What happened to 1/18 playsets?

flayrah · Post by **flayrah** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:08 pm

In the 70's and 80's, there were quite a few large and 'detailed' (for the time) playsets made - GI Joe, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Teenage turtles, that great MASH set (great in concept, but poorly executed), etc. Now we have significantly improved figures, vehicles and accessories, but virtually no playsets or environments. 21st had their buildings but dropped them after one series. Golden compass has a cool arctic/winter set prototype that was never made. Star Trek has a couple out now, but they don't seem to be selling. It can't all be related to display space issues, houses now are bigger than years ago. What happened to the interest in playsets??

vmf214 · Post by **vmf214** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:28 pm

Good question. Perhaps the "focus groups" showed no interest? I know the buildings and stuff 21st did that was sold at TRU stores in my AO sat and sat and sat seemed like forever till they were eventually clearanced and generally they were opened with the figs missing...

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:03 pm

Welp, lemme tell ya...

*takes deep breath*

Hasbro's actually been pretty candid with fans about the issue of "playsets", as that's been a big question from fans to the H over the past while now that we've had no playsets to speak of in the Star Wars line. It's good to cite Star Wars because ultimately it's been considered the most successful boy's toy brand for a while now. Shocking given today's toy market.

-The first big problem is kids today... When I was growing up (walking uphill, both ways, to school, in 3 feet of snow daily all year), toy brands had some staying power... I joined in on GI Joe the first day K-Mart opened in 1982, and I got just about every piece ever made, and technically almost two of everything because of my brother... That lasted into the late 80's, early 1990's too... Along the way, there was MASK, Transformers, and other brands I actually stuck with too.

Basically in a nutshell, kids are fickle. The market's largely dominated now by video games. That's where the majority of kid's attention goes, and toy brands tend to have less shelf life. For example, you can name any number of film brands that have come and gone. Terminator Salvation is a dying brand (though Playmates claims Star Trek has some life), Indiana Jones... Basically kids are needed to really drive these, and they're just not there like we were when we were kids. Short attention spans and all that jazz.

-Next, costs... Line's today aren't costed out like they were in 1982. So, sure we got a kick butt GI Joe base and other big stuff for that line, but today budget's are often tighter, as are margins, and production costs and the like... Hasbro's very bluntly said that they cannot produce a playset for cheap, and people are often not willing to put their money where their mouths are. They cite large vehicles and playsets are just the things that are too cost-prohibitive to make it to the shelves.

Look at the ST playsets... To complete either, you actually have to buy a full set of figures, and the Bridge playset is so many levels of simplistic in design that you really may feel ripped off. You shouldn't since you barely paid much for what you got anyway, but still people "expected more". The transporter costs more, and it's more substantial, but to complete it you still need to buy figures.

-Play Value... What "we" want, and what actually is needed to move a toy are two different things. 21st's playsets kicked butt on every level. The farmhouse? I love it. The government building thing? I love it. The farmhouse? I love it. The fountain? It's neat and I got it cheap.

Tough to say I love it.

But that's beside the point... The thing is, those were REALLY costly things to produce, and yet when you break them down they're insanely simplistic. A couple molded walls that snap together and this and that... Not much to them. Paint aps were complex (IMO anyway) but really as playsets go they were "dull". They're more displays than "playsets". Hasbro insists then that a "playset", to be successful, requires play features and things for kids... Firing missles, exploding crap, and the like.

SW fans keep clamoring for these ornate display pieces, with no real play value, but lots of display value. One idea of mine that others have also had is to do a stackable set of "cubes" to make a modular Death Star for instance. Something that you can connect in a variety of ways... Hasbro's said that A) it'd be really expensive, and B) it wouldn't sell because it wouldn't interest kids, and they need kid interest for it to move.

Look at the AT-TE... It's huge! It has lots of play features, and it has features for kids and is focused on a kid-driven property with the current Clone Wars 3D Cartoon. They consider that the ideal... Same with the upcoming Turbo Tank, or the "Big" Millenium Falcon (which is a playset to itself really).

I always like to compare though, items like 21st's playsets to what is supposedly "needed" to sell. The 21st's sets are ultimately "ideal", but they did not sell. They're what "we" want though. I love 'em... But they were failures. Likewise, so would a Bespin Hallway or something like that... And that's got a much larger market base too.

-Trial & Error... The next thing though, is that it's not like companies haven't tried. Like 21st's sets, Hasbro's tried some things recently. One being the "Sarlacc" in the ultimate battlepack at Target this year. They tried giving us basically a scaled Sarlacc monster from ROTJ, something fans have clamored for, for ages now. I love it too! But I got mine on clearance because I refused to pay what they wanted to get basically a bunch of stuff I didn't want + the monster I did want.

Likewise, the "dome", was one of Hasbro's other recent efforts to make basically a "playset". It's the Skywalker family dome, and it's a nicely sculpted plastic dome, with a bottom to it, that makes the... well... the dome that sticks out of the sand to let you know Luke has a home somewhere around there.

It rocks, but it was like $54 to get 3 figures you already had, a PVC rodent thing, and a re-used moisture vaporator... and the dome.

Hasbro INSISTS that it was all they could do to get this item to retail for $54 with those crummy figures, and stuff, to just get that simpel two-piece-dome out there. Basically, what they're saying, is it cost them $45 to get that dome out, and $9 to get you the rest of the junk.

If it cost that to get that, what do you think a stackable set of cubes with opening doors, some other details and things might cost, to get a "modular Death Star" out there? (I keep citing it because it's probably the most asked for SW playset.)

We ran a story here not too long ago at all that we broke a Death Star mock-up made of foam board that Hasbro routinely passed around for years now at meetings, to see if they could do it. Basically they wanted it to be a spherical shape to appeal to kids and let them know that it's the Death Star. It had various rooms interconnecting that showed the main scenes from the Death Star, features like chasms figures could swing across and things, lasers and stuff.

I sat on the images for that playset mock-up since 2008 when the playset debate was really raging on SW boards, and I kept thinking that it was nowhere near what all the collectors kept claiming they'd pay top dollar for. Hasbro says that's what it would have to be though (cramming play features into a recognizeable design/shape for the kiddies, while doing some aesthetics trying to get adults to want it too). I knew in my heart nobody would want it.

So 2009 rolls around, I ran with the story one day, and I got exactly the response I had expected. Fans were disappointed, people were upset at not just my board but on Rebelscum and elsewhere. Some even doubted Hasbro would create something like this saying, "they know what we want so there's no way this is real", and things like that. People were flat out mad that it was being considered and it would look like it did perhaps.

That pretty much summed up, to me, why playsets aren't getting made... The Sarlacc didn't sell, the Lars/Skywalker dome didn't sell, the 21st Cent. Toys playsets didn't sell...

Hasbro readily admitted the need for kids to sustain the INdy line, and it sounded like, to me, they were planning more sets for it. They said Indy is more environmentally-centric and so they wanted to get more playsets out for Indy... But would they be the Well of Souls, or Maproom from our childhood? No... They'd have been the Akator playset, that crammed every little action thing into it that they could think of from the movies.

It sucks... It especially sucks knowing what 21st was GOING to produce. I mean, that bridge? I'd have paid pretty hefty (by my standards) for that. And the 3-story building would've also dug into my budget.

But most companies see playsets as just not feasible when comparing risk to reward. ST's apparantly doing better than most people realize (I'm shocked as well), but I don't expect more sets for them. Just the figures we've been shown.

Hasbro's definitely focusing on trying to milk the $20-ish vheicles for what they can. Repaintability is a huge plus to those. They're taking a smaller risk now with their deluxe vehicle line (but still probably banking on repaintability given that things like Gunships and ARC-170's fall into this group). Playsets though, they're pretty much dead. Toy lines usually have a finite time to get what they can out, and riskier items are usually chopped out of the line-up immediately to maximize what they can in profit while they still have something that sells.

SW is the rarity that has longevity, and they say that unless it's veyr important in the current media (right now, the cartoons), they're unlikely to touch it, and that playsets are not in the cards for the foreseeable future. Even less so for ones from movies that are over 30 years old to boot.

Things like the original GIJ: ARAH line are from a totally different era... It kind of makes you look back on them with greater appreciation.

I was up in my attic getting some items down to sell recently and found my old Indy playsets. I was so happy to find those... They went immediately onto my Indy shelf with my new awesome figurse, and they're everything I wish Hasbro would've delivered (sans any paint aps), and my new figures look amazing standing on these old school sets.

MCalamari · Post by **MCalamari** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:29 pm

I too would have liked to see old Indy playsets like the well of souls and map room!

I actually bought the two Peru temple pieces and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull mountain and like them all.

On the subject of Death Stars, there was a English cardboard playset -- Palitoy (?) Death Star, that I've bought scans of the pieces and started printing them up on sticker sheets. My plan was to mount the stickers onto foamboard to rebuild the playset. The new Star Trek bridge is actually nice (granted Admiral Ackbar commands the Enterprise, which is a floating carrier for my Me-262s).

Perhaps you can make your own playsets?

JJ had an excellent post, so I won't repeat what he said.

Moving forward, I was hoping Monkey Depot would have had the 21c playsets. I have the Normandy Farm House and my brother has several of the others. The Farm House is great, and I'd like to see some other WWII playset in the future -- but I don't want to see saturation (i.e. more than one a year). Heck, Arnold is likely to give me another 5% pay cut in a matter of hours (already sitting on a 10% cut -- and don't think the furloughs are real -- as a manager, my work load has INCREASED as a result of this and I now have more annual time off than any two French professionals!).

vmf214 · Post by **vmf214** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:10 pm

My 11yo who is a rabid SW collector passed on the Tatooine dome coz he didn't see anything in it to justify the price, and he's only 11!! It'll probably turn out to be one of those sleepers that in a couple years will bring a fortune..

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:47 pm

Hah, Ackbar at the helm of the Enterprise. Too cool.

And the thing with the Skywalker Dome was that they geared it at "us". Or the us that kept saying, "I'll pay 2 billion for any SW playset that's super accurate!", and stuff. And then... well... they found out the hard way that those guys are few in actual number compared tot he number that will say they'll buy it full price.

I, am one who will NOT pay anything for something nice. Nice, to me, requires a certain level of quality to match the price. The Skywalker Dome is nice... for what it is. It's sculpted well, sturdy... It's kind of a centerpiece to put figures around. Like the barn or farmhouse. Some snipers in the loft, an "ambush" with a panzerschrek on the 2nd floor... It's neat for putting Luke looking off into the sunset nearby, or the new Owen and Beru figures by it accepting Baby Luke from Obi-Wan on an Eopie (which is getting released as a mail-away this year, just a tip for you guys wanting one).

Anyway, the dome is a neat thing to put on a shelf and collect dust... But yeah, even an 11 year old can see it ain't worth $54.

I'd love one, but not for that. And Hasbro's made it clear that it costs this to get that, so that ain't likely to happen again since that is on clearance as we speak.

People don't get it though, and every Q&A session people ask Hasbro about playsets it seems, and every Q&A Hasbro says no, and people debate it on forums, and fight about it because it's ultimately wasting q's to Hasbro, and then lameness ensues.

I'd love a stackable Death Star. It's something I conjured in my head actually in the days before a modern line because I was thinking of expanding the vintage playset somehow... Then, I pretty much retooled the idea mentally in the late 1990's because it became clearer Hasbro wouldn't do anything that cool, ever.

No big deal though... That's what customizing is all about, to me anyway. The sad truth is though, playsets are a dead thing these days.

And I own both ST playsets and love 'em, but that bridge is just basically a playmat with some clear screens and seats.

And the IJ playsets which I enjoy (though the Akator one is meh, probably due to the movie), were something I hoped to see more of. Little mini things that interconnected would've rocked. Alas, the line itself did not have what all toy lines need... Kids wanting to buy that crap, or nag their parents to buy it.

flayrah · Post by **flayrah** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:48 pm

Excellent post JJ, you mentioned many aspects I never knew about. I was hoping you would post and explain some of this inside information.....

But considering Hasbro's (and I'd assume most other manufacturer's) position on costs, sale-ability, re-paints, etc I wonder about Power Team. They made that HQ building that couldn't have cost that much less to manufacture than anything comparable produced or considered by any other company. And they sold it for a reasonable price. And it consistantly sells out. Granted, it's not the most detailed or best quality, and it's for sale at a deep discounter.

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:11 am

vmf214 wrote:My 11yo who is a rabid SW collector passed on the Tatooine dome coz he didn't see anything in it to justify the price, and he's only 11!! It'll probably turn out to be one of those sleepers that in a couple years will bring a fortune..

Just a quick note- Toys R Us now has this playset on sale starting tomorrow (7/2) for 31.98
http://trus.imageg.net/graphics/corp/07 ... pns-sm.pdf
It's about 35% off regular price. Still a chunk of money for a dome...

Post by **aferguson** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:42 am

yes i've wondered about powerteam as well. Their playsets are reasonably priced and you get tons of stuff with it.

Chap mei is the same. They make playsets for their various lines and you get 3 times as much stuff as you get with a star wars dome and it costs 2/3 as much.

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:18 am

Some of that can be attributed to quality, and of course license. SW being a licensed brand (and an expensively licensed brand) impacts cost, though I've always argued that I think they use that as something of a crutch too. I mean, other things have increased in cost, no doubt, but SW has increased in %'s that no other toy line seems to have. I find it fishy, personally.

The big factor is probably quality... PTE things usually have corners cut, though I'm perfectly happy with my bridge and command center and whatnot. Materials used aren't the best though (you can see stressing in the plastic, etc.), and they cut where they can, but I still dig it.

I'd also make a guess on WHERE they're manufactured. Hasbro, Mattel, etc. try hard not to create a PR incident by using really bad sites to produce stuff. The larger corporations often try to use them, but they come at a higher cost... Labor can be had super cheap though, and often times knock-off type toys are made at the lower quality factories where conditions can be anything from worse to downright dangerous. I wouldn't doubt that PTE is made at a factory where conditions are less than positive.

BELTxFED · Post by **BELTxFED** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:08 pm

Facts are that 21st playsets are awesome, but they are too fragile for the typical kid.

I once gave my nephews some FoV tanks and they wrecked 'em before Christmas dinner was on the table.

My son plays with these things all the time, but he's a responsible kid trained to care for his stuff.

I'm sure he'll teach his kids the same respect so I stocked up on enough play sets to last a couple generations.

MCalamari · Post by **MCalamari** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:45 pm

vmf214 wrote:My 11yo who is a rabid SW collector passed on the Tatooine dome coz he didn't see anything in it to justify the price, and he's only 11!! It'll probably turn out to be one of those sleepers that in a couple years will bring a fortune..

It only will bring a fortune if you part with it.

But yeah, I was thinking the same thing ... it looks too cheap for $50. It it was $15, just the house, in a heart beat.

The problem is the figures packed with it appear to be straight up repaints. There is a new Owen coming out with the Build-A-Droid series that looks so much better (granted he is young farmer Owen).

I think the key is to get it if you think he'll want it 10-years from now. How much are the early POTF2 death star playsets going for? They might benchmark a 10-year appreciation.

The point isn't to sell the stuff, but to get it now if the appreciation is more than something else you might later want.

MCalamari · Post by **MCalamari** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:58 pm

Jesse James wrote: I'd love a stackable Death Star. It's something I conjured in my head actually in the days before a modern line because I was thinking of expanding the vintage playset somehow... Then, I pretty much retooled the idea mentally in the late 1990's because it became clearer Hasbro wouldn't do anything that cool, ever.

And I own both ST playsets and love 'em, but that bridge is just basically a playmat with some clear screens and seats. And the IJ playsets which I enjoy (though the Akator one is meh, probably due to the movie), were something I hoped to see more of. Little mini things that interconnected would've rocked. Alas, the line itself did not have what all toy lines need... Kids wanting to buy that crap, or nag their parents to buy it.

Stackable Death Star ... try:
http://www.ultarama.com/

It gets the basic concept down, and you can strategically place the old Kenner DS and new smaller playsets around it to give it some DS like flavor.

As for the ST bridge, the Home One was basically a view screen, holoproject, floating instrument panels, and one really wise commander.

The Enterprise really makes a great SW playset.

Sadly it does not seem to be selling well. And I've not even bought the Transporter *yet*.

We've not mentioned the bar pieces that Hasbro marketed with cantina aliens a few years ago. They were so-so, but instantly became cool when they released the *curved* pieces.

The IJ Mountain does still have the part where Darth Vader's dissection table can snap in!

And the ROTS figure stands can kinda snap in.

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:39 pm

Unfortunately, the curved sections leave no room for the dispenser, which Hasbro said they were going to do...

Oh and I've gotta dig up a pic of this guy I know's Home One... You'll never think that way about a Home One playset again.

Seriously though, his is basically a scaled briefing room (behind the bridge) with detail that makes you wanna cry. He just finished his Bespin Hallway and I'm still curious how he got the details like the light fixtures so exact.

Hasbro does some nice stuff now and then... The Cantina tables, etc. They just don't do the full environment usually. They did do the Carbon Freeze playset though, and nobody wanted it, but it's surprisingly cool. I wish I had an extension around it to make it a larger platform. It really was cool. And it even "worked" too. As well as ST's transporter anyway.

Good times freezing... anyone. I think even Patton went for a spin it the Carbon Freezer once or twice. "Slap me in the infirmary, will ya!?"

Oh, and for the curious I DID buy the Luke dome just Wednesday afternoon and it's nice enough. $30-ish isn't so bad. Plus you get the vaporator, the womprat, and a decent Sandtrooper variation... I figure $5 for the figure, $5 for the vaporator and rat... $20-ish for the dome/base and a couple for tax. $32 I think is what it cost me. I'm content with that.

Hasbro's BEST set piece they've made so far, IMO, was the Ultimate Battlepack Hoth Turret. It's a to-scale Hoth Rebel anti-infantry turret, opening door and top-hatch. Zero details inside (I'd have dug a ladder and inner-hatch up into the turret itself), but really I'm content with it as it is and I'll customize "interior" details if I really want them this bad.

It's just nice having that turret in proper detailing. I would take a good 4 more of them, if they were made available, which Hasbro claims they're gonna try to do that in the future.

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:15 am

That Hoth Turret is awesome! The AT-ST that came with it more closely matches the POTF2 Hoth AT-AT than the previous Endor one.

I've got all the Star Wars Playsets from POTF2 on, except for the Mustafar Playset. For some reason I forgot about that one, and last time I checked it was too expensive on ebay. Even the Geonosis Arena has climbed in price.

I picked up the Indy Playset for $14 at Target on clearance.

Everything's still in their boxes, ain't got no room.

Picked up all the 21st Playsets loose at once from a seller who sold them all at one time, got the whole set of Fallshirmjagers (still can't spell it) some US soldiers and a German Halftrack in the deal. Cost me around $150, but I think it was worth it. I wouldn't have been able to get them for that price if they were still in their boxes.

MCalamari · Post by **MCalamari** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:55 am

Jesse James wrote: Oh and I've gotta dig up a pic of this guy I know's Home One... You'll never think that way about a Home One playset again.

Good times freezing... anyone. I think even Patton went for a spin it the Carbon Freezer once or twice. "Slap me in the infirmary, will ya!?"

Oh, and for the curious I DID buy the Luke dome just Wednesday afternoon and it's nice enough. $30-ish isn't so bad.

Hasbro's BEST set piece they've made so far, IMO, was the Ultimate Battlepack Hoth Turret.

Working backwards ... *nod* the Hoth Turret (new one) stands near my Flak 36.

You talked me into the Lars Homestead ... side's it will be used by everybody for hiding from my Luftwaffe.

I too like the Bespin carbon freezing playset, but bought it on ebay years later for ~cost. In other words, I'm part of the problem Hasbro sees no market for these things. I'll have to start tossing my 21c guys in it! I could (and do) live better without the honking big gun.

I'd love to see the Home One Briefing room. My goal one day was to build a Home One hanger, with my Rebel fleet (KB once had $10 A-wings and X-wings and I was making an army of Sullustan X-wing pilots back in the late 90s. At the time people were fighting over the ugly stormies and I was focusing on building a massive rebel fleet, which I figured could send down a commando team to remove a shield generator, and then bomb any ground troops.

It has always been about air superiority!

Perhaps this is why I like the Flak and M-16s. They are interesting when mixed with a few aircraft.

Post by **aferguson** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:18 am

those curved sections are interesting for making a death star. Of course with a real death star the curved shape would not be noticable, due to its size, anymore than the curvature of the earth is noticable to us.

Sorry to be persnickety..

Bryce · Post by **Bryce** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:31 am

aferguson wrote:those curved sections are interesting for making a death star. Of course with a real death star the curved shape would not be noticable, due to its size, anymore than the curvature of the earth is noticable to us.

Sorry to be persnickety..

Why would you assume that? The Death Star is substantially smaller than the Moon.

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:34 pm

Actually though when you watch the films, the surface is like flying on that of a planet. You really don't notice the curvature when flying close to it... It's quite moon-sized. Maybe not our moon though. And the DS2 is much larger as well.

Bryce · Post by **Bryce** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:55 pm

http://www.merzo.net/2000mpp.htm

Post by **aferguson** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:18 pm

the death star is supposed to be 50 miles in diameter or 50 kilometers or whatever. At that size, on the surface, you'd never notice the curvature. Those play units probably have a diameter of 20 feet or less (ie if you put enough of them end to end to make a circle, the diameter of that circle would be about 20 feet or less). That translates to a full size death star of 360 feet in diameter, not 50 miles.

It's a nice representation, however, with the curvature, giving a nice death star-ish feel to it. I quite like the units.

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:52 pm

Bryce wrote:http://www.merzo.net/2000mpp.htm

Also notice where it says, "See swtc" and all that... The DS's are a bit larger I believe than "actual dimensions". Lucasfilm's dimensions are most often wrong, actually. 15m in height for the AT-AT, for instance. Current dimensional debates go on about the Y-Wing because "EU" decided to claim a variety of models/sizes to cram other EU together and things... The great Super Star Destroyer calamity of 1988.

There's a lot of REALLY off dimensions that are listed as "Official" by Lucasfilm, but which basically nobody (even the model makers at the company) accept as the truth.

That site's cool but it goes by the "official" dimensions regardless though.

Not to say the DS's I or II still would have a very noticeable curvature, like Aferg mentioned... If you look at the studio shots of the Falcon being tractored in, etc., it's very much planet-sized... Small for our moon though, for sure. Still, moon-ish and quite sizeable when you're on its theoretical surface.

Bryce · Post by **Bryce** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:29 am

Jesse James wrote:
Bryce wrote:http://www.merzo.net/2000mpp.htm
Also notice where it says, "See swtc" and all that... The DS's are a bit larger I believe than "actual dimensions". Lucasfilm's dimensions are most often wrong, actually. 15m in height for the AT-AT, for instance. Current dimensional debates go on about the Y-Wing because "EU" decided to claim a variety of models/sizes to cram other EU together and things... The great Super Star Destroyer calamity of 1988.

There's a lot of REALLY off dimensions that are listed as "Official" by Lucasfilm, but which basically nobody (even the model makers at the company) accept as the truth.

That site's cool but it goes by the "official" dimensions regardless though.

Not to say the DS's I or II still would have a very noticeable curvature, like Aferg mentioned... If you look at the studio shots of the Falcon being tractored in, etc., it's very much planet-sized... Small for our moon though, for sure. Still, moon-ish and quite sizeable when you're on its theoretical surface.

When the site first went up he used his own calculations from the movies to guess what the size the DS would be and determined it was much bigger, and he had it about 1/4 the size of the moon. Apparently everybody complained about it so much that he had to break down and change it to the "official" size. But I still dont know why you would think you couldnt see the curvature though. It would be tiny to compared to anything you are familier with, the horizon would be dramatic especially considering that it world be perfectly flat in relation and all your reference points would be doing all kinds of funny things in perspective.

Post by **aferguson** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:45 am

the lost temple of akator playsets are on sale here. I"ve been looking at pictures of it to see if i can turn it into a japanese cave system somehow. Looks like it'll be pretty tough to do though.

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:03 am

Yeah, I don't think I'd bother... It'd maybe make a better Nam "ruins" type diorama or something, actually. But even that's pushing it.

I got one for $12 or something at ROSS and it basically is just to say I have the whole set, kind of a deal.