pirate ship - playmobil or imaginext?!

[LalaDipsey]

DTS is obsessed by pirates, he'll be 4 just before Xmas and has some playmobil and the imaginext castle already. DPs have bought him the playmobil pirate ship for Xmas but I'm wondering if they should have bought the imaginext one instead?!
Reason being he plays with it all A LOT and the little pieces of playmobil are always coming off his smaller ships and sets and yet his imaginext castle which he got last Xmas is still in fab condition.
Should I ask DPs to return the playmobil pirate ship do you think and get the imaginext instead?! Thanks

[5madthings]

We have an imaginext boat, not the pirate ship, it's an Explorer? One with a little submarine and people etc we have had it years, bought it for ds3 I think and it's still played with regularly and as good as new, must be five years old?

Whereas the playmobil pirate ship drove us nuts with all the teeny bits and the rigging etc and we gave it to a charity shop!

So assuming the imaginext pirate ship is as good quality as there other stuff I would go for that. We have imaginext castles, boat, batman stuff etc all is great.

[5madthings]

We have this one and as I say it's fab. I have just had a look at the pirate ship one and it looks cool, I think my kids would love it and much sturdier than the playmobil one.

[MediumBox]

playmobile
tons better

[GogoGobo]

Cannot recommend the playmobil one highly enough. It does have some small pieces but pop them in a plastic bag to one side and add them as your DS gets older. We got this last year for my just 4 year old DS and it is a firm favourite and he plays all sorts of games with it. Peter Rabbit is even shoved into the hold occasionally! We've got loads of playmobil and only some imagine the as playmobil is, I think, more enduring.

[Penguito]

I would go imaginext. We have the imaginext ocean boat and DS loves it, its been played with for years. We also have the playmobil Noah's ark which doesn't get played with at all

[ILoveTFIFriday]

Imaginext is solid. My little boy (similar age) got it last year and still loves it. But he also loves Playmobile and will be getting lots this year. I think they're both good toys, just go with your gut.

[d270r0]

I have recently bought my 4 year old ds the playmobil one, for christmas. I had the same dilemma as you. I went for playmobil in the end as I thought he would play with it longer, playmobil is for a slightly older age range than imaginext, and also just because it looked so much nicer! I love all the little detail in playmobil, its so lovely, imaginext seems to have less detail and smaller bits. Also for his birthday I bought him the imaginext batcave and its barely been touched! Complete waste of money whearas he does play with the playmobil we already have. He loves the little pieces, the treasure pieces in particular.
I am, however, also buying the imaginext ocean boat that 5madthings posted above, but for my 2 year old. I thought they could have a boat each.

[Holstein]

Playmobil. It's awesome!
If you're worried about the teeny bits, just keep them aside for a year or so.
Make sure you build it before the big day though... takes a while to put the rigging etc together.

[5madthings]

My seven year old and all his friends still play with all our imaginext, they set it up and create a base etc. Four year old loves it to.

We did have playmobil with our eldest two but it drove us mad with the little bits, the rigging coming off the ship had ds2 in tears and it actually comes apart quite easily. The only playmobil we have now are the dinosaurs and volcano as it has nothing to come apart!

I have to say with five kids and 16 years of kids and toys imaginext ones are good and they last, we haven't found that with playmobil, which is a shame as I love the look of some of it but it drove us and the kids mad.

[TheLeavesAreTurningBrown]

I am so impressed with our pirate ship from sainsburies and their own brand I think. it was 25 down to 12.

DD loves it!

[LalaDipsey]

Thanks all! Gosh no one consensus tho! Ok, I think I will stick with the fact that DPs have already bought him the playmobil one and if it gets as well used as I suspect he may end up with imaginext as well. I think with hindsight he should be having I this year and 'upgrading' to the more grown-up playmobil next year!

[HarrietSchulenberg]

We've got every single fucking Playmobil pirate ship that's been on the market for the past 10 years. Dses all loved pirates and the ships were top of every Christmas list for years. Even the wrecked one that comes apart (and wedges itself between the sodding rigging of the others).
It does last well and if the bitty bits are likely to be a problem, just keep them to one side for a year or so. Most of our are in the hoover.

[IssyStark]

DS1 still plays with his playmobil a lot and he'll be 9 this December. Ds2 will be 4 this December and plays with the playmobil and the imaginext(we've got the space shuttle and the boat shown above). I'd say that great 'though the imaginext is for robustness with younger kids, Playmobil has the longer shelf-life.