An Ode to Re-ment and A Lesson on Scale

I love miniature food. Of all the minis in the miniature world, mini food is my favorite, and desserts are a particular favorite.

Years and years ago, I used to buy Re-ment when it was mostly food. I’d buy blind boxes in Little Tokyo for $5 apiece, and I would rip open the box right outside the shop and just marvel at the intricacies of the tiny plastic food. And then I would immediately go back in the shop and buy another one. And then another one. As one of my friends would remind me when I started feeling bad for buying so many: “$5 is well worth it if it brings you this much joy.”

It has been many years since Re-ment made only food, and since their blind boxes cost only $5, but they still bring me so much joy. I still have most of my old food sets in a plastic bag stored inside one of my drawers – after they were temporarily lost and forgotten in a box at my parents’ house. I do still take them out when the occasion calls for it. 

This patisserie set, though, harkens back to when I used to collect Re-ment. It’s mostly food, and all of the food is dessert!

The details of the petit gateau (little cakes) is just incredible.

I especially love the fresh cream cake. It looks just like the type of cakes my mom used to get for my birthday and the types of cakes I get now at Sheng Kee, Kee Wah, or Paris Baguette. It’s totally customizable too: there are two little holes in the top of the cake that allow you to put in two strawberries (which I did), a sign that reads “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” (depending on the side you use), or any combination of one or two numbers, like number candles! It’s incredible!

A Lesson on Scale

Re-ment is well-known for being particularly elusive when it comes to consistent scale. “What scale is Re-ment?” is a commonly Googled question. The common answer is 1:6 or 1:8. As a middle-school math teacher who actually teaches scale, I decided to find out once and for all – at least with respect to this set. (And, perhaps, this might turn into a future lesson when I return to the classroom.)

Let’s get a quick refresher on scale. A scale of, say, 1:6 is called a scale without units and compares the length of the item to the length of what that item would be in reality. So, for a 1:6 scale, the item, as measured, would be 6 times longer in reality. Notice I’m talking about length because a typical scale compares length, not area. So, a scale of 1:6 means that 1 inch would be 6 inches in real life, 1 foot would be 6 feet, 1 cm would be 6 cm, etc. A scale of 1:12 would mean 1 inch would be 12 inches, 1 cm would be 12 cm, etc.

The most common scale for miniatures seems to be 1:12, but playline dolls, like Barbie, are at a 1:6 scale. Pullips are 1:6 scale in body, but 1:3 scale in head. Food is always tricky with big-headed dolls with small bodies, because the food always looks the wrong scale. 1:6 scale food is perfect for Pullip hands, but look way too small for their mouths, and 1:3 or 1:4 scale food (like for AG or My Generation dolls) always look too gigantic for their bodies.

Anyway, let’s get back to Re-ment. Let’s start with the fresh cream cake at the top. That’s 1 inch in diameter. That actually doesn’t help too much because fresh cream cakes are usually anywhere from 6 to 10 inches in diameter. If it’s 1:6 scale, then it’d be 6 inches; if 1:8 scale, it’d be 8 inches; if 1:10 scale, it’d be 10 inches. It does limit our possibility of scales though.

Let’s look at the petit gateau. A quick Google seems to indicate that most are 6-8 cm in diameter. That’s about 2.5 to just over 3 inches for us US folks. Most of the petit gateau here are 0.5 inch in diameter, which would make them 1:6 scale. At 1:6, 0.5 inch means 3 inches, the perfect size for a petit gateau. If it were 1:8 or 1:10 scale, it would be 4 inches or 5 inches, respectively, which would be a generous portion but too large for a petit gateau. 

So it looks like the food is 1:6 scale. 

Let’s look at the display. The front display case is 3 inches wide and about 2.5 inches tall. If it were 1:6 scale like the food, it would be 18 inches wide and 15 inches tall. So that’s definitely not 1:6. We can also see that in the display case, many of the petit gateaus fill the case and nearly touch the top of the shelf. Petit gateau are very small and would not in reality be nearly touching the display case. Let’s try 1:8 scale. That means it would be 24 inches wide and 20 inches tall. Still not right. 1:10? 30 inches wide and 25 inches tall. Still not right. 1:12? 36 inches wide and 30 inches tall. Possible, but still seems short. I think it’s most likely 1:15 scale, which would make it 45 inches wide and 37.5 inches tall. 

The back wall is 5.5 inches tall. At 1:6, that’s 33 inches, 1:8 is 44 inches, 1:10 is 55 inches, 1:12 is 5.5 feet. Seems more like it’s at least 1:15 in scale, which would make it 6 feet 10.5 inches. But since the inside of a room is typically at least 8 feet in height, or 96 inches, that would require a 1:17.5 scale to be most accurate.

So ANYWAY. The tldr is that the food, at least the petit gateau, is most likely 1:6 scale, but the display is at a much smaller scale.

Thank you for coming to my math lesson today!!