On today's WWOG Blog (The Wonderful! World of Grace) we continue to unpack and examine all the pieces of the French Bakery. We have reached the second inner box which contains the major appliances.
The long white box slides out easily once the double french doors are completely opened.
Inside the white box is the mini refrigerator, the bakery counter, and the stove and sink combined unit.
I love the mini refrigerator. I can't believe it took AG nearly thirty years to give us a modern stand alone fridge. I am even willing to overlook that it is a mini fridge because it is so cute.
Terrific attention to detail even on the back side of the fridge.
I do wish for the extreme price tag for the French Bakery that AG would have included working lights in the fridge as well in the large shop. I am not sure how that would have effected the final price, but I would have been willing to shell out an extra $10 - $20 for some working lights! I do have experience electrifying dollhouses, but I like to shop AG because their outfits and accessories are generally "ready to play!" and not "fix me up!"
The stove and sink unit is really fun, with lots of moveable parts. Doors open and knobs turn. The sprayer unit can be removed from its cradle and be aimed like a real faucet sprayer.
Even the oven rack is moveable. The doors below the oven also open to reveal storage space.
Top of sink unit before installing the faucet.
I turned the stove and sink unit around and discovered two surprises. First, the back of the unit is finished and includes a La Patisserie sign. This is fantastic because it really makes this unit able to be placed anywhere in the bakery or even in another scene and it will look great from any angle.
But the other surprise was that the upper portion of the unit had four visible indentations. It also appears like an extra coat of paint was applied to the top inch of the unit to better camouflage the indentations. I puzzled over whether this was normal or not for these units to no avail, but then I was able to stop at AGPSF to inspect their own floor model.
Above is the floor model of the back of the stove and sink unit at AGPSF. There are almost imperceptible indentations but one really needs to squint to find them. But even more to the point, there is just one smooth and even coating of silver paint. So now my dilemma is whether or not the flaws on my own unit is worth calling AG customer service for a replacement.
The serving counter comes stuffed with two bags of goodies (to be unpacked in an upcoming WWOG Blog).
The counter is entirely plastic and features a faux marble counter top.
The back side of the counter is gently curved and features a working drawer. This stand alone counter could be used for scenes selling anything from pastries to candies to flowers to balloons or plants--it is wonderfully generic and yet lovely.
With the exception of the questionable indentations (and bad paint over job) on the stove and sink unit, I really like the major appliances and serving counter.
Next for the French Bakery will be the two bags of goodies--and then it will be time to inspect the building itself and move in!
These appliances are very nice. I like how you show the detail in them. There is a lot! The fridge is adorable. I'm not as sold on the oven sink combination. Both look too small for a working bakery. Grace can fit one tray of cookies in there, but washing the tray afterward will be difficult in the small round ink. Yes, I am being too literal in my view of a play piece. However, everything else seems to be big compared to that oven. Perhaps this is the demo station and not the actual baking area of the shop.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about the size of the sink itself. You are right, poor Grace is going to have to dash off to a bigger kitchen to wash most her baking sheets and pans! It is so interesting to see the bakery from another perspective and hear what aspects add or detract from the enjoyment (playability or display) of an item. I prefer lots of realism but I need to give AG items quite a bit of leeway or I'd go crazy. Interestingly, I am much (much!) more demanding of my 1:12 scale dollhouse items than I am with AG items which are about 1:3 on average.
ReplyDeleteFor AG, I usually make up some sort of story to excuse some of the inconsistencies. I like your idea of treating the oven and sink unit as a demo station.
I was just wondering if the appliances are entirely plastic, like the front counter?
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha. Yes, the appliances are entirely plastic. Parts of the fridge have a nice brushed metallic silver effect to them, but to the best of my knowledge, they are all still plastic.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I'm really tempted by this set!
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