Coming Sooon!

A review of Singapore's first exclusive Sylvanian Shop! 

Stay tuned! :)

An European Adventure!

The Sylvanian Shop London ! - As you can see, they're giving a coat of fresh paint on the signboard!

Hi everyone! Its been a good month since I last blogged and hope everyone has been doing well! Recently, I had the chance to travel to Europe on a backpacking trip :) And of course, what trip to Europe would be complete without a visit to the Sylvanian Families Shop in London!

For me, it was truly a pipe dream that has almost spanned the last decade. It all started almost ten years ago when my Dad made plans to travel to England on a business trip, and being the kid I was, I really longed that he could have taken me along with him ! But of course, with school and everything, I knew deep down it was really more wishful thinking on my part!

Sylvanian Shop London - circa October 2002

My dad did however, paid a visit to the Sylvanian Shop and returned with a lot of new Sylvanians for me, accompanying them were these wonderful photographs of those gleaming Sylvanian displays and shelves of a large array of Sylvanian products. As I looked at photographs, never would I have imagined that I would be doing a pilgrimage of my own to the store itself!

Fast forward to 2012,  and here I am, making my very own trip to England! Going to England was not just about visiting a faraway land nor was it just to visit the Sylvanian Shop. One of the key highlights of my visit was to meet up my two long time Sylvanian Collecting friends, Jacc & Hayley. Both Jacc and Hayley have been collectors for slightly over 20 years and have amassed large collections of figures, buildings and memorabilia! I'm very lucky to have met them and to have had the wonderful friendship of both of them for almost ten years!

The long awaited meet up after almost ten years!

What lies behind this door?

The Store's special treasures - GIANT SYLVANIANS!

Sylvanians, Sylvanians and more Sylvanians! As you can see, the hot air balloons are still there after ten years!

A close-up of the display in the centre of the store!

At the store, we were given the very best of hospitality Sylvania had to offer, courtesy of Sylvania's very own, Rocky Babblebrook! Rocky had been expecting us and so he was really glad to have seen us finally here at the store! On behalf of all us, a big big thank you for the wonderful VIP treatment, Rocky! We had a wonderful afternoon of chit-chatting, discussing the Sylvanians as a whole and of course, SHOPPING! We also had a chance to find out who Sylvania will be welcoming in the near future and we can only say its exciting times for Sylvania ahead! :))

Sylvania's very own, Rocky Babblebrook! Always happy to help!

Visiting the shop gave me a wonderful opportunity to talk to parents of collectors which kind of has a little weird effect on me. For me, it was like understanding how my dad felt all those years back when he bought me my first Sylvanian! As one mother put it to me, Jacc & Hayley, it was like "meeting the people" ! 

All in all, I spent almost 100 pounds in the store and I, finally got the opportunity to join the Sylvanian Families Collectors Club! You'd think after collecting for 14 years, I'd be a long time member by now! But alas, after a 14 year wait, I'm proud to say, "I'M OFFICIAL!"

Overall, I was really happy to have visited the store and meet up with Jacc & Hayley! For me, it was the cherry of the cake that has really defined my collection in the last eighteen months! Visiting Japan and the theme park, collecting the doll of the Year and finally meet my two best collecting friends and the store! I'm really thankful for all this and hope to do it sometime again soon!

And of course, signing the guestbook in the store, is a must! :))

More and More Dioramas!

A few months back, I wrote about making a Sylvanian-diorama with some of spare figures and re-ment accessories. Well, a few months on, it looks like I have really caught the diorama bug! To date, I have done five dioramas with a sixth one planned.

I got all of my display cases from Daiso, a Japanese Dollar Shop. At SGD$2 a piece, the cases are a steal! And with a little creativity, they're a cheap and lovely way to keep your Sylvanians in mint condition!


These are some of my Pre-Millennium JP Babblebrooks in their Baby Room! I used some spare felt as well as some unused old furniture from my collection!



And my Redwood Red Panadas! Nothing fancy, just some old leftover faux grass from my old school project!

A few weeks back, I found is lovely model of a diecast Vespa on sale at the department store I was working at. Knowing me, being a sucker for anything miniature, I decided to get it! And after a few days of painting, crafting out, this is the complete result!


Mrs Meadows isn't pleased that her husband, spends all his time now on his new Vespa!

And now, its competition time! I have a Spare Display Case to give away! All you have to do is to email me telling me when kind of Sylvanian Diorama you would like to make! This competition is open to all readers of Sylvanianholics, both local and international! So Hurry! Contest ends 21th April 2012, 11.59pm SGT!

Larger than life?

Credits: Aaron B.H Chua

Have you ever wonder how our critters would react if they had a chance to view things from our perspective? Well, recently some of my critters did just that when I had construct a scale model for one of my school projects! So I decided to take a few snap-short before submitting my project, enjoy! P.S, don't be surprised if you find of these buildings familiar!


Let's play hide and seek! Where's baby Oscar?


There he is! :)



Explorers of the city!


My, what a wonderful view!



I wonder if Bud can see me from way up here?

Seasons Greetings!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Feliz Navidad! ! Frohe Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Feliz Natal! Glaedelig Jul! Linksmu Kaledu! Zalig kerstfeest! 圣诞快乐 ! メリークリスマス ! 즐거운 성탄 ! Καλά Χριστούγεννα ! Веселое Рождество !

From All of Us at SylvanianHolics :)

Christmas with the Chiffons

In the first of my Christmas series, I decided to pay a visit to the Chiffons Dogs as prepare to celebrate Christmas :)



Brothers David and Brooklyn enjoying their new train set they got for Christmas!

"Faster! Faster!" cries Baby Brooklyn



Meanwhile, Father Gordon sits back with a warm and refreshing cup of Hot Chocolate.

"Nothing like a cup of warm chocolate on a cold winter day!" exclaims Gordon.




"Who wants more Egg Nog?" asks Mother Delia as Baby Nigella unwraps her present.



"I do!" replied Sister Karen as munches on some Christmas goodies whist putting Baby Brother Austin to sleep by the warmth of the fireplace :)

Merry Christmas from all of us at SylvanianHolics! :D

A Sylvanian App?!

That's right! Your eyes aren't deceiving you! In the latest innovation from Epoch, Epoch has developed a Sylvanian Families App for us Apple users! The app is available to all current Apple Products (Both ipads, Iphone3GS, Iphone4 & Iphone4s & Ipodtouch).

So the question remains, how much does this app lives up to the little critters we all so fondly love? We, at SylvanianHolics decided to find out,



Navigation-wise, the application is a breeze to navigate even for non-native Japanese users. As the app is mainly targeted for kids, most of the features such as the Mini-Game and Story are mostly kiddy-oriented. Nevertheless, there are still a few features that the Oldie Collector will like.



Biographies. Unlike UK/US Sylvanians, Japanese figures do not have names. They do however, have a large array of other titbits such as Birthdays & Horoscope. And With this app, its a breeze to find out everything. Currently, there are only four families featured, the Walnut Squirrels, Silk Cats, Chihuahuas & Chocolate Rabbits.





The app also features this fancy page which has info on the Buildings, Mini-Catalogue and the features found on the actual Sylvanian site, which can be launch on Safari



And to top it all, the app features a series of CMs! These commercials are usually seen on the Japanese Market and on the site. However, with this app they're available to anyone now :)



Overall, the app is a pretty useful thing especially if you're on the move and need to kill some time on the train. Although, it can be a bit dry to the Adult collector or the non-Japanese speaker. I'd give it a 3/5 rating.

If you're are thinking of getting this app however, you will have to create an Itunes account with the Japanese Itunes store as this app cannot be bought on any other store. The good thing however is, it is free!