Ice Cream Set (retired)

[Tink]

Released in 2008, retired in 2015. This set combines many (sometimes revised) components of earlier sets, including the pie, spatula server, and flowers from Addy's Party Treats, the doilies and forks from her Ironstone Compote Set, and her Ice Cream Freezer.

Addy’s tenth birthday will be extra-special with this set. When it’s time for a celebration, Addy can share tasty treats with her family: A pretend cherry pie in a metal pie pan. 2 pretend pieces of pie and ice cream. A wooden ice cream maker with a paddle. A ceramic vase filled with fabric flowers. 3 crocheted doilies. 2 ceramic bowls and two silver-colored forks. A metal spatula.


Overall, I really like this set. I bought it on sale for $58, which I think is a more realistic price point. I don't think I would ever have taken the plunge at $68.

First, the excellent...the ice cream maker is wood and well made. The rest of the pieces are all good quality. Yes, the ice cream is attached to the pie and as always you would need about double the flowers to make a good bouquet. What really bothers me about this set is the scale. As you can see in the picture, the tines of the fork are the size of the pie slices. Either, that's one small pie or a shovel for a fork.

Grade: B

[PleasantMemories]

Grade: A-

In September of 2008, AG released a revamped and combined version of Addy’s Ice Cream Freezer, Ironstone Compote Set, and Party Treats. While many pieces are fairly similar, there are some noticeable differences. In addition to some revamped pieces, this set does not contain the pitcher, tumblers, napkins, napkin rings, spoons, banner, lantern, and recipe that were included in the original sets.

Bowls: Unlike the original ironstone bowls, the new ones appear to be porcelain. Also, the new bowls do not have a crackle finish, gold leaf, or pedestal-like base like their predecessors. However, the round, gold trimmed bowls are still heavy, well made, and very classic looking. They’re definitely versatile and one of the highlights of the set.

Forks: The forks that come with this set are virtually identical to the ones that came with Kirsten’s pottery and Addy’s Ironstone Compote Set. The only differences are that the older forks have slightly deeper dots and “Stainless Japan” stamps. The newer forks just have “Stainless” stamped into the metal. The original forks have withstood many years of play and I can’t see why these wouldn’t too. However, I do wish that this set came with spoons for the ice cream.

Crocheted Lace Doilies: There’s really not too much to say about the lace doilies. While simple, they’re well made and add a lot to Addy’s simple table setting. The doilies are basically the same as the ones that came with Addy’s Compote set for the majority of its shelf-life. They’re just a tiny bit smaller.

Pie: Unlike the original resin pie and scoops of ice cream, the revised pie slices are plastic with attached ice cream. While the plastic pie is definitely more durable and has quite a bit of play potential, I prefer the original pie slices. Not only did the older pie slices fit in the pie tin, but the ice cream scoops could double as whip cream, butter, mashed potatoes, and any other creamy white substance.

The best part of the pie and pie slices are the Do Not Eat stickers on the plastic bags. Just about anyone who can read “Do Not Eat” and understand its meaning should know better than to eat plastic food.

Pie Tins: Like the original, this set contains an aluminum pie tin to hold Addy’s pie. The pie tin appears to be a slightly lower grade of aluminum, is a bit lighter in color, and does not have the Pleasant Company stamp. Otherwise, it’s virtually the same.

Pie Server-Spatula: While this kitchen utensil is referred to as a pie server in the original set and a spatula in this one, they are basically the same. Both pie severs are the same size, have plastic handles, and metal “blades”. The coloring and the bends are slightly different, but they most likely vary from piece to piece.

Vase: The ceramic vase is probably my favorite part of the set. It’s well made and very classic looking. It seems like it could also be used in Samantha, Rebecca, Kit, Molly, Julie, and modern scenes.

Flowers: Poor Addy has a limited flower selection. These brightly colored, cloth flowers are virtually identical to the ones that came with Addy’s Party Treats and Flower-Picking outfit. The ones from her Party Treats are slightly less fresh looking, but that’s probably due to manufacturing changes and wear. Like Tink mentioned, this set should really include more flowers to fill the vase. The current bunch looks a bit sparse in the vase.

Ice Cream Freezer: While a doll-sized ice cream freezer is a neat concept, I’m surprised that they chose to reintroduce this piece. It never seemed to be overly popular with the target age group. That being said, the quality of the wooden ice cream freezer is what we came to expect from PC/AG over the years. It’s sturdy, well made, and can even be used to create about a serving of real ice cream. The ice cream freezer that is included with this set has the same butterscotch/caramel color of the later Addy/Samantha ice cream freezers. The workings are also identical to its predecessors.

While this set is fairly nicely made, has quite a bit of play potential, and is more economically priced than the three original sets ($68 versus $102), I think that Addy collectors may appreciate the detail of the original three sets. Additionally, I wish that this set contained spoons and cups. They would’ve added a bit more substance and play value to the set.

_{Ironstone Compote Set purchased in 1995 (new doilies in 1998) and Ice Cream Set in 2010}

[mamared]

Pleasantmemories already wrote a detailed review of all the pieces in this set, so I’ll mainly add some photos.

Here the whole set together:



While many of the pieces are slightly different than in previous iterations, they are still really nice. Here is a comparison photo of the bowls (the bowl from this set is on the right, and the bowl from the Ironstone Compote Set is on the left), followed by photos of the top and bottom of the bowls in the Ice Cream Set.







Next are the forks and pie server, which are all very similar to previous sets.



And the crocheted lace doilies (also no noticeable difference from the Ironstone Compote Set, other than mine seem a bit stiffer - but this could be because they are newer/less used).



Then there’s the pie. As noted in other reviews, this version is more rubbery than the previous version, and the ice cream scoops are attached to the pie slices so the separate pieces can’t fit in the tin. The newer version is also a bit less detailed - there isn’t any variation in the color of the pie crust, and it doesn’t give the same impression of cherries oozing out of the pie. Here are comparison photos to show the differences. The older version is on the left in each picture, and the new version that comes with the Ice Cream Set is on the right. I didn’t take a separate photo of the pie tin.








Here is the vase and flowers.





And finally the ice cream freezer. This photo shows the newer version that comes with the Ice Cream Set; there is a comparison with an older version in the Ice Cream Freezer review section.



Overall I give the set an A-. I think it’s very versatile and well-made, and most of its pieces can be used on a regular basis in a variety of settings and eras. I took a little off for the attached ice cream, mainly because the pieces can’t go back in the pie tin.

But then there’s this, lol: