Sylvanian Hell

The presentation is just wow, still today. I'm not a train or vehicle fan really, couldn't tell you the first thing about a car. However the design is so intricate and thoughtful here. Similar to the more recent cars not having a hood, one side of the tram is completely open, allowing for play and display.

The accessories are packed with so much care, although the text is too small to read for the most part. The plastic itself is very nice, but it feels slightly cheaper when things like railing or doors clearly would have improved with paint. It's intended for play, so I would rather there be less details to worry about getting damaged. Although, the doors...boy the doors. They love to get stuck. And it could come down to manufacturing luck but I needed force to push them close on quite a few occasions.

There are wheels that roll behind the faux-wheels- I didn't photograph it particularly though. I remember this rolled rather poorly on my tables, so this may be better on a carpet. My tram is noisy at least.

The pamphlets and tickets are things that seem easy to lose, for children I would just omit them and leave them in a bag for later. The hat too seems like it'll get lost. However the seats...I love the seats. There's quite a few arrangement options for the tram, although it may make the doors sort of decorative in some positions. You can even place them on top of your tram if you'd like. They pop into certain slots fairly firm, but not so tight a kid wouldn't be able to remove them.

At the time of these photos, I did not have the Maple cats! But I think in canon, the Maple cat father drives the tram around the town. The hats fit everyone! It's felt which I do not really like to see, it doesn't feel very nice but it looks nice. The hat looks very prone to lint as much sylvanian felt fabric and flocking is. I regret that I never photographed the driver section- there's a spot near the front for the tram driver to stand at. It's very cute! I'll have to do another shoot of this one day.

My very old photo of my display...sighs. kind of nostalgic! I am a huge fan of this tram and can't recommend it enough, for those looking for a good piece or toy. I would be careful around the doors for kids, some pinching may happen. Otherwise very good quality and I feel like it's was worth the 20-30 USD price tag. Believe it or not, this was on a severe discount/clearance on Amazon for the longest time. I got mine for 12 bucks with free shipping. Good luck finding one below 50 now on Amazon or eBay, or anywhere. I think if you buy this second hand, just try and get a seat (or both seats if you can). The tram without seats is still good but you can use the seats for other things. The smaller goodies are nice...but I would save your second hand money troubles for better sylvanian sets. This is like a solid 5/5, but not a must have. I would argue smaller furniture sets are must haves :) at least ... In this second hand market.

^^^From the official Sylvanian website

I had bought these years ago! And have opened them...years ago! The pictures were taken when I opened them.

I was thoroughly impressed on first opening the critters! Although... I have had SOME time with them now. The Meerkats are novel, compared to the Cows. I often find myself tucking just one of the Meerkats onto my shelf or display rather than all of them- compared to the Cows who are extremely sweet looking. I don't think the Meerkats are super ugly or anything, but they are an acquired taste. I've actually since parted with the meerkat siblings (I don't have a fondness for most of the sylvanian children or babies! Sorry!) The cows I've kept together, and I'm still very smitten with them.

The felting on the meerkat father was damaged out of box, seen in this photo. Very rarely do I want a shirtless sylvanian on display, I suppose I would if it was a beach display though. Very disappointing to see the fabric damaging the flocking right away. This usually only happens to the critters wearing dresses, as the waist tends to get a felt imprint from the stiffer or poorly cut dresses.

Aside from this mishap, I actually would recommend both. Meerkats add this animalistic edge I don't see often in Sylvanian families, and would look fantastic with the boars, 80s treefellow owls and 2007 deburg penguins. I am quite partial to them, but their costuming left much to be desired- this is more of a culture difference between me and Epoch. Neutrals are extremely trendy in Japan, I'm sure the designers intended the Meerkats provide both a foreign animal to most collections and a sweet color scheme. I just want them wearing something different! One day I'll do a clothes swap hah, the outfits themselves are quite well sewn and the textiles were notably better compared to the previous 2010-18 release windows.

The cows are... so very good. Perhaps a favorite of my sylvanians, even now. I can't say if their costuming is better or worse quality than either of their older releases- but I can say they're quite cute. I do prefer this orange on the child dress in this limited release version. I have no more to add on the cows, just fantastic looking critters that capture that more contemporary playful design philosophy of Epoch. Bright color blocking, sweet faces and surprisingly nice details on otherwise simplistic clothing. The horns on the (intended) bull is a nice touch, but don't let this stop you from playing! Cows and specifically Fresians can grow horns regardless of gender! (Perhaps...they are butch cows...hmm....)