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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to not really understand the purpose of Playmobile?

144 replies

2anddone · 14/10/2011 18:27

I have 2 dc aged 6 and 3 and we have never gone down the whole Playmobile route. My dc both love lego and spend hours building and taking apart their creations only to rebulid something else. I have looked at the Playmobile boxes and they look really lovely though bloody expensive sometimes! I don't get it, is everything ready built in the box and therefore once you have opened the box it is up to dc to play with the items using their imagination (my dc would get fed up after couple weeks) or is it all in pieces and you have to build all the buildings and playmobile people before you can play (therefore am thinking would be really good value for money and could try some as Christmas gifts!). Would just love someone to tell me exactly what it is before I go out and waste money!

OP posts:

exoticfruits · 15/10/2011 13:08

One piece of playmobile kept my 3yr old amused on a whole transatlantic flight so I would never knock it.

NoobyNoob · 15/10/2011 13:39

We've just bought DS his first Playmobil 123 for Christmas and it looks pretty good.

DH was a 'Playmobiler' and I was a 'Legoer'! I could never understand the attraction with it, but after DH got down all his old Playmobil stuff from the loft (he's 30.....30!!) I kinda understood why he loved it so much!

Much of the afternoon was then spent playing with the Priate Ship and horses

NormanBatesTheForeman · 15/10/2011 15:15

Ooooooooooooohhhhhh, there's quite a bit of Playmo-love on Mumsnet!

valiumredhead · 15/10/2011 16:44

Ds had the helicopter rescue set, caravan holiday set, knights and castle,green grocer's ( my personal favourite!) aliens ( very odd from TK MAXX) a power boat for the bath ( the motor got caught up in my hair once and I had to chop it out, don't ask!!)

It's FAB stuff

EcoLady · 15/10/2011 17:18

My DS is currently thrilled with a huge bag of knights & vikings with accessories that I picked up for a fiver at the local Nearly New sale today. We LOVE Playmobil in this house!

Jawbreaker · 15/10/2011 17:22

Evil stuff. DS got a couple of sets as gifts last birthday and I am still finding tiny pieces of the crap everywhere. Maybe better for older children? I actively encourage my two not to play with it

orienteerer · 15/10/2011 19:58

We moved on to proper Playmobil years ago but I must give a plug for the 123 range for 18 months plus. DS (now 9) had several 123 pieces which he played with for years and I've now handed on to my Great(!) Nephew.....

minimisschief · 15/10/2011 20:01

to the person who said you cannot play with lego once you have built something....what are you talking about?

NormanBatesTheForeman · 16/10/2011 00:17

You can play with Lego once you have built it, but it does tend to break apart fairly easily (and we have found this in a house with one not particularly boisterous boy).

blueshoes · 16/10/2011 00:37

You are supposed to use Lego and Playmobil together.

NormanBatesTheForeman · 16/10/2011 00:39

Hmm, well, both Lego and Playmobil are used in this house - but not together, as the people are diferent sizes, as are the buildings etc..............

However we Playmo people seem to get along fine with the Lego folk

Doitnicelyplease · 16/10/2011 02:46

I remember playmobil fondly from time as a nanny, but am waiting for DD 3.1 to be older first. At the moment she enjoys her Wow Toys which are a bit like a younger version. I want her to get another year or so out of them before getting the more fiddly toys. Also she still puts things in her mouth a lot!

I was thinking 5th birthday Or next Christmas when she is 4.3ish would be a good time for the enslaught of Playmobile, proper Lego and maybe sylvanian families? Or is that too late/early?

carriedababi · 16/10/2011 08:42

I think norm should get some type of loyality award.! Don.t you? Perhaps playmobil should sent you a free toy of your choice. I'm tempted to email them a few links to threads with norm on

ImpYCelyn · 16/10/2011 09:50

I wish DS was old enough for playmo (he just turned 1 :o ) I've got a Noah's Ark that I spotted half price in a local toy shop after everywhere else stopped selling them, it's ready and waiting for him.

But I've just discovered Wow toys, and I love them as well, so I think we'll have those for a couple of years.

I don't really like the lego sets that are available these days. I don't think there's enough actual building involved for most of them. I had a lego hospital that I literally had to build brick by brick, it was amazing!

NormanBatesTheForeman · 16/10/2011 11:52

My owner started to get into Playmobil when he was 5 (although he probably would have enjoyed it from 4 onwards). His first set was given to him by a friend for his 5th birthday (a fire and rescue set), and he loved it, so we got him some more fires sets for Christmas that year (his birthday is not that long after Christmas) and it started a huge love of Playmobil.

Am at loyalty award!

scaryhairydroopytits · 16/10/2011 12:56

I got the pirate ship for £20 from tesco 3 weeks ago and the plane for £23 from elc last week for ds1 (3.2 now) for Xmas. Will he be too little for it? We've never had playmobil before, I didn't realise you need to build it.

NormanBatesTheForeman · 16/10/2011 13:04

I don't think he will necessarily be too little for it, although if he can't cope with some of the very small components, you could put them away until he's a bit older. The main items and people etc whould be fine at that age though. There is only a certain amount of "building" required. For the aeroplane I would think very little, for the ship a bit more, but not too much.

The sets which require the most building are the actual buildings, e.g. hospital, school, police station etc. The vehicle type sets just involve a bit of putting together/attaching wheels/sticking stickers on. As he is young, you could consider putting the sets together before you give them to him. When the dcs get a bit older, the building is all part of the fun of it though.

Tinsie · 16/10/2011 13:08

I grew up on Playmobil and have a soft spot for it. Never saw the point in Lego, which the hubby was into as a child/teen/adult (ahem). It will be interesting to see which way the kids go [hwink]

You can help little ones do the building, it's just a one-off. After that, it's all about role-playing and fantasy games.

zipzap · 16/10/2011 14:36

Ds1 has some playmobil that he loves but some has been a disappointment - notably the safari lodge which he saved for ages to get. It just keeps falling to pieces, breathing on it is enough to set it off and even gentle play means it tends to break into pieces.

However we've had better play out of the Imaginext stuff which is the fisher price equivalent. There aren't quite as many teeny fiddly bits in it to lose or stab your feet on or quite the same variety of playsets but the main toy bits seem to be a lot more robust than the playmobil especially when they are about 3. Elc usually has one big bit of it on half price offer over the run up to Xmas.

On a slightly separate note, has anybody spotted a cheap place to buy playmobil advent calendars?

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