Rement disappoints me these days.

Where the company used to have more dinners, lunches, appliances, accessories and furniture available, it now seems to be reverting to its reliable standbys of candy and desserts. A lot of uninteresting things with various Disney and Hello Kitty themes are also appearing.

When new, interesting sets do appear, they recycle pieces from old ones. For example, the Teddy Bear’s Housekeeping set, which I like, includes dishwashing, soup cooking, and doughnuts, all of which Rement has done before. http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/teddy/index.html  Even Rement pendants are boring this year, with the new panda pendants recycling the old set of Panda Kindergarten. http://www.re-ment.co.jp/products/animal_panda/index.html

I’ve also noticed a trend: the reduction of the size of Rement sets. Instead of a complete place setting with individual pieces of food, a single package of Rement might now contain just a cup, a saucer and a cookie. Compare #2 of the aforementioned Teddy Bear’s Housekeeping – a bear, a spatula, a pan, a pancake, a plate and a pile of pancakes – to #2 of Fun Meals, a set that came out a few years ago. Fun Meals #2 contains a waffle iron, a plain waffle, a waffle with syrup and berries, a plate, two crates of berries and a syrup dispenser. http://www.nrfbqueen.com/rement/lgpics/funmeals.htm Fewer pieces for your money in Teddy Bear's Housekeeping.

I look at Rement with an eye for diversity, usefulness and quantity in 1:6 scenes, and I’m not seeing much of any in the past year or so.