Review: Mighty World: Construction Site and Jeff the Mechanic
Posted By Lindsay
A week or two back, Erin and I dropped in on FAO Schwartz, as we do from time to time, only to discover that many of the Mighty World playsets, those of the fantastic accessories we love so much, were on an insane sale. So we, uh, bought a few.
And by a few, I mean a lot. In order not to overwhelm you, I've broken the writeups down by genre. Of the two I'm looking at today, one is "Construction" themed, and the other is "Town Life". Later I'll take a look at the "Emergency" and "Adventure" sets we picked up. We've previously reviewed here: Ken's Kayak Adventure Major Mac |
Appearance and Construction:
Construction Site: 7/10
Jeff the Mechanic: 8/10 Following Erin's lead, I'll mainly look at the figures here. They are all very study, feel well built, and balance easily. The Construction Site comes with three guys, each of which have a unique look. Overalls Guy has a bit of a dopey expression, and the paint on his belt is a bit messed up. The other two also have small paint op problems, but the paint schemes are really ambitious for figures of this size. There are one or two spots that could use more paint, though, like the shirt buttons on Gray Vest Guy. Orange Vest Guy has some joint issues with his hands. Nevertheless, the details are just fantastic. Overalls guy has a breast pocket on his shirt! Orange Vest Guy does have color on his buttons, and different colored pouches on his belt! Jeff is even better, his paint ops are overall cleaner, but less complicated. His face paint is also done in a darker color. |
All the figures come with removable hats, but they have ugly holes in their bald heads to keep the hats on. This also means the hats have posts inside, so while you can switch them between any Mighty World guys, they aren't useful for other figures.
Packaging and Accessories:
Construction Site: +3
Jeff the Mechanic: +2
The boxes are straightforward, show you what's inside, and some ways you might use it. Since none of these kits come with instructions, the boxes are useful for sets that involve assembling anything.
Jeff the Mechanic: +2
The boxes are straightforward, show you what's inside, and some ways you might use it. Since none of these kits come with instructions, the boxes are useful for sets that involve assembling anything.
The accessories are really where these sets shine. The Construction Site is a much larger kit, so it's going to take a while to go through. It comes with the following:
Enough scaffolding pieces to make, well, this:
Enough scaffolding pieces to make, well, this:
A cement mixer, on which the engine block opens, the orange cylinder rotates, or the cylinder can be spun by turning the little crank,
This set also came with a catalog of Mighty World figures, which identifies the guys here as "Jimmy, Joe and Charlie". Whatever.
Jeff, meanwhile, doesn't make out like quite as much of a bandit, but still comes with:
A large red tool case, and a small cart. All of the drawers open, as well as the top, but the wheels don't work.
Play and Display:
Construction Site: +1
Jeff the Mechanic: -1 All Mighty World figures have joints at the neck, shoulders, hips, and at the end of their sleeves. Impressively, the Construction Site guys can hold almost all of their accessories, with the exception of the thermos and the tape. The scaffolding is fully adjustable, and there are just so many great pieces, that I'm going to give them another bonus. |
Jeff, on the other hand, fares a little worse. He can't hold the oil cans or bottles, and I was disappointed to find that most of the accessories don't fit in the tiny drawers, or only sort of fit in the tool box.
Of course, the most fun thing to do with these guys is give their accessories to other figures. Most of the accessories are slightly over-sized for a 2.5" figure, probably so small hands can manage them. That means, however, that they also work with 4" or even 6" figures.
Price Tag and Final Analysis:
Construction Site: 10+/10
Jeff the Mechanic: 9/10 These are both great sets, and we just love the Mighty World aesthetic. Generally, we don't love it quite enough to pay retail. In this case we were in luck, as many sets were clearanced, and then were marked down an additional 20%. Not all the sets, though, so I don't think it's a case of them going out of business, just clearing the shelves. Jeff the Mechanic normally retails for $9.99, which is an okay price, if you really like the pieces. He was marked down to $3.74. Before you say, but that's crazy, take a look at this: The Construction Site retails for $21.99. We got it for $5.99! Lucky Day indeed. While we look at these guys as collectors, I also think they'd be great for kids of a certain age, old enough to not lose the pieces, young enough to love recreating tiny scenes. Scroll down for a few more pictures. If you've enjoyed this, fear not! There will be more sets pictured in the coming weeks.
If you're bored with this, you could try The Middle Room on for size, or see what I'm up to over at The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf. |