I have visited with a few FameMaster 4D puzzles in past posts, but never a ‘set’ of them. There are various incarnations and releases of them, as well as different modes of selling them. Sometimes it’s in plastic eggs, sometimes in little boxes. Although the lines are kind of broad, they were usually out in groups of four; this is one such example, a group of four wild animals, collected under the series number 20124. Possibly not the most exciting series, but four nice enough models!
I think I got these ones in plastic eggs, a long while ago. At a hardware store! It was the kind of thing they would bring in for Christmas seasons, although I probably got them because they are great to amuse kids. They hold up well, and are decent challenges for kids (and, sometimes, adults).
This particular series appears to be grouped as four African Safari animals, although in general the sets are never identified as any particular theme. This is common based on others that I have; thematic foursomes, but not labelled as anything. As far as safari animals go, it’s a pretty good if standard bunch. Some are pretty good. Some are…more basic.
As with any FameMaster figures, these are of course puzzle figures with large PVC pieces. On most of them, like the cheetah, zebra, and giraffe, go together fairly well. The pieces fit well, and and the seams are not too obvious. On others, like the hippo, the seams are very, very easy to see. Which kind of breaks the illusion, and might limit how displayable they are. On the other hand, some don’t stay together well; the giraffe is especially prone to falling apart and doesn’t stand well at all.
Overall, I generally enjoy and recommend these FameMaster puzzle figures. They are fun to put together, and several of them would be great on display with a collection. Admittedly, maybe not these ones, they aren’t exactly unique species. The company itself makes a wide range of animals in all kinds of forms, so there’s probably something interesting for anyone (maybe someday I’ll hit on one of the really cool series…). The good news is that most of these figures are still available; the difficult part is that they seem to have become harder to actually get in many places. Not sure why distribution is worse than it one was, because everyone should have 3d animal puzzles!
