Small School 5923

[Wesley Myers]

Just a footnote to this thread.  I got my 6 year old daughter the small school from Toys R Us for Christmas.  She loves it!  In fact, probably since mom's been in the hospital with our newest baby (Dec. 25) I got the school gym last night.  Today I got the shop class (that's for me as that is going to be my primary teaching area), the "cafeteria" and the school band.  Since there was a 20% off sale at the local store I got them at, I also got the full sized school too. 

I'm not sure when I'm going to reveal all these (they know about the gym, as the girls were with me and we got it after they visited their mom and baby sister in the hospital) but the small and large schools are different enough so that you could set them up together and they would compliment each other.  The details are great, too. 

The police station wagon has been turned into the school bus for outings (they don't care anything about police stuff and have never even talked about police in their lives - there are no police where we live (rural area) - the closest thing we have here are MP's but since their in uniform they are just soldiers to the girls.  To them, police are just something you read about in story books or see on a tv show catching bad guys).  Hopefully someday (very soon) there will be a real school bus so the kids don't all have to lie down in the back of the station wagon.  LOL


Now all I have to do is order the extra floor from DS!

[playmofire]

I bought this smaller version. I generally like it. I plan to get the large one eventually too to make a super-sized school with a proper cafeteria, playground, front office, gym.

Several of the wall pieces are actually made from the standard double window pieces but in white instead of clear. I ended up really liking those walls since they provide variety and a good place to put furniture. With these wall sections not all walls have to be either built-in shelves or windows. Sometimes you just want a blank wall. The shorter ones on the second floor actually look like a built-in white board when you apply the stickers above and below the middle sections. I really like that since all the modern schools in my district (I'm a teacher) use white boards, not chalk boards. I want to make little technology carts for the teachers too, like in our schools, that have laptops, document cameras, and projectors. Not sure what to use for those.

The small school is good too because while it is missing some of the accessories of the larger one, you do get all the new school related accessories. I'd say buy it, especially if you catch it on one of Toys R Us's good sales this time of year.

The information on the walls is very interesting, Rufus.  As regards a projector, I have been thinking about this and thought of making something using a this:

http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/showpart.pl?partnum=30-28-3200

and the long lens from this:

http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/showpart.pl?partnum=30-60-3470

I'd glue two of the drawers together to make the projector body and drill a hole in the edge for the lens.  For extra detail, this:

http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/showpart.pl?partnum=30-21-7330

could be used to link the projector to the laptop.

[bonniebeth]

  In fact, probably since mom's been in the hospital with our newest baby (Dec. 25) I got the school gym last night. 

Congratulations on your new baby girl!

[Wesley Myers]

Congratulations on your new baby girl!

Thank you!

[Wesley Myers]

Oh yeah, one more good thing I noticed when putting this school together is that all the system X connectors are white instead of red (I think the larger one is like that too). The connectors don't stand out too much at the windows like in the hospital. It looks so much better this way.

Yes, they are white and certainly are not nearly as noticeable as red ones would have been. 

One curious thing to note - there were exactly the number needed.  Not one extra.  Every other set I've ever had with the red and yellow connectors it's like they are just trying to get rid of them for the amount they give you.

[bonniebeth]

Yes, this is a very nice development. The red pieces showing at the windows just ruin the look of a building.

[playmogal]

I have the large school 4323 which now sells for 170.USD at TRU and noticed their smaller school 5923 (105.USD) in the local store yesterday. I, too, like the figures in 5923, but wonder if the price is a bit high. At 99.USD, I bet it would fly off the shelf. $105. is just a weird amount from a marketing standpoint. And $110. would definitely be too high.

Sometimes very large chain stores (like TRU) arrange for special exclusive sets so that they don't have to match lower prices anywhere else. The defunct Circuit City was known for this, and Best Buy may do it to some extent.

Like bb states above,  it is a darn shame that they do not sell the Klickies separately as a set in the stores or at least at PM's website because they are really difficult to find at PM DS. A 3 pack of city Klickies would be lovely, especially in other races. There are many sets I will never buy, but will somehow find the figures. The large zoo has a nice purple top lady,... but I don't need the zoo. The white camper at TRU has a lovely lady with leaves on her top, but I already have a camper or two.

And they definitely should have made the schools so they could be joined...even if with walkways or whatever. That way one could combine two large schools or a large and small one into a single school. All would take is a roof piece with a removable overhang or none at all. Children and adults do like to "play school" because most of us have to spend many years inside them. Any other ideas on how to combine them? Thanks, Pgal

[bonniebeth]

Like bb states above,  it is a darn shame ....

Not a direct quote.

As far as combining the schools.... it really shouldn't be too hard. It would just involve joining them side by side, creating a pass-through, using a double-wide column on the front wall (I think. I'm not looking at it as I write this, as it's taken apart in a box), and using straight roof pieces rather than corner ones...

But really your best bet is probably to build upwards so that it has a smaller footprint, which would take a bit of creativity if combining the two different schools, but could be done. And there's always the extension floor. http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/Product-Show?pid=7464&cgid=Ds_Gebaeude_Erweiterungen

Or if you're skilled at building things, which considering your background in legos you probably are, you can always just take the entire thing apart, spread all the pieces out in front of you, and make your own design. It's a lot more fun that way, and it's nice to have an entirely original design!

[playmogal]

BB: Good ideas for enlarging the school! I like the concept of joining several school buildings with walkways or something as most of our schools in NC are no more than 2 stories and utilize more than one building.

I still wish they gave us more options for roofs for all of the buildings, especially the dollhouses. With System X we can easily change the floor plan, but the fixed roofs are another problem, Pgal

[bonniebeth]

Yeah, the roof is particularly a problem on the 5302!

Are you looking to have elevated walkways for going from the second story of one building to the next? or covered walkways on the ground or both?