Sylvanian Families Field View Mill

The Sylvanian families range has been going since 1985 and, although it has had a few ups and downs, the many items in the Sylvanian range have become quite collectable, both for playing with and for simply displaying.
The Sylvanian families consist of furry little animal families such as dogs, beavers, cows and more, who live in different types of houses, go on holiday in tents and caravans and drive around in cars and bikes, even boats too.

And it so happens that a few years back my daughter decided that these little furry characters and the houses they live in, would be her latest collecting ‘fad’, so she has been buying, and receiving as gifts since then, bringing her Sylvanian families collection to cupboard bulging heights.

Over the years she has amassed many characters, in family format, with many many places for them to live in, and even more ways for them to travel about in.
One of the items she was given as a present was the rather nice looking Wind mill, or to give it it’s proper name, The Sylvanian Families Field View Mill, which stands quite tall and proud with in her collection.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE ..?

It’s quite a size, height wise that is, being approximately 530mm in height, 460mm wide and 365mm in length and weighing in at approximately 1KG. It is a trio of colours, with the main body being a cream colour, whilst the bottom floor is a dark yellow, and a blue, well, more a ‘turquoise’ colour on the dome.
Inside there are three floors in total and there are four sails on the outside, with a conservatory/extension on the side.
There are two walk ways on the outside which circle the windmill, one just above the ground floor with the other just above the third floor, below the dome top. Both these walk ways have ‘frilly’ guard rails surrounding them so that the Sylvanian figure don’t fall off.
There are a myriad of window encircling the structure, with each one having rather nice details around them.
On the outside there are several little features, such as a swing seat just outside the front door, some lanterns and other little accessories, and a hoist which takes a little basket up to the top floors walkway.
And not forgetting the actual sails, which does spin around when you push them.
The actual design of the exterior wall is quite impressive, looking like cream coloured brick work with a little twist in the middle as the brickwork changes design slightly.

The inside of the windmill is totally exposed to the elements at the rear and there is plenty of room for the figures to happily play without fear of bumping there heads.
On the inside there is even more detail, with little ladders giving access to each floor and a little telescope in the dome section.
The interior floors are all made to resemble floor boards which does add to the ’realism’ of the structure, and, once you’ve added the stickers, this Wind Mill begins to look like home, for a Sylvanian family that is.

** MY OPINION…

Out of all of the Sylvanian items my daughter has in her room, and beyond, this wind mill has got to be the one that the designers at Flair really thought about as it has some lovely details on it. The way they have made the outside look like it is made of bricks, whilst the dome looks like it is made of wooden slats. I mean, they could have just left the outside walls plain and dull, but they didn’t.
Then there’s the railings which encircle the building, these too have been given some real though from the designers, making sure that they fit in with the rest of the build.
I am quite impressed with the look of the actual thing, especially from the outside, considering it is really a child’s toy.

As for the inside, well, this lacks a little in the detail department, compared to the outside, but you can tell that some thought has edged into designing the interior. The little white ladders are quite a nice touch, although I think wind mills do have spiralling stair cases. And the lovely looking light brown floor board effect does give the mill a little bit of character, although this detail will no doubt be covered wit a rug or two once you start playing with it.

The rooms are a good size and can fit the adult figures in with out banging there heads, although your own hands may snag the roofs a little, but this is all part of the fun with playing in the Sylvanian houses.

Then there’s the other little ‘play things’ that come with this building, such as the lovely little winch, which is situated at the top of the Wind Mill, and has a tiny little basket which you can lift things up and down until your hearts content.
And there’s the thing that makes this one stand out, that is the sails themselves, four of them, which spin around quite happily once pushed, (and don’t worry, they will stop if little fingers get in there way so there’ll be no chopping off of fingers).

There is a telescope right at the top, inside the ‘dome’ section, but this is purely decorative so don’t expect to be able to see the moon through it.

What more can I say about this Sylvanian Wind Mill? Well, as I said, it is one of the better building in the Sylvanina range, with some well thought out detail. It may not seem to be up to scale with some of the larger ‘critters’ but, using imagination, it will bring hours of fun for the younger person in you, or, if you are a collector like my daughter, this is a must to add to your shelves

As for the price, well, as with all Sylvanian goods, you will have to dig deep into your purse/wallet as this one sells for between £65.00 and £75.00 which, for me, is a bit too pricey for what you get. I mean, they don’t even give any figures or furniture with this wind mill, apart from a swing seat. So for around £70.00 all you get is a shell. For that price they could have at least thrown in a family or even a few bits of furniture.
But, if this is something that you or your child wants then I supposed the price can be justified, especially if it’s for a Birthday/Christmas present.