I had really been looking forward to building Happyduke Toys. My first ROKR model with this type of movement was the Dream Coffee Factory, which I absolutely loved, so I probably went into this one with some pretty high expectations. Happyduke Toys is part of the Whimland series, though, and it’s a smaller, less complex kit at 305 pieces, so it really isn’t trying to be another Coffee Factory.
The finished toy shop is adorable. I love the old-fashioned storefront, the window packed with toys, the little train that travels around upstairs, and all the different areas that light up. There’s also music, and I really appreciate that you can turn the music off while still enjoying the movement and lights.
The actual building experience wasn’t one of my favorites, though. The lighting uses one very long strand of tiny fairy lights that gets routed throughout the entire building. At first I thought I was going to love having one strand instead of dealing with a bunch of separate wires. By the end, I would have happily taken all those wires! The drawings do show where the individual light beads should be positioned as you route and wrap the strand, but what I really needed was some kind of checkpoint telling me how much of the strand should be left. Should I have five beads remaining at this point? Eight? Without that, it was difficult to know if I had routed everything correctly until I got farther along and discovered I didn’t have enough lights left. I ended up backtracking twice and was still one light short. The wire is so thin that after reworking it several times, I decided it was better to make do than risk breaking it.
The little bear in the top balcony is supposed to sway back and forth, and I was never completely happy with his movement. Everything was installed and waxed as instructed, but he just didn’t seem to move very well. I also heard a very slight occasional noise from the mechanism. This is where I should have left well enough alone! I took it apart to investigate, and after taking it apart and putting it back together a couple of times, one of the little plastic sleeves on a shaft came off and bound up. I unplugged it quickly, but I managed to damage the motor in the process. That part is definitely on me.
I think “make do” describes my experience with this build better than anything. Nothing was a complete disaster, and it came together into a really cute finished model, but I felt like I had to make do more often than I normally do with a ROKR build.
I do like the whole idea behind Whimland, and I’m very curious to see where ROKR takes the series. If Happyduke Toys eventually has some neighboring Whimland buildings, I can see these making a really fun little collection.
I posted a video showing the lights and movement here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DdkXw8dkbdT/?stkn=MW9ra3RmdGV5YzhodA==
What do you think of the idea of a whole series of little Whimland buildings? What kind of shop would you want to see next?
but I did try some of them and ended up working great although challenging
