Playmobil or playmobil 123?

[olibeansmummy]

Ds is 2.3 now and will be 2.7 at Xmas. I've been looking at playmobil for him and getting all excited :) but what's the difference between playmobil and playmobil 123? I think he'd get more use out of normal playmobil but it says it's meant for 4+. would it be ok for him? He's quite 'grown up' and doesn't out things in his mouth etc

[SybilBeddows]

it depends what.
Some of the things, eg the big vehicles, are simple enough and strong enough, that they'd be fine. I got ds1 the rescue helicopter when he was nearly 3 and it is played with happily by ds2 who is now 1.9. You can also take away the little fiddly bits until he's older, or superglue them into position.
Having said that, we also have a few bits of 123 and my 6yo and 4yo play with them quite happily too.

[MegBusset]

Yes it depends on the set, the DSes have had the recycling truck and road sweeper since DS1 was 3 but they don't have many fiddly bits. Even still, they do get pulled apart very easily and I spend a lot of time putting them back together! DS1 (now 4) also has a pirate ship and castle but they really are fiddly so DS2 (2) is not allowed to play with them.

Lego Duplo is also a great bet for that age, my two play with it more than their Playmobil stuff tbh.

[PegPolkadot]

Another vote for duplo here. It's much better for his age. The first one my DS1 had at 2.4 was the fire station- we had to build it but he played with it for ages. We went on to get the farm, zoo, police station and airport.

Now my DS's are older they do like playmobil but it can break easily. My DS3 is 2 next month and I would get him the playmobil 123. The big farm looks lovely.

[olibeansmummy]

Thanks ladies he has duplo but prefers to make vehicles/ houses and then smash them up instead of playing lol. He'd getting some Cars duplo for Xmas too but want to get him something he can just get out and play with iyswim. I'm looking at the children's zoo ( which is actually a farm?!) and the rabbit hutch and chicken coup as he has a rabbit and his voiding has chickens. Does anyone have these?

[gillybean2]

Another consideration is that, while he may be fine, you need to rememeber when friends are over with similar ages dc that their child may not be ok playing with it.

Ds had the playmobile plane and I simply took the cups and small pieces out. There weren't too many.
He also had the pirate ship but that has loads of tiny pieces (wrist bracelets, glasses, food, lanterns, various weapons etc) so it is not suitable for younger dc that's for sure. Plus they tend to undo the rigging which is a right royal pain takes ages to firstly put together and then constantly fix!

He got much more play value from his lego duplo too and wasn't that keen on the playmobile to be honest. But he had visitors who fell all over the playmobile and when I eventually gave it to his primary school the children were queuing up to play with it and take the rigging apart! :)

[BertieBotts]

I think playmobil is a lot more fiddly than a2 or 3 year old can cope with, it's not just about whether they'd put it in their mouths, but their fingers are still quite chunky at that age so they trend to find the tiny bits frustrating and/or not really bother with them and then they get lost, so when they do want to use that part of the toy, it's lost some of its play value. I'd probably go with happyland stuff for now, if you buy 2nd hand on ebay (while he's young enough not to care!) you can usually resell them for a similar price as it lasts forever and is very sturdy as well as having some nice little touches and details which make a good intro to playmobil type stuff until they are a bit older and able to handle it.

[WhatWouldLeoDo]

My DS got the children's zoo and the dolphin set for his 3rd birthday and he plays with these both fine, however, I'm not sure if he'd have played with them much before then. He prefers the dolphin basin to the zoo (particularly the fact that it gets filled with water!).

I'd vote for Duplo too though tbh. I've noticed a huge difference in how my DS plays with duple and other toys between 2.5 and 3.5. When he was about 2.5 I'd build things that he could play with, but now he's a bit older he's more interested in building things himself. The fire station is a huge hit here.

[olibeansmummy]

Thanks again ladies, I think I'll just get him the zoo that's actually a farm but none of the other little bits yet as the rabbits etc may be very small. Then get him a few little duplo sets to add to his collection