Geoworld "Ice Age Excavation Kit" - Cave Bear Review:
In the past, these excavation kits have contained rather lackluster, undetailed figuines that needed to be dug out of their rock prisons and assembled. The majority of modern excavation kits have much more detailed figurines that sometimes have articulation as well (although the older style of crappy figurines can still be found so be wary of "no name" or discount brand sets). The 2 models I picked up recently, thankfully fall into the better quality range.
To the best of my knowledge, I have never had an excavation kit before. I do not recall them being available when I was a kid so this purchase was a first for me. Inside of the box you will find a plastic tray containing the "rock" shrinkwrapped in plastic, another baggie containing the excavation tools (chisel, hammer and brush), an instruction booklet (which also shows the other models available), and other paperwork.
I know that the "rock" is essentially compressed sand so it is pretty easy to free the model trapped within. Since I had stained the Glyptodon by using hot water to melt the sand off, I knew I did not want to repeat my previous mistake. I decided instead to crush the "rock" between my palms instead. I have giant gorilla hands so it barely took any effort before the "rock" crumbled into tiny chunks. The polystyrene pieces were easy to sift out of the chunks of sand and the powdered sand. I had to break the remaining bits of compressed sand off of the pieces then wash them clean. This process was actually faster than melting the "rock" with water.
The Cave Bear assembles rather easily but there are some issues like with any polystyrene model kit. Some pieces requires clean up around the edges and on the points where they were removed from their molding sprue. The pieces fit together without too much trouble with the exception of the skull. The posts/holes in the skull halves were very tight and I had to use alot of strength to get them to come together completely.
The Cave Bear model is a really good size. Since it comes in pieces, it ends up being far larger when assembled than the box would suggest. It features some articulation as well- a ball jointed head and a hinged jaw. I don't think you could get a better deal for the $8.99 price.
