ReadySetz Urban 18 Playset

Awhile back ageekdaddy.com had a chance to take a look at the prototype of the Space Base playset from ReadySetz.  This 1:12 scale [28” (h) X 38” (w) X 21” (d)] three dimensional fold-out playset provides a great backdrop for kids to immerse action figures ranging from the standard 3.75" sized ones to the 6" to 7" inch toys that have grown in popularity lately in imaginative adventures. Parents will appreciate ReadySetz playsets because there is no assembly required, they can be easily folded up and stored away, were built durable enough to endure rough play, and are environmentally-friendly containing 0% plastic and being made with recyclable materials. Kids will love them because they are imprinted with vibrant imagery and have lots of interactive features to spark their creativity and imagination while they play.

Now ReadySetz has sent us a prototype sample of a smaller 1:18 scale three dimensional playset [18” (h) X 12” (w) X 6” (d)] that is ideal for using with 1.5" mini-figures like those that come with LEGO and Mega Construx toys or diecast cars like Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning, Matchbox, Maisto, and M2 Machines. We were sent a design that was showcased at this year's Las Vegas Toy Con exhibition to check out. In addition to being a reduced size from the Space Base previously reviewed this playset differs from the sci-fi theme with a cityscape layout.

While the ReadySetz Urban 18 Playset has a different size and theme than the model we previously played around with, it shares the same qualities that earned A Geek Daddy nod of approval for the Space Base. This urban themed playset is full of artwork that sets the stage for children to have fun pretending to have adventures in the big city. Graphics of brick walls, pipes, steel beams and street signs provide a great environment for toy soldier battles, superhero missions, drag racing car high jinks, or wacky fun with LEGO Friends characters or Calico Critters.

In addition to its impressive appearance, this ReadySetz Urban playset has a number of features to stimulate imaginative play.  There are sewer tunnels to explore and ramps for toy cars to soar down. Stair cases to climb and a manhole cover to pop in and out of. A garage door can be opened up as well as a number of windows spread out across the buildings. Watch out! There is a skylight that kids can pretend to have toys fall through too.

ReadySetz Urban 18 does a nice job of providing a sense of depth to the play area with rooms underneath the main level and behind the front façades of the buildings. Yet is also provides plenty of space for kids to get their hands in those areas providing the illusion of closed off spaces that are actually very accessible. This provides a great deal of functionality allowing kids to view how they want to play with it from a variety of perspectives.

ReadySetz Urban 18, as well as a 1:18 version of the Space Base, are now available to purchase through readysetz.com. There are a few tweaks that have been made from the model shown in this post that have improved upon the sample we were provided. Also the Space Base we reviewed earlier and a similar 1:12 scale version of this Urban playset are also available to buy now to.

My kids and I have really enjoyed the ReadySetz playsets. In the past, I've purchased a number of bulky plastic ones my children have asked for that took hours for me to put together, were easily broken, and took up a lot of space to store.  With ReadySetz you just fold it out to play with and fold it down to put it away. Fits great in a closet, on a shelf or under a child's bed.  From a parent's perspective that is great, but most importantly my kids have a great time playing which is probably the most important litmus test for getting A Geek Daddy nod of approval.

Head over to readysetz.com and check out these impressive playsets! They also show some wonderful toyography highlighting their playsets on the ReadySetz Instagram and Twitter accounts. I've given them a number of likes for great pics they've posted on social media.

Command your own Star Wars Army

I remember having some epic backyard battles as a kid where my friends and I gathered all of our little green army men to create gigantic confrontations where we would spend hours yelling "bam bam", "boom" and mimicking other sounds of war while we pretended to be four star generals commanding our forces against the enemy.  All of the boys in my neighborhood had a toy chest full of these plastic figures, plus toy tanks, trucks and artillery and other various military props to go along with them and we'd spend whole afternoons playing "army men".  These were really basic toys but yet they were some of my favorite play things growing up.

Thirty years later the little plastic army men of my youth have been replaced by action figures and video games by today's kids.  So when I was wandering down the toy aisle at the store the other day with my son and saw the new "Star Wars Command" toys on the shelf it brought a smile to my face, and of course I had to pick up a set for my son ... and me ... to play with.  The "Star Wars Command" toys are essentially the green army men of my youth but they aren't green and they are made up of Star Wars characters that you can create armies out of.  We picked up a set for $4.99 that contained 8 "soldiers" and 1 "general" figure.  The soldiers were split between storm troopers and tusken raiders to pit against one another.  The general bonus figure was actually just one of the nicer storm trooper poses that was colored slightly better than the others in the package.

There were several themed sets in the $4.99 range to choose from plus some other more expensive sets that offered more figures plus vehicles to go along with them.  The expanded toy sets ranged in price from $9.99 to $60.  The sets with vehicles have really nice sculpts for the space ships and war machines included in them that really impressed me but were somewhat disappointing because they aren't to scale with the army men figures and are actually smaller than the toy soldiers.  I remember with the toy sets of my youth we had trucks that you could throw your soldiers in the back of and tanks that could roll threw your squad of army men.  That quality of play is lacking with these new Star Wars army men.

Hasbo did a nice job with the individual sculpts for the Star Wars characters in these sets.  The molds for the figures that came with the "Star Wars Command" play set we picked up had very nice detail for a small plastic toy.  A negative though was the assortment of figures included in the set we received.  While you want to have "army builders" which means lots of duplicates of characters and poses to build up an army, the variety was really lacking for a 9 figure assortment.  Of the stormtroopers, 3 of them were in the same pose of looking through binoculars ... I could see maybe 2 in the package but really a 1/3 of your assortment. The binocular troopers were like the radio operators for the green army men of old, you didn't mind having a couple to build up your army but they weren't the fun ones you really played with. Here in this play set you have the vicious and dangerous tusken raiders battling against some guys looking through binoculars. Kind of puts a damper on imaginative play for a kid! The other three stormtroopers were in an exact same pose with a laser rifle.  While the sculpts were both nicely done for these figures couldn't the toy manufacturer have added one more cool action posed storm trooper to the set?!  Plus for the tusken raiders all three of these sand people are in the exact same pose...couldn't they have made one or two more sculpts to make the play set a little more interesting?  Plastic injected molding can't be that expensive of a process to have been cost prohibitive in adding a few more details to make these toys a little bit nicer for people to enjoy. 

If you want to be nostalgic and have your children experience playing army with little plastic soldiers picking up the "Star Wars Command" toys isn't a bad buy based upon the price and will provide an afternoon of fun.  Unfortunately, my son lost interest  after the first day of playing with these figures because he said they were "all the same guy".  He just wasn't interested in playing with a bunch of army men looking through binoculars which made up a bulk of his playset. Based upon the limited characters available through the various play sets and the large number of duplicates of the less interesting sculpts packaged in these sets I don't see us buying more sets to try and create a grand Imperial armada or vast Rebel force.  If Hasbo begins to enhance the product with more variety though we might give it a second glance because the army men themselves weren't bad it was the lack of variety that really put a damper on enjoying them.