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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that Playmobil is a bit......well, shit really?

74 replies

TaperJeanGirl · 30/12/2010 12:49

So, I was a complete Playmobil virgin until christmas day, I had held off buying it for about 2 years as my eldest was only 3 then, but now at 5 she has been going on about it, and my friends buy it for their much younger children, and love it, have seen threads on here where people rave about it and say it lasts forever and gives hours of fun...so into the world of playmobil I plunged....

Now despite being initially reluctant to start with it, I admit I got sucked in and ended up getting ds (18 months) the dump truck, I just superglued the hat to the drivers head and tools into his toolbox to avoid any christmas day A&E trips due to swallowing, I got dd2 (3) the campervan, and ghost pirate ship, and dd1 (5) the african animal ranch and ranger truck, now what I didnt expect was needing a sodding degree in engineering to assemble the bastard things, AN HOUR I spent just on the dump truck!! I have still not had the courage to even open the pirate ship.

My next complaint, its cheap and flimsy, and falls apart every time its so much as looked at, and I think most of the tiny bits are already residing inside the hoover, I mean, WHY so many bits? I have stuck some together, but really not having any luck with it, am I missing some playmobil golden rule? Or do all the Playmobil enthusiasts on here just have it as ornaments, or do you all have super careful children that dont eat tiny cups and stick tiny cutlery up their noses,are my kids a bit young? (I know ds is but his truck isnt a problem) I WANT to like it I really do, I had hoped that by starting them off on these smaller sets I could get the house/hospital/school for their upcoming birthdays, but dont think i'll be getting anymore at the min....

OP posts:

GypsyMoth · 30/12/2010 12:52

the bits make it more realistic and yes,18 months is way too young!!

TheBolter · 30/12/2010 12:53

Agree. I got dd2 the dragon castle for Christmas, after much pestering, and two of the bits snapped within an hour of it being opened.

Thankfully my dad (who funnily enough has a degree in engineering!) was there to assemble it for us. Phew!

GypsyMoth · 30/12/2010 12:53

and as far as toys go,i find the playmobil instructions amongst the most straightforward to follow

Original poster

TaperJeanGirl · 30/12/2010 12:53

I am also nursing a very sore patch on my finger, from ripping off a tiny handgun that I superglued to my finger

And, if anyone can tell me the best way to store all the bits, that would be a help, at the min its all up very high to stop ds from munching his way through anymore....

OP posts:

Bue · 30/12/2010 12:53

Sacrilege!

Playmobil was probably my favourite toy as a kid. I do agree it has far too many little bits though, the little bouquets of flowers and plates and cutlery are teensy tiny and annoying. And I think the vehicles do have some problems - my carriage would never stay attached to the horses.

TheBolter · 30/12/2010 12:54

P.S. Tiffany - dd2 is 5, which is the age they recommend. It's still flimsy.

DrNortherner · 30/12/2010 12:55

I'm with you sister! My ds has had the pirate ship and the police station, both of which currently reside a box in his room that looks like a box of rubble. Dh built the police station 4 times and each time ds played with it it completely fell to pieces. I am loathe to chuck it out as cost so much bit all we have left is a box of walls, windows, random trees etc etc. And how are kids meant to keep track of the tiny handcuffs and stuff?

Dh practically had a coronary building them and has told me not to buy any more!

Goblinchild · 30/12/2010 12:56

Yours are a bit young, we love playmobil and it lasts forever. Ours has been in the bath, in the garden, played with on a daily basis and looks good a decade on. The bits are part of the delight.
It does tend to say 3+ on the boxes for a reason.
But if you don't like it, there are hundreds of other toys to spend money on.

raspberryroo · 30/12/2010 12:56

my 8 yr old put all my 6r's old together with no problem

dessen · 30/12/2010 12:56

You need a teenager to build it. My eldest loves constructing playmobil - in training for ikea things later!

DrNortherner · 30/12/2010 12:57

Lasts forever?! Where are we going wrong then....

Goblinchild · 30/12/2010 12:57

We've got pirates, knights and vikings.

GypsyMoth · 30/12/2010 12:57

oh,i was replying to op's post,thought she said one of dc's was 18 months??

they used to have playmobil out at oldest ds nursery,but i think the tinier pieces were kept aside

Original poster

TaperJeanGirl · 30/12/2010 12:58

The bolter, send your dad this way please

Ilovetiffany, I knew he was too young but he has had the most play out of his truck, the other 2 just keep getting frustrated as it keeps falling apart, maybe I am just a bit dim but I found the african ranch especially quite tricky maybe I need to persevere with it....

OP posts:

GypsyMoth · 30/12/2010 12:58

my gripe with playmobil was the boxes they came in! had to rip them to get in and i wanted to keep the boxes for storing the little bits!1

maclover135 · 30/12/2010 12:59

I feel your pain. DS was given the safari ranch from Santa and the Knights Castle from MIL . There are hundreds of bits. We are using these for storage, which are really helpful. TBH DS doesn't seem too bothered by the small details at the moment - it is DH who keeps getting the blasted things out

grendel · 30/12/2010 12:59

We got DD the horse ranch thing when she was 5. Was a bugger to assemble the building but once it was done she has had a HUGE amount of fun with it and all the pieces. I'm sure a few small bits have gone up the hoover over the years, but most have survived. Still occasionally catch her sneakily playing with it even now (aged 11).

Good present as you can grow it over the years by buying more bits.

Really not great for younger kids though as it's very fiddly. You need to be quite dextrous and not inclined to stick stuff up your nose!

noblegiraffe · 30/12/2010 13:05

I got my DS the 123 Zoo for Christmas and I think it's lovely. He loves all the animals.

Obviously the stuff for older kids is a bit more complicated then!

TheBolter · 30/12/2010 13:05

Yeah I bought a load of stackable plastic boxes from Sainsbury's yesterday for all the playmobil, Lego, Sylvanian stuff that has flooded our house over Christmas!

Toughasoldboots · 30/12/2010 13:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

scouserabroad · 30/12/2010 13:11

Way back when I was a child there weren't any Playmobil houses & large buildings etc. there were just people, horses, vehicles etc. and they were all indestructible - in fact, my own DDs still play with my old Playmobil 20 years later :)

I think it's just the buildings etc. that fall apart!

That said the tiny beer bottles have been lost a long time ago

SarahStrattonsBaubles · 30/12/2010 13:12

We have the Palace, the Farm, lots of the fantasty/fairyland stuff like unicorns and dragons, lots of the horse stuff etc.

DDs are 13 and 17 and they still have a sneaky play with it.

Playmobil rocks, it is the best toy ever.

TabithaTwitchet · 30/12/2010 13:16

I loved Playmobil as a child, probably my most played with toys.

DD has just turned 3 and got some Playmobil for Christmas.

She has played with it with great imagination every day since, and she absolutely loves it too. But the constant exclamations of "Oh no, I can't find the slippers/hairband(the hairband is truly tiny)/hat/flower etc" which necessitate a fine-tooth-comb search of the whole room until the missing object is restored, are starting to sap my patience just a little.

Once she is older, she will have to take responsibility for the little pieces herself!

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 30/12/2010 13:16

I agree.

Found some of my old playmobil in mothers attic when she died, it's wayyyy better than the over produced crap they churn out these days.

Original poster

TaperJeanGirl · 30/12/2010 13:16

Right, I will get some plastic storage boxes, I am not too bothered about keeping the right parts to the right sets together, as they will just mix them up when they play anyway, I would just like to not have to tweezer a tiny fork out of ds nose again I have just lookad at the 123 sets, I didnt realise they did a younger kids version, they look good for ds, but the girls like the sets I have got them, just get annoyed when they fall apart, but to be fair to playmobil, things do have a habit of falling apart in their hands, (dd2 once broke our CAR!!)

Is it wrong that part of me doesnt want to give it to them to mix up/destroy, last night while they were in bed I set up the ranch and ranger truck, sat the little rangers at the dest with his laptop, put bandages on giraffes leg, then took a photo

OP posts:

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