying a used Fort Glory locally that had 2 sets of each Cavalry figure inside yet was missing both scouts and sargents. (could you imagine owning 2 of these as a child?) Only last week did I finally get the Sargent. I have found the figures from this set and the two officiers from Fort Eagle as the hardest union figures to find. With respect to your scout's neck I have found the same problem as the passenger on the Schooner (3055/3740) with the top hat. I have two figures of him and they both have the "loose neck" problem. I was wondering if it was just the way the figure is built and maybe they are all like that. Perhaps it's the same with the Scout?
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If the frame change doesn't help, you could also try wedging in a transparent elastic band like the ones they sometimes use to fasten action figures to the package. Re hard to find klickies, the officer from fort glory (and his horse) are very difficult to come by, too. But with this particular set, I find that the hardest thing to track down is the scout's hat and especially the red band around it. You have to wonder what becomes of such parts? Are they swallowed up by children?
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Those are both very nice and charming lookign sets looks like they've got plenty of play value and the artwork on the boxes is just great :)
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Thank you for your comments :)
I think I'll live with the loose neck on the scout. My spare frames I need to use on klickies with weak backs. Unfortunately, there seems to me plenty of weak backs.