Review of Crystal Rainbow Castle - VERY pic heavy

goddessofpeep

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
274
*edit to add dimentions of the playset*
(measurements are close, but may not be exact due to shape of the castle)
Collapsed:
Width: 19 inches
Depth: 11.5 inches
Height: 16 inches

Expanded:
Width: 41 inches
Depth: 12.5 inches
Height: 25 inches

Yes, I got the darn thing today. It's a slightly early birthday gift from my fiance, so how could I refuse? Since this is the most expensive playset for the G3 line to date, and a lot of people aren't sure if they want it, I thought I'd post a review and some pics for the undecided. I usually write these up for the larger playsets and send them to my friends, but this time I'm posting one:p

Construction - As playsets go, this one feels fairly solid. When fully extended out there are some pieces that feel a bit fragile, and it's way too soon to determine if the pop up mechanism will last, but this playset doesn't have any pieces that fall off or become separated easily. It's also pretty well thought out. When it's completely collapsed, it has a pretty small footprint considering its size. It gets really large when you expand it fully. Collapsed it's less than a foot deep, and about 18-20 inches wide. It is much smaller than the BI playset when collapsed, but can grow to wider than BI when expanded. You can partially expand the playset so it still has a small footprint, but it becomes 3 levels of pony shelves. The towers can be used to store a lot of accessories as well. I was very worried where I would put the thing once I got it, but I easily fit it on my pony shelf when it was partially expanded. You will need 2 feet of clearance for the playset to expand upwards if you wish to display it like this. The playset requires almost no assembly, and getting it out of the box was a lot less painful than I thought. All the stickers are already applied, you just basically get it out of the box, stick some batteries in it, and go(you do need a philips screwdriver). There are several sets of twist ties to deal with, but considering how much packaging they could have used, it's not much. You can have this thing up and running in less than 15 minutes, which can be important on Christmas morning:p
4/5

Magnets/mechanisms - This playset is very light on the magnetic features. It has a piece of furniture that has the usual magnet operated drawers which I really don't find interesting at all anymore. It does have something new - the dance floor. There's a little stick with a magnet(you can see it in the pictures - it's pink with a white heart on the end) under the floor. When you put a pony on the dance floor and move the stick around, it drags the pony with it making it "dance". It's a pretty crude trick, but it does work, and my fiance found it hysterical. The main mechanism is the pop up part which can be activated by the "magic wand" or by pushing the button. I have to admit, it is VERY impressive to watch this thing pop up. It requires 2 AA batteries to run this part, and it lifts the 2 levels, releases 2 small platforms on the top floor, and opens the main doors. It does not release the towers, and that's a bit of a disappointment. It looks like they should be released when the top goes up, but they don't. It's still really fun to do. You have to be careful pushing it back down. The castle does not have any musical elements which hurts it. Every other large playset has some music, and I'm wondering why they didn't put that feature into this HUGE AND EXPENSIVE playset. The pop up mechanism is fun to watch, and the dance floor is a new idea and does work, but I'll have to score this section a bit low due to the lack of music and other features.
3/5

Pony - There is no pony. The playset costs $60 and there is no pony. Bad move Hasbro.
0/5

Accessories - It does come with accessories, and they're pretty decent. It comes with my all time favorite accessory - the punch bowl and ladle from the dance studio. This time it's in purple! I like this one a lot, always have. Too bad it's reused. Naughty Hasbro! It also comes with the set of matching goblets and a make up table re-released from the studio. The rest of the accessories seem to be unique to this set. It comes with some perfume bottles and cream containers. The perfume accessories are just solid pieces, but the cream containers are a bottom and a lid. I like that little detail. There is also a very small table with an umbrella. It's a bit too small to actually put a lot of food on it, but it's cute. It also comes with 2 ice cream sundaes and 2 spoons. The final two accessories are a pink makeup table(magnet activated), and a purple cabinet which is pretty nice. All in all, I'd say the accessories are nice, but not unique enough or interesting enough for such a large playset. A small warning - several of the accessories are very small and easy to lose.
3.5/5

Originality - The playset itself is a new and better version of the castle. It's not a repaint of some previous playset, so that's always good. There is no pony, so I can't judge that for it's originality. Some of the accessories have been released elsewhere, so that brings down this score a bit, but overall it's still a very nice addition to the line, and very different from what we've seen before.
4/5


Overall this is a nice playset, but it has some problems. First and foremost, it has no pony. The playset itself is well thought out, and would make an impressive display in any ponyroom. It can be compacted quite a bit to fit on shelves and to store away, but it is by no means tiny. It can also be expanded quite a lot, and any child would be thrilled to get it. This is a much nicer castle than the first one. At its pricetag, it's a bit sparse on a few things, but it is a worthwhile playset. It darn well better not be re-released with an exclusive!

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Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough review! I enjoyed reading it, and your points are very valid.

I think, for the first time, I will be *waiting* to purchase a MLP product!! Which is shocking for me -- I usually have to have it as soon as it hit shelves!! Sooo, I think this time I will wait for it to go on sale, or hopefully be re-released with a bonus pony of some kind!
 
i won't be buying it but i love the perfume bottles!
 
You put alot of effort into this, thank you.
:D
 
I agree with Sam, this must have taken you ages! Thanks a lot for doing this for us. =)

And on the subject of the castle, I think it's waaayy overpriced, especially as it has no pony. It doesn't even look good Hasbro, what were you thinking??
 
whew I didn't buy the first castle because of prices. but $60 and NO pony! I love it but jeez thats alot for very little accessories and a chunk of plastic and no pony. good job on the pics btw.
 
very comprehensive review, thank you! i like the overall design of the castle, but those goblets are also from the dance studio and i'm pretty sure that makeup vanity is from the dance studio as well. i'm also extremely bothered that it doesn't come with any ponies (at that price it should come with 4!) and you even have to buy the furniture separately (exCUSE ME?). i'll be happy to add it to my collection, but i'm waiting until they either add some bonus stuff or put it on clearance.
 
Not to burst any one's bubble, but I have a strong feeling it will be re-released with another pony, not necessarily an exclusive, but more than likely with some extra ponies. If you look at all the other bigger play sets, most of them came with extra ponies eventually, so I'm holding out on this one for a while to see if they do.

If they don't I'm thinking I'll just wait for the onslaught of castles in thrift stores (happened with celebration castle) :p

-sarix
 
Wow! That thing is massive! I only buy playsets for the ponies, but this is great. I'll definitely buy it, but I'll wait a few months and see if it goes on sale. I got the BI playset for $20, plus three other ponies (I am so glad I waited)!
 
I found the furniture sets today at TRU and I'm debating on whether or not to bring the castle and accessories to the MLP Fair. It's WAY too big for my booth, but if there's a free place for me to set it up, I could bring it so people can look at it in person.

*shrugs*
 
goddessofpeep said:
I found the furniture sets today at TRU and I'm debating on whether or not to bring the castle and accessories to the MLP Fair. It's WAY too big for my booth, but if there's a free place for me to set it up, I could bring it so people can look at it in person.

*shrugs*
that sounds like a great idea if the space is permitting! i think it would help a lot of people decide if it's really worth the money. :)
 
Yeah, I would like to do it, but I'm bringing SO MANY PONIES already, and I have no idea if I'll actually be able to get some free space somewhere to set it up. There's just not enough time to set something up with the fair people right now, and already the thought of loading even one more thing into the car makes me cringe. There's no way I can fit this thing at my booth either. I would really like to do it though. Maybe do a quick demonstration of the pop up feature(I do not want 300 people pushing the button! It might break). They can't seem to get Hasbro to come, but having a just barely released playset and accessories to look over might be fun for everyone. I should've reserved more than one booth. Maybe even 3 or 4 because I have a lot of stuff already:/
 
Wow - thanks for the great review! The close up photos are EXCELLENT!

(Might I ask what camera you have? We're looking to by a camera that can take good close-up pony photos, but most digitals fail in that respect!)

I think I'll wait for a price drop / adition of bonus ponies. I bet it will happen at Christmas... Question is, where the heck will I put it!?!
 
I have a Cannon Digital ELF, don't quite recall which one. It's a few years old and only 4 megapixels, but it does a decent job with closeups. I'm sure the newer ones are much nicer, but this camera seems to work pretty well. It takes compact flash, so the cards are cheap too;)
 
I agree, thanks for all the info. and pics. they are great. :) Makes me want to get one. I'm not sure yet.
 
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