Mini Worlds or Story Boxes
May 10, 2007 19:34:42 GMT -5
Post by Keri on May 10, 2007 19:34:42 GMT -5
(I apologise if this reads too similarly to the review for Kaya's mini world, but they are based on the same concept and all...)
Original Price: $15
Grade: B
From the outside, the miniworlds are absolutely darling. They look just like a cute, delicate book! Even the sides of the box are painted to look like pages.
The cover is a creamy color with a striped border along the top and bottom. The color of the border depends on the character - Kit's is mint green. Also dependent on the character are the floral decorations that show up next to the name/year on the spine and front. Kit's is the trio of pink/purple/yellow flowers that you can see at the AG site on her "world" pages.
The back of the box has a picture that shows what comes inside, I think it might peel off?, and the open edge ties shut with ivory ribbons.
When you untie the ribbon and open the cover, the first two pages are of Kit's attic bedroom. The second set of pages are her mother's garden. The fifth page tells you what each painting is of plus a small description. These paintings are similar to the ones from her paper dolls set, but the attic scene is bare of accessories, since you can add them in with the cut-outs and stickers.
Where the sixth page would be is instead an open box, where all the pieces to the Mini World can be stored. You could also use it for jewelry storage or for post-it notes or something, if you're so inclined, I suppose.
Each page has a small circle of velcro on the far edge at about the same level as the ribbons on the cover. These help keep the box shut and the play pieces from falling out.
The play pieces are:
7 thick cardboard figures of Kit, her desk, her desk chair, her aviator doll, Grace, a copy of her "Hard Times" newspaper, and her wagon.
There is a small plastic stand for each cardboard piece. These are small circles with two upright and parallel semi-circles to support the cardboard bits.
There are also two sheets of stickers. These stickers can be removed from the scenery and reattached in different spots without losing their effectiveness.
The stickers are things like party decorations, party favors, games, toys, school supplies, writing things, &c.
Overall, I think these boxes are more enjoyable as display pieces than play pieces. If you remove the stickers from the sheets, you don't really have any place to store them again, except on the scenes, and it looks messy.
Also, though the velcro circles are a nice idea, they're difficult. I've had problems getting the scenes to stay open enough for actual play, and the velcro tends to stick funny so that whenever I try to open the box, only the last velcro pair detach, so all the pieces in the storage part fall out on me.
But I love the display value, and they look so beautiful lined up together. I have them displayed with the story collections and bookends on my desk, and they're a nice, kind of upscale look compared to my regular book collection.
I wouldn't pay more than $6 for a used one on eBay or $13 for a brand-new one, simply because of the lack of play-value, but they're so pretty!
Oh, and dimensions - they're about seven inches tall and five inches wide when shut. The thickness is 2.5 inches. When open, the scenes can span just under 10 inches, if you open them completely.
(PS: I bought Kit's Mini World used, and all the stickers had already been placed. There wasn't a sheet for me to re-stick them to, which is why the pictures are as they are. Also, most of the plastic stands had been lost by the time it got here.)
--- KERI
Original Price: $15
Grade: B
From the outside, the miniworlds are absolutely darling. They look just like a cute, delicate book! Even the sides of the box are painted to look like pages.
The cover is a creamy color with a striped border along the top and bottom. The color of the border depends on the character - Kit's is mint green. Also dependent on the character are the floral decorations that show up next to the name/year on the spine and front. Kit's is the trio of pink/purple/yellow flowers that you can see at the AG site on her "world" pages.
The back of the box has a picture that shows what comes inside, I think it might peel off?, and the open edge ties shut with ivory ribbons.
When you untie the ribbon and open the cover, the first two pages are of Kit's attic bedroom. The second set of pages are her mother's garden. The fifth page tells you what each painting is of plus a small description. These paintings are similar to the ones from her paper dolls set, but the attic scene is bare of accessories, since you can add them in with the cut-outs and stickers.
Where the sixth page would be is instead an open box, where all the pieces to the Mini World can be stored. You could also use it for jewelry storage or for post-it notes or something, if you're so inclined, I suppose.
Each page has a small circle of velcro on the far edge at about the same level as the ribbons on the cover. These help keep the box shut and the play pieces from falling out.
The play pieces are:
7 thick cardboard figures of Kit, her desk, her desk chair, her aviator doll, Grace, a copy of her "Hard Times" newspaper, and her wagon.
There is a small plastic stand for each cardboard piece. These are small circles with two upright and parallel semi-circles to support the cardboard bits.
There are also two sheets of stickers. These stickers can be removed from the scenery and reattached in different spots without losing their effectiveness.
The stickers are things like party decorations, party favors, games, toys, school supplies, writing things, &c.
Overall, I think these boxes are more enjoyable as display pieces than play pieces. If you remove the stickers from the sheets, you don't really have any place to store them again, except on the scenes, and it looks messy.
Also, though the velcro circles are a nice idea, they're difficult. I've had problems getting the scenes to stay open enough for actual play, and the velcro tends to stick funny so that whenever I try to open the box, only the last velcro pair detach, so all the pieces in the storage part fall out on me.
But I love the display value, and they look so beautiful lined up together. I have them displayed with the story collections and bookends on my desk, and they're a nice, kind of upscale look compared to my regular book collection.
I wouldn't pay more than $6 for a used one on eBay or $13 for a brand-new one, simply because of the lack of play-value, but they're so pretty!
Oh, and dimensions - they're about seven inches tall and five inches wide when shut. The thickness is 2.5 inches. When open, the scenes can span just under 10 inches, if you open them completely.
(PS: I bought Kit's Mini World used, and all the stickers had already been placed. There wasn't a sheet for me to re-stick them to, which is why the pictures are as they are. Also, most of the plastic stands had been lost by the time it got here.)
--- KERI
