Review – Snow Rescue Outfit Set

snowoutfit

The clothes do make the robot! I never really thought I would wind up buying the Snow Outfit Rescue Set when I first saw it (first mentioned here), but I took a chance on the 12-inch scale action figure outfit set last month and ordered the pack of accessories . . . and I can now report that the kit is overpriced. The gear you get isn’t terrible, but it’s not of a high enough quality — and there isn’t enough of it — to make it worth the $65 price tag. And if holding the pieces in my hands didn’t tell me enough about it actually dressing an action figure in the gear cemented my opinion of the outfit set.

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Junglevet Ready for Arctic Adventure!

The Dollsfigure Snow Rescue Outfit Set is shown here on the Adventure Kartel Junglevet (review here) 12-inch scale action figure. Dressing Junglevet in this winter gear was a tad annoying at times. It helped greatly that the figure’s hands and feet popped off (and went back on) easily, but the small belt and belt closure was frustrating to deal with (Gina ended up getting the belt on where I failed).What is worse is that the gear intended to hang from the belt doesn’t really have any set slots; you simply add pieces and hope for the best. The belt also doesn’t loop through the red jumpsuit, so unless you get the belt really tight the entire contraption hangs and slides down once you hang the axe and fire extinguisher from the belt.

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Using the Fur

The Junglevet is shown wearing the toy’s original boots; the fur lining shown is from the Snow Outfit Rescue Set and was easy to work with since the fur slipped right off the boots included in the kit and then slid onto the Junglevet’s legs. The left wrist is furred using the piece intended for around the action figure’s neck . . . there was no way that I was going to get this fur around the Junglevet’s big robot head. Not all of the outfit set’s accessories were used — the helmet, googles, and hands just didn’t work well with the robot — so there is more in the kit than shown here. See the Cotswold Collectibles ordering page for a complete listing of parts included in the kit.

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The Clothes do Make the Robot!

As I said at the start of this review, the clothing — especially on 12-inch scale action figures — really affects the overall look and quality of a toy. One thing that dressing the Junglevet in this gear demonstrated to me is that the entire Adventure Kartel action figure series (Amazon.com search*) benefits greatly from the work sunk into the clothing and accessories. All of the weathering inflicted on the Adventure Kartel clothes has a huge effect on the toys; just compare the shots of the Junglevet in these clean clothes to the pics in the Junglevet review and I’m sure you’ll see what I’m talking about.

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Closing Thoughts

The Snow Rescue Outfit Set looked far, far cooler online than it does in person, and I can feel good knowing that just maybe this review has saved some of you a little cash. There are far better things to buy from $65 than this kit, so I recommend passing on this unless you end up finding the set for half price. At $35 or so this wouldn’t be bad if you use it along with some other gear, but for the original price I don’t think it’s good enough. I’ll leave Junglevet wearing this for a little while, but I know it’s just a matter of time before the toy is changed back into his original gear and these accessories are set aside . . . and very likely forgotten.

Too bad. I had high hopes for this. Maybe the next outfit set I try will hold up to my expectations.