Belle's Tea Party

As an avid Belle fan, and Lego lovers little sis, I happily picked up this Belle Duplos box. As with most Duplos; I almost did not make the purchase given the high price point compared to the piece count. The colors are vibrant, the blocks are well made and offer the little builders with many set building options. The downside of this set is the frustration it gives to my littles both: my 4 year old son; and 2.5 year old daughter. They love re-creating the "instructions" i.e. the pictures on the box, and upon playing with the set, the fire brick slips out of the purple oven and won't stay put and neither Chip, nor Mrs. Potts fit in the fuchsia (fabulous color!) turret and the level of frustration this causes is headache inducing. Chip will not fit at all in the turret, and Mrs. Potts barely fits as pictured--she just slips right out and it drives them both crazy. Given the level of ridiculous toddlers are capable of you can imagine the, "IT'S BROKEN!" "FIRE! FIRE! It's broken!!!!!" <insert wailing here> every time they're having a tea party and the fire flies across the floor when you move the set, remove Mrs. Potts from the hearth or try and put them to "bed" in the cabinets. "he fell! he fell! call the Doctor!!!" I feel completely comfortable describing this scenario given I am surely not the only toddler parent Duplos owner...I hope... Other than that, the set is gorgeous, Belle is adorable, and I do like the options. Hopefully the creators will be able to fix the issues in the next set. more less