4149 Compact Beach Set

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Rather later than planned, here's the review of the 4149 Compact Beach set.

First, box, front:



Back:



And side:

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Now the contents, starting with the base which is a single injection in yellow which is then printed with the blue to represent the water:



The printing is not as sharp as it might be:



(Ignore the hair, this is a piece of carpet which has got in the picture.)

A principle piece is a sun shelter, which also would act as a windbreak.  There is also a parasol in a different colour and pattern from the 3644 beach set one:



The reflective panels on and inside the sun shelter are stuck on:





And here it is in use by Mother:

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The young boy with the set has an extensive range of toys to play with while on the beach which, where appropriate, we'll see put together late:



The elephant and hippo will no doubt be added to Tim Tiermann's collection if they are not in it already.

Three turreted sand castles are also provided:



It might be better if these were a bit smaller, but whatever their size it would have been a nice point of detail if the bucket provided reflected the size and shape of the sandcastles.

Two figures are provided, a woman and a small boy.  Here's a front view:



And a back view:

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Here are detailed photos of the various toys provided:

First, the "construction tools", bucket, spade, rake and riddle, and watering can:



A generously sized yacht, probably more suited to the water's edge than a small pool:



A bridge piece, handy for the hippo and elephant to be displayed:



And lastly, two palm trees made of a rubbery, bendy plastic:

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To occupy herself, mother has a surfboard and a tube of sunscreen (she may be able to lend this to the male lifeguard in the 3644 beach set):



The surfboard has a rather more restrained pattern than the one in the beach set, but has the same system of a peg (equally difficult to fit) for the rider.

Here the peg is twisted so the rider faces the front of the board square on:



Here it is twisted so the rider faces the side of the board:



And here's Mother in action:



At one edge of the base there's a handy slot which allows the surfboard to be stood upright:

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To end this little review, an overall view on a nice sunny day:



And an "in the box" view showing that the set nicely goes back in the original box for storage:



Thanks for looking, folks, and I hope you enjoyed the review.  Next up will be 4860:

http://www.playmodb.org/setpics/4860.jpg

[Wolf Knight]

Another excellent review Gordon!! Thank you for these pics!!! Perhaps the bad colour was intentional to make it look like the edge of the sea? Where the water meets the sand?
Are you going to use these in the next Kirkbean exchibition and your train project or is it just summertime feeling that got into you my friend? 

[bonniebeth]

A very good review of this great set, Gordon! One comment I might add is that I find on mine that the surfboard doesn't want to stay standing up in that slot, it keeps falling down, which is irritating, because then if you remove it, there's an unsightly hole in the base. Other than that, i love this set! And the 4860 is great, too!

[playmofire]

Another excellent review Gordon!! Thank you for these pics!!!

Thank you, Panos.

Perhaps the bad colour was intentional to make it look like the edge of the sea? Where the water meets the sand?


If the edge of the blue had been sharp and not right up to the edge of the bank of the pool, I would have thought it was intentional, but with the edge being broken I feel it's more bad printing.

Are you going to use these in the next Kirkbean exchibition and your train project or is it just summertime feeling that got into you my friend? 

I may use them at Kirkbean but I haven't decided yet.  They are more likely to be used at Knaresborough in 2012.  The real purpose behind buying them, however, was for use in the permanent layout I'm thinking about.

[playmofire]

A very good review of this great set, Gordon! One comment I might add is that I find on mine that the surfboard doesn't want to stay standing up in that slot, it keeps falling down, which is irritating, because then if you remove it, there's an unsightly hole in the base. Other than that, i love this set! And the 4860 is great, too!

Thank you Bonnie.

I haven't had that problem.  Does it depend on which way round you have the surfboard i.e. top to the left or top to the right?