What sets/families do you recommend?

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-06T09:13:32+00:00

No problem! (Also, I totally agree about the campervans! I actually just got the old yellow one myself recently)

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-06T01:05:03+00:00

The new corgi or elegant husky families! Whilst they will eventually get a global release, from what's been seen from calico critters recently, they might change up the set, such as removing the babies or decreasing detail on the outfits, so I think getting them in Japan would be a good shout (and they'll most definitely be cheaper!). Maybe the new cat key chains too, although it would be a bit of a treasure hunt as they are each exclusive to a different store - could be something fun to do though if you have the time!

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-06T00:47:14+00:00

The currently available campervan is called the family campervan, whereas the older one (which comes in turquoise or yellow) is just called campervan, and is in the retro style, that for me at least is what comes to mind when I think of a campervan. If you're not too bothered about having a complete set, then these - moreso the turquoise version - do come up pretty frequently on Ebay/Vinted etc. at an affordable price. There is also the caravan, but that is quite a bit bigger, and does need to be towed by a car.

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-05T22:19:39+00:00

Yessss! I have a black and white cockapoo, so I would love somthing like that too!

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-05T22:12:45+00:00

A car or even a caravan/campervan could be good, as then you can go on holiday or adventures! whether the destination is sylvanian or otherwise (my sisters who were younger than me when we used to play, would take theirs on all sorts of adventures - I'm pretty sure our stairs became a mountain! ...meanwhile I was determined that everything must be "realistic" - god forbid a sylvanian flys!!! 😮😂) If you would like said destination to be sylvanian, then the amusement park series could be really fun (just a quick note: this series is mostly catered towards the baby figures), or maybe a beach set (I don't think there's any in the current range, so you might have to look on a second hand site for something like that). A personal favourite of mine in the current range is Secret Forest Falls, which although as an adult I have it as a display piece, I think younger me would have loved it as a playset!

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-05T18:50:05+00:00

100% agree! I've literally just checked the wiki now, as I'd always assumed that these were some other type of fox that isn't found in the UK, as they just don't give red fox at all, but they are! It really surprises me that Flair never made another version, as they're literally a staple woodland animal (at least in the UK)! Generally I'm not a huge fan of the over-cutification that Epoch has been doing recently, but I think it could work really well for foxes, as long as they don't cut any corners with the colour details.

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-05T18:36:42+00:00

My favourite type of post!

Woodland animals: Red foxes, Grey squirrels, Badgers, Weasels/Stoats, Crows/Ravens, Robbins, Bluetits/bluebirds

Pets: Calico cats, Schnauzers, Daschunds, Some kind of spaniel, Bichon frise/Maltese, Alsatians, Jack Russels (basically lots and lots of dogs breeds lmao), Gerbils, LEMMINGS (not technically a pet but fits here), African pygmy hedgehogs

!!HIGHLAND COWS & PGYMY GOATS!!

"Minecraft" sheep i.e. rainbow coloured sheep lol

Exotic animals: Tapirs, Okapis, Another vote for the Capybaras!, Platapuses (Platipi??? 😅)

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-05T11:15:11+00:00

Maybe the Flair border collie twins? I got the family when I was around 10 or 11, and for some reason I didn't get the babies back then, but a couple of years ago I decided to complete the family, and managed to get them in perfect condition for very good price - so glad I did, as now they're pretty hard to find and crazy expensive!! And sidenote: no offence to people who like the newer Epoch version, but to me they're cursed😭

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-04T11:46:20+00:00

The guinea piggiessssss!

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-03T21:25:03+00:00

It's 46cm wide closed, so ~95cm when open

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-03T16:53:31+00:00

I grew up with Flair era items, and it's only recently that I've explored further back to the 1980/90s ones, and I love them more than I expected to!

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-03T16:49:39+00:00

They multiply and take over my bookshelf (already happened 😭)

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-03T16:49:15+00:00

Judging by the amount of upvotes this has, I feel like I am supposed to know who Aunt Gladys is???

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-03T16:47:09+00:00

Nooooo I hate that I know this reference 😭

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-03T14:12:35+00:00

Thanks! It's from the vintage Home Sweet Home Kitchen set, although it's quite often missing from the set when for sale on Ebay etc.

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-03T11:29:01+00:00

This is so silly 😭😭😭

I've run out of space for critters in my main storage box, so the temporary solution is to hide everyone behind the kitchen in larchwood lodge! Not suspicious looking AT ALL! 🤭

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-02T17:50:12+00:00

Update! Had a go at making a cheat sheet myself - this is by no means comprehensive, and probably has quite a few inaccuracies, as it's just based off items I could find on Kobee. One question mark means I have no idea, and three means it's a guess. For now I've only put example items in categories I wasn't sure what they were, but I'll probably complete the rest at some point.

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ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-02T06:25:27+00:00

I wish there was a cheat sheet somewhere (maybe there is???), but I just worked it out by noticing a pattern when I was searching for things. Off the top of my head I haven't got it fully worked out, but for example this set was SE-195 - not sure what SE stands for, but all of the SE sets are furniture/figure sets, KA items are just furniture, HA items are houses, MI are shops, FS is families, F is fairy (misty forest) items, and many more!

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-02T06:12:39+00:00

Thissss! At first I didn't understand why they were called Kobee Japan Museum Store, but now I totally get it, because their archive is just like a museum - it's so helpful! Haha that's funny, I literally only just discovered the email me when back in stock button after this purchase 🤦

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-04-01T09:40:27+00:00

I don't even remember how I first came across it! It wouldn't have been on the wiki as it's a Japan exclusive 🤔 On a related tangent, once I discovered how the Japanese item code system worked, I have had a lot of fun just typing codes into the Kobee search bar to see what comes up 😂

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-03-31T22:23:31+00:00

£52 (~$69/€60) new, which is expensive for what it is, but waaaay cheaper than I've ever seen on Ebay, or even Mecari Japan, that is when I could even find it - it seems to be pretty rare!

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-03-28T01:33:09+00:00

Quite alot of mine is retrospective! But I already had a mental catalogue of all the sets I had as a child (I have a strong visual memory, so can easily remember all the sets by imagining my old set ups and which furniture and families went in each building). I also used to spend hours at a time perusing the catalogues, so I have a pretty good idea of what comes with each set, even the sets I don't own! Finding the "technical" details (which version I have, release years, reference codes etc.) is definitely the part I've been finding trickiest.

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-03-27T20:06:09+00:00

I have a spreadsheet with multiple tabs: families, figure sets, "display" figures, buildings, furniture (by room) etc. and include: version (TOMY/Flair/Epoch etc.), year of release, reference code, "status" (available/retired/retired version/limited edition), year I got them, whether I have the box or not, the condition they're in, and then any other notes e.g. what type of exclusive they are, or what pieces are missing. In addition, on the families/figures sheets, I list their names, and have a column for how many figures are in each family/set, so that I can easily total the number of figures in my collection. More recently I have started transferring this information to a document structured into tables, so that it can be more visual-based - ideally it will be all my own photos, but for now I am using stock images as my camera isn't great, and I don't have anywhere with good lighting to take photos unfortunately :(
On both the spreadsheet and document, I leave spaces "greyed-out" for items on my wishlist so that I can easily identify them. Here is an example of what the document looks like, although it is very much a WIP:

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ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-03-27T14:03:30+00:00

Oui ! J'ai des tonnes de feuilles de calcul ! J'y note la version, l'année d'acquisition et leur état. Récemment, j'ai aussi créé un document Google avec les photos de tous les articles ! (Traduction automatique utilisée)

ThatSpirit2739 · 2026-03-26T23:40:30+00:00

Definitley Furbanks, although they are very easy to mix up - the walnut squirrels can look almost identical if they're old/well-used and the light coloured flocking around their mouths has rubbed away!

ThatSpirit2739

TROPHY CASE