It was with a bit of reluctance that I picked up a five pack Emergency gift set. I am really not sure if these models are meant to be played with - again they look far too detailed to be let loose in the hands of little people, and car crashed to kingdom come.
So, let's have a look at them then. As with all of them, they have the famous Norev tramline suspension - bouncy bouncy at first, but I think the fun will be taken out when the wires get bent....
The first model is a Gendarmarie Citroen C4 - this is the second casting that I have of this model, and as far as I am concerned 'job done' - a good casting I think, and especially like the way that the boddy looks a little jacked up. I don't know but looks like it gives the impression that is it really fast. So i like this one.
Next we have the Peugoet 308 in Police livery. No opening parts on this one, but again, as fairly nice casting. Like most of these 1/64 models I really do love the accuracy of the wheels, and with this model it is no different with those 308 wheels. Lovely. HOWEVER. There is a down side. As this is meant to be a toy, you would expect the zoom zoom factor to be in order yet when doing zoom-zoom on a flat surface, you simply end up with locked up wheels, and the car doing a handbrake turn. Different story on carpet.....but a negative.
The Citroen C5 Estate is also a decent little casting. Again, no opening parts and suffers from the handbrake syndrome that the 308 does as well. But as a casting, I think it would diplay well.
The Citroen Jumper tipper is one of those castings that I call brilliantly flawed. As can be seen from the pictures, the front bumper looks like it is about to be ripped off, but the irony is here is that I actually quite like it like that - shows the working class roots. So I let that pass. Like the others, I love the wheels which are very accurate and the model is in good proportion. The Tipper part let's it down. Although it works without issue, when putting the model back in the packaging, the rear tail flap snapped in half. FFS!!! Couldn't believe it, and was well narked....
It is possible to super glue it back, which I did, returned back to the packaging, and it promptly snapped in half again. Bugger and arse. Not happy.
Finally, with have the Renault Kangoo - a cute little van with a working sliding door. A good, honest little casting, with nowt really wrong with it.
So there we have it. The last Norev castings I will be getting for some time. This lot are not a bad lot, but as noted above, there are some major flaws with them. As a consumer, I have a right to be demanding and therefore expect the QC standards to be far higher than they are. At a lower price point HW and MB, you will necver have these problems, and even with the over-priced Superfast /Lesney MB editions you would never see these QC issues. So, would I buy any more again?
Only for the reason that you cannot get these castings in MB guise (as Mattel are simply not interesting in getting a license for modern French castings, and concentrate on those US&A models that the MCCH Mafia insist they produce.....). But has a value toy to play with, these are too pricey for the likes of little people. I think that Norev should pay a little more attention to the quality of the models and elevate them to Tomica LV status, and then you will really have a winner. I am glad that I have these castings, but at the same, feel slightly miffed that these are beautifully flawed.
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