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MissWhiskers
Full Member
Registered: 04-2007
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 89
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Re: Applewood Department Store
Yep, as far as I can tell just about all of the accessories with the Brambles Dept Store are the same as the Applewood Dept Store. I also have the JP Sylvanian Market which is the same as the downstairs building, but some of the accessories are different.
They aren't the cheapest buildings, but are definitely amongst my favourites! 
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9/12/2010, 10:42 am
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LaSouris
Sr. Member
Registered: 06-2010
Posts: 373
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Re: Applewood Department Store
Ok my lovelies, I have more pictures for you! I'll upload them in a few minutes to the Pictures section.
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9/14/2010, 7:34 am
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ianandjane
Legend
Registered: 02-2010
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Posts: 1799
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Re: Applewood Department Store
I finally got my Applewood Department Store, set it up, and photographed every item in it. Over 200 accessories, the box boasts. It's true. I have 246 items on my inventory. But are they really worth it?
 
The building is beautiful. The colors are refreshing and work well together. The stairs, landings, and porches are fun, but I will agree with LaSouris (I think that's who said it). The ramp takes away too much space from the first floor. It's awkward to navigate around that first floor with its two levels especially when you have Pippin's Cafe on top of it. The building includes three doors (a pair of French doors on the first floor and two doors on the second in case it is used as two separate buildings); all of the doors on my building are loose and open at the slightest jiggle.
And jiggling there will be when setting up this set. The accessories (except for one) are all brilliant. Wonderful. Amazing. Fun. Detailed. But too plentiful. I know that's an odd complaint because more is better. Maybe it's the proportions of the items that's off. There are thirty (30!) dessert dishes. There are only twenty-two (22...) dessert pieces. There are eleven different styles of dessert dishes, and only one dessert type fits into a specific dessert dish type. It was pretty mind boggling trying to fit these pieces into the correct dish. And then there's the problem with what to do with the desserts when they are dished and what to do with the empty dishes. There are two hutches (which colors are spot on for the set) that provide some storage, but it would have been great if their were some kind of ice cream cooler to store the pieces in.
I really think that the desserts were an overkill with this set. I would have liked to see the dessert pieces and dishes streamlined so there was only one or two or three different dishes to serve the desserts on. If you look at my descriptions you'll see there are four differnt "fluted" dishes. One of the styles does not have any dessert piece that fits into it. What's it purpose in the set? Extra decoration? The set doesn't really need more decoration. There's plenty. There are two cylindrical dishes too that have no dessert that fit in them. The little colored glasses don't fit in either, but one tried and it got stuck. I spend about thirty minutes trying to get it out before I figured out a whirling pattern with the dull end of a sewing needle that got it out far enough for a pair of baby tweezers to pull it the rest of the way. Not the kind of fun I want when playing with my favorite toy line.
With the upstairs being a dedicated cafe, I'm not sure why Epoch (or whoever) decided that a juice bar needed to be downstairs. So when you really look at the set 75% is dedicated to food and only %25 is for shopping. And it's hard to fit the shopping goodies into that 25%. I would have liked to see a wall where the opening for the juice bar concession stand window is so you could have hung the clothing there. It's very very difficult for his big fingered man to get those hangers onto the hooks on the wall especially when there's a shopping cart in front of the hooks, a basket of blankets and baby clothing underneath the hooks, and a shelf above the hooks. There's just very little room.
The dining chairs are awfully large. They make decorating a believable room hard. They are lovely to look at, but they seem a bit too wide.
The toys and decorations for the department store are amazing. The push card with the hoppy bunnies is really cool. The bopping bag keeps me amused longer than it probably should. The ring toss and rings are well done. The selection of stuffed animals is nice (there's only four of them compared to the eleven varieties of dessert dishes!). The little piano is cute.
And then there is the baby mobile. Awful. I just don't get the design of it at all. It's the ugliest thing in my collection (no Pigglywink jokes...). It look bizarre in the shop. I just don't get it.
I know that I've complained a lot about this set, but I really do like it. The accessories are all really neat and well detailed (minus that mobile). There may be a bit too many dishes. I may have been nice to see less focus on food and more focus on shopping since it is a department store and all (some clothing for father and brothers, maybe?). That's my bottom line. It's great to have a department store and this one is beautiful, but some of the accessories just don't seem well thought out.
-Eric
See photographs all of 246 items on my web site's inventory page:
http://calicocrittersfansite.weebly.com/applewood-department-store-inventory.html
See more views of the building on my web site:
http://calicocrittersfansite.weebly.com/applewood-department-store.html
--- A Calico Town: a Calico Critters and Sylvanian Families Fan Site: http://calicocrittersfansite.weebly.com
View our other toy collections at: http://ourfamilystoybox.weebly.com. |
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10/10/2010, 12:42 pm
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lostmymarblz
Legend
Registered: 03-2007
Location: Edmonton Alberta Canada
Posts: 1948
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Re: Applewood Department Store
Hi Eric,
The other day, I set up Applewood Department Store and Pippin's Cafe sort of side by side instead of stacked. I converted Applewood Cottage into the Shoe Shop and Madeline's Boutique and made a courtyard out of the three buildings. Here's a very quick photo to show you basically how it looks...
Also, my arsenal of setting up tools consists of scissors to cut loose threads, a new soft toothbrush to brush away anything that might be on the flocking, and tweezers to use instead of fingers. My fingers are too large to do all the work necessary and tweezers are a must! The tweezers I use are curved with a long nose, similar to these ones, though the ones I have were purchased in the cosmetics department.
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10/10/2010, 3:43 pm
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TheRockie
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Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 1672
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Re: Applewood Department Store
quote:
ianandjane wrote:
With the upstairs being a dedicated cafe, I'm not sure why Epoch (or whoever) decided that a juice bar needed to be downstairs. So when you really look at the set 75% is dedicated to food and only %25 is for shopping. And it's hard to fit the shopping goodies into that 25%.
Hi Eric, originally, poch released these two sets are separate buildings - The Sylvanian Market (The first floor building) in 1998 and the Cafe Terrace in 1999 (The Second floor building) with varying colours
Later, around 2003, Flair released these two buildings together, they called the set the Brambles Department Store. And recently, they released the sets again as the Applewood Department Store which is what you have now. Thus, the reason for the imbalance.
P.S, the Department Store was among one of the Sylvanian nine set, Flair had proposed in a competition to decide what they should released next. The original plans had even called for a Sports department set to be released together with the store! Other proposed sets included a Seaside Pier, a Bandstand, a BlackSmith and a Fairground !
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10/10/2010, 4:18 pm
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lostmymarblz
Legend
Registered: 03-2007
Location: Edmonton Alberta Canada
Posts: 1948
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Re: Applewood Department Store
Hi Rocky,
Interesting history lesson. Thanks!
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10/10/2010, 7:53 pm
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ianandjane
Legend
Registered: 02-2010
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Posts: 1799
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Re: Applewood Department Store
quote:
TheRockie wrote:
The original plans had even called for a Sports department set to be released together with the store! Other proposed sets included a Seaside Pier, a Bandstand, a BlackSmith and a Fairground !
As I was putting the display together, I did think "Gee, a baseball bat and ball would have been nice." Or at least a ball of some kind.
And a Blacksmith! I really want that now. I'm thinking it not an idea that gets suggested to Flair, International Playthings, or Epoch very often though. Could you even imagine if International Playthings released a Blacksmith set into its current product line? We don't even have a store since the Toy Shop and General Store were retired...
-Eric
--- A Calico Town: a Calico Critters and Sylvanian Families Fan Site: http://calicocrittersfansite.weebly.com
View our other toy collections at: http://ourfamilystoybox.weebly.com. |
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10/11/2010, 2:58 am
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lostmymarblz
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Registered: 03-2007
Location: Edmonton Alberta Canada
Posts: 1948
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Re: Applewood Department Store
Hi Eric,
The recent releases of the microwave oven (JP, I believe), two cars, caravan and new pleasure boat indicate for me that SF is going modern. A gas station would be better suited to the modern world than a blacksmith shop
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10/11/2010, 6:00 am
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TheRockie
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Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 1672
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Re: Applewood Department Store
quote:
ianandjane wrote:
And a Blacksmith! I really want that now. I'm thinking it not an idea that gets suggested to Flair, International Playthings, or Epoch very often though. Could you even imagine if International Playthings released a Blacksmith set into its current product line?
-Eric
It wasn't much of a new building. The original building design was just a carbon copy of the Stable. Different items included though.
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10/11/2010, 7:12 am
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ianandjane
Legend
Registered: 02-2010
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Posts: 1799
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Re: Applewood Department Store
quote:
lostmymarblz wrote:
A gas station would be better suited to the modern world than a blacksmith shop
But a blacksmith shop would be all forging and flaming with horses and cool tools! I know that they're not going to make a blacksmith, but that doesn't stop it from being the coolest set that could-have-been.
-Eric
--- A Calico Town: a Calico Critters and Sylvanian Families Fan Site: http://calicocrittersfansite.weebly.com
View our other toy collections at: http://ourfamilystoybox.weebly.com. |
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10/11/2010, 1:29 pm
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