To think Playmobil is actually crap?

[BeaArthur]

I love the look of Playmobil toys and there’s something appealing about the fact that they’ve been around forever. They are quite a bit more expensive than other plastic toys but I figured they must be well made. We now have several different Playmobil sets, and they all literally fall apart with anything but the gentlest handling. They come with pieces that are so tiny as to be virtually guaranteed to get lost — things like tiny rubber flip-flops that don’t even stay on the size of my little fingernail. The people lose their plastic hair and end up with heads that are just open at the top. I’ve ordered replacement parts but I can’t keep doing this. I really don’t understand who these toys are made for. My DCs are 5 and 8. The 8-year-old is basically beyond playing with things like this, and the 5-year-old is constantly frustrated with the toys shedding pieces constantly. Am I missing the point here? Why do people keep buying these expensive plastic toys when they’re no better than the usual tat?

What age do people think Playmobil is best for? My dd is 2.5 and it seems as though all of her friends of a similar age already have it plus dolls houses and sylvanaians. I took the view that she is too young but I'm now starting to question whether I should buy some for her bday as she is well into small world play.

I actually think Playmobil is better for older kids that enjoy imaginative play. My daughter didn't start playing with it until she was about 6, she's 9 now.

It is definitely better for 'gentle' playing with!!!

I got a castle thing for one of mine at Christmas it took 5 hours to build it

But that is one of the best things about it!!!

When DD was 5 (22 now) we got her the Playmobil Fairy Tale Castle for Christmas. We decided we couldn't give it to her in the box but would have to assemble it beforehand and hide it in the garage. (And learning from previous mistakes we did NT leave this until Christmas Eve).

It took DH and I together about 4 hours and 2 bottles of wine but it was BRILLIANT fun. The instructions were first rate and everything just worked. By the time we had finished I almost wanted to be German.

DD played with it loads and loads. True it has now been stuffed in to a spare bedroom and has collapsed almost beyond repair but he definitely got our money's worth from it. So I would have to say YABU.

Yabu! It's the best toy we have..my dc are 4 and 6 and got hospital for Xmas. It's amazing! We have a few sets and they seem robust. It is a challenge keeping track of the tiny bits but it's great for imaginative play. The hospital took hours to build but it was fun!

We've had the take along dolls house for over a year now, and despite it being played with regularly, we've literally got every piece still - same with all the sets we've got.

Admittedly we don't buy the big pieces, but the playmobil we have is fab, and we love it.

You're right, op. It is rubbish; so brittle and badly connecting and inflexible. Playmobil gathers dust, Lego is constantly played with in our house.

@AFridayInJanuary I had the same problem! It's so easy for the bloody wing to come out but getting it back in is stupidly hard! We've lost all the shooting things that come out of his mouth and sometimes when He belts his sister with it the top of the head comes off too! Bugger knows where hiccup is! X

My two loved playmobil however I have not bought any in the last two years. I wonder, as others have said, if they have changed manufacturers

Flipping love.playmobil here. Popular with the 3yr old and the 6 yr old. I love it to. Even the tiny pieces.

Must admit we never bothered about separating sets (though we kept all the instructions in a folder). Things were always happily muddled up, castles and Victorian houses and pirates and vikings and whatever in our permanent model village playroom.

@Kidssendingmenuts 😫 I feel your pain! I was so sick of my nightly wing wrestle (only for it to just limply flop down) that I ended up supergluing it on...only for my son to point out I'd glued it on backwards! 🙄 as soon as my son isn't looking, Wonky-Winged Toothless is being hidden before the other wretched wing comes off! X

Glorianabanana you can get playmobil 123 which is more robust and with bigger pieces for younger children ( a bit like Duplo vs Lego). My DD is nearly 4 and plays with the 123 but also with her older brother's 'proper' playmobil.

I solved the problem...all the playmobil is at my mums, where 'supervised play' is a thing. The pyramid is 100% intact and amazing (even though dp dropped it down the stairs on christmas eve - how I laughed, late night, that), the zoo, vets, farm, bus, tractor, hundreds of people. All our 30 yr old bits, and the old wedding scene I got on ebay because I wanted it all safe and sound, played with daily by my many dc, even dd1 (15) when she thinks no-one is looking.

The castle, however, is in pieces in ds' room. Wretched thing would not stay together. We no longer mention the drawbridge thing or the portcullis. The dragons are sans wings, and the poor knights cannot keep their hair on. I think it's not what you do, it's the way that you do it!

Oh, and Sylvanian for little (under 8's) dc, NO! The stuff on ebay is traded by adults, for adults!

My own dc are in their 40s now. I had kept some bits of their Playmobil (hospital and western set) and my grandchildren played with it, supplemented by modern stuff and I have just passed it all on to my cousin’s dgc! It is wonderful stuff.

Playmo klickies are great.
Lego is crap.

Playmobil is just about the only toy i would spend big money on - its fantastic. Our 8 year old has tons - pyramid and sphinx for xmas is stunningly good.

2 year old has 123 and just had first grown up set as she adores camping and they only do the camping in the older one but she is too young for all the small bits and just has the bigger main bits.

Personally I hate modern Lego. The old style boxes of mixed bricks are fine but the modern follow the instructions to build the exact same model as everyone else which falls apart the moment you touch it are incredibly expensive for what you get. Once you lose a couple of key pieces you can never rebuild the model - I know you can then toss it in with the normal Lego but it's so overpriced.

I was so disappointed in playmobil when they started doing tv programme merch it had always been free of that.

I love playmobil, the way the figures click into their seats, the attention to detail. If you think it's rubbish try some fireman Sam toys. Most frustrating experience ever trying to play with that.
We have the campervan, ambulance, 4 police vehicles, jail, digger, bin lorry, pirate ship, and some mini sets like rabbit hutch, tent, fisherman etc. I want more!

We like Happyland, great on offers and more sturdy than play mobile etc

Glad I’m not the only one. I really don’t think my DCs are overly rough with toys, at least not compared to some of their friends, but when you have a jumbo jet that’s not the kind of thing that lends itself to tabletop play — they want to fly it, of course. In desperation I have super-glued the wheels and wings on and that works for a while but it’s hard to find super glue for smooth plastic.

As far as what my 8-year-old plays with, definitely LEGO (but primarily for the building, as it is indeed crap for actually play), remote control cars, Snap Circuits, Crazy Forts (along with various fort-building materials from around the house), marble run, and board games are all popular, but most of the time when he’s in the house he can be found either reading a book or “creating” things with paper, markers, scissors, glue, string, loo roll tubes, etc. I think his favorite Christmas gift was his own sellotape dispenser! He’s also very into sport and spends a lot of time running around with the other kids on our road or playing football in the garden. I can feel the pull toward screens get stronger and stronger but I’m trying to keep it limited as long as possible, and when he does have screen time he often just wants to email his grandparents, write things on Word and play with the fonts and colors, or do things like Scratch (coding), Minecraft (in offline mode), and make stop animation films with Stikbots.

My 5-year-old loves Playmobil in theory but gets very frustrated with the pieces. He tends to use the Playmobil people (empty heads and all) but the cars, boats, and plane we have are just too frustrating for him.