Recently I contacted Epoch to become one of their “Friends of Sylvanian Families”, and they sent me my first parcel to review for free! I received several items in this parcel, including the “Pizza Delivery Set” that was released earlier this year. Please note that although this item was sent for me to review, all opinions given about the product are my own and not official, nor first checked by Epoch.
One thing I have always loved about Sylvanian Families’ items is that the figures are seen through the packaging in a little window. The packaging is very detailed, with the left side showing the box’s contents, whilst the front and back showing some images of the set, plus other related sets, and in small print is information in multiple languages about the caution of letting young children play with the set. The contents list says the set includes five different pizzas, all split into four slices, two pizza boxes, a sandwich board, a delivery bike, a pizza cutter wheel and Father Hedgehog, Mortimer Bramble, the Pizza Delivery Man for the Brick Oven Bakery (sold separately). |
When I first opened the packaging, I was pleased to see that everything is packed neatly, with all small items in plastic bags or held in place with card, with the figure in plastic that’s shaped around the hedgehog perfectly.
Firstly out of the box were the pizzas and pizza cutter. Each pizza is fixed in a plastic frame within the plastic bags. I then removed the sandwich board, bike and a bag containing sheets of stickers, the flattened paper that needs to be folded into pizza boxes and the leaflet of the current range. I then removed Mortimer, and he is very cute! I love the detail on his outfit, which is very different to his original outfit.
What I was very happy to find was that it is very easy to twist the pizzas out of the plastic frames. Some older Sylvanian Families items I have found the plastic to be very stiff, which can make removing the items from the frames difficult. What also impressed me was that each slice of each pizza was different; the attention to detail was magnificently realistic compared with real life food, in that no two slices had used the same plastic mould, meaning that pizza toppings look naturally scattered across the pizza! I thought this was a very cute new feature as most items usually have identical plastic moulds to make production cheaper. What I would personally improve is to make the pizza cutter’s wheel have the ability to turn like an actual wheel, however this is not essential.
Next I tried folding all the boxes for the pizzas. I am an adult, yet I personally still found the assembling of these boxes a little tricky. There were fold lines, which are easy to fold along, however I found the slits in some of the flaps hard to slide together. What is equally as hard is the double folding of edges of the boxes. It is hard to show this in the photos, but it took me at least 10 attempts with each box flap to fold, as you have to push/flatten the flaps quite tightly so that they stay at the side of the box. I found that the only sure way to keep the boxes in shape was to put a pizza in them. Hopefully after a while the pressure from the pizzas will cause the boxes to remain in shape if the pizza in the box is swapped with another.
I felt a three-year-old would not be able to assemble these boxes, even if the age is 3+, as I remember always getting my mum to assemble such boxes when I was little. After one or two attempts at assembling the boxes, I found the thin paper started to get a crease in it on one side of one of the boxes. Without patience, I think many people who buy this product may accidentally rip the paper, again reinforcing why an adult should assemble these. What worries me is that over time the boxes may rip in play, so children should be advised to be careful with them.
The sticker sheet has the stickers numbered 1-4, however, I did not see a diagram stating where they should be placed on the item, yet this can be seen on the contents list on the box. The stickers are easy to place, however, so they are placed correctly on the product, I would recommend an adult do this for a young child.
The two pizza boxes with pizzas inside can be placed into the back of the delivery bike, in the storage compartment, which I think is a lovely feature of the product. Another great feature of the bike is that the wheels do move and the handle can be twisted to be steered in either direction! The rest of the items that don’t fit inside the bike’s storage compartment can be stored inside the Brick Oven Bakery, a companion to this set which includes Mortimer Bramble’s wife, Eleanor.
Overall, I really like this product! I thought it was a rather adorable set and had a much greater attention to detail than I expected when compared to other pizza sets released over the years by Epoch. I would highly recommend this set, and I think the age guideline of 3+ is appropriate, provided that an adult or someone with good dexterity assembles the fiddly boxes and places the stickers for children receiving the item. At recommended retail price of £16.99, this set is very good value for money considering you get a lovely figure, a bike that Mortimer can drive, along with plenty of accessories! As an adult collector, I love this set and still find it endearing!