Playmobil 2012

[ObiWan]

Last night a kind MNer directed me to a half price pyramid on Toys R Us. They have a special offer running, you spend £45 on Playmobil, and they throw in a free Playmobil Advent calendar, so I ordered a random sperm whale with boat (£10) thinking it would make a good stocking filler.

After googling, I've discovered the whale is 30cm long , so it has become one of the 'big' presents for my two year old . And you can buy a motor for the boat

I'm sure that last year there was a Playmobil thread, where long suffering people who know all about Playmobil could have their brains picked about things like how long the school takes to build.

So here is this years.

(I think the school took hours by the way.)

The clinic is jolly fiddly too, but much played with.

Anyone have any idea how long the Barn with Silo (5119) takes to put together?

We have bought it as a joint present for the DCs... we have never had Playmobil before and didnt realise it would be a construction effort!

(Cue lots of arguments in the oneofeach household on Christmas Eve )

We are big Playmobil fans in our house! We don't have the barn with silo but I reckon you'll need a couple of hours.

Re the school, I was definitely about 3 hours on it last year!

The pirate ship is something that should be built before Christmas morning

Whatever you do build it BEFORE Christmas Day. I made the rookie error last Christmas of giving DS the fire boat.

Squllions of random pieces in nonsensically arranged bags and an over excited 4 yo = meltdown o'clock by 9am.

I spent all day the day before his birthday on the Dinosaurs.

In future I'm getting Norman in

The advent calendars are things of awe and wonder though!

Ooh ObiWan I bought exactly the same as you from Toys R Us! Had exact same thoughts about the whale - has been elevated from stocking filler to birthday pres for DS who is 5 after Christmas!

I am v excited indeed about the pyramid - it is for both my DCs and me to share. No idea where we will store it when it's not being plsyed with though - every nook and cranny in this house seems to be full of playmobil already!

Ah, that was me who linked to the pyramid. Now I can live vicariously through your bargain Playmobil shopping as we are already all PlayMobiled up for Christmas.

So, the school takes hours you say? My dad has just bought it (half price in Argos) for dd1 and dd2.

Good luck Grandad

Ah yes GoingToBedfordshire , It was you!

I can't believe I only discovered the joys of Playmobil last year. My older two were more into Lego.

We're going to be spending most of Christmas Day fishing tiny bits of things out of the carpet, our dinner, the baby..

The pyramid comes in a lovely big box. The sensible me knows I should get it built in advance. The child within wants to see big boxes under the tree

I have just ordered the Princess Castle (after posting on here about it a while ago) - apparently it is humungous and will take days to build. We may have to knock a hole in the side of the house just to get it through the door.
Have also ordered various bits of furniture and whatnot for it. I am utterly beside myself with excitement at the prospect of playing with it myself setting it up for DD.

Tikkabillajive It's so great when you discover toys are better than you'd anticipated them being, isn't it?

I'll be thinking of you on Christmas morning, as we play with our pyramids.

DS is 3... (and a teeny bit rather than nearly 4...). Would you say playmobil is likely to still be out of his league?

I think it depends on the child, and the set you buy.

My 2 year old is not the type to mouth things, and that's the main fear with Playmobil. She will happily walk the figures along, and put them to bed, and feed them.

When my son was three, he loved all of the smaller fiddly bits, but couldn't be trusted not to lose a few (so I rescued the tiny rabbits and birds from the Ark, bu even a much younger child would be fine with the animals and boat which is very big).

In terms of play value, I'd say three or four is the ideal age to get into it, if they are into 'playing pretend'.

And my two year old is obviously getting the spem whale set this year, though I'll be on standby to put any tiny bits that might be lost into the 'precious pieces box'.

Obiwan, thanks - EXACTLY what I wanted to hear! And DS is likely to be bed-bound for a fair while so playmobil would be great, I think. Something new and a bit different for him...

Ohh thanks for this. I just ordered DS the camper van and fishing boat. That's him sorted for christmas.

DD loves the lego advent calendars so I was thinking about an alternative for DS. Happily got one for free now :)

Must remember to put it together before though :)

So, having just bought the camper van and tractor & trailer set for my young DS, has anyone got experience of how long I need to build these? People above generally agree it's better to build in advance of Xmas, but then everything would have to be unboxed, which in my adult view makes it look not new... Also they are no longer neat rectangle shapes for wrapping, plus DS might enjoy 'helping' with the build? How do you dispose of all that packaging early without the DC noticing?

[Reflects that I will also have a Christmas dinner to cook, people to entertain, etc... perhaps I need a reality check!]

Glad I've been warned about the school!!

Disappearing the campervan takes no time at all so don't worry about that one. No experience of the tractor and trailer but it's usually the big house type ones that take ages!

ooo marking place. So far only ds1 is really into Playmobil but I've been gazing longingly at the display in Toys r Us.

Am tempted by the camper van, if only because my 20month old sounds very very cute when he shouts 'ga ga gaaan!!!' with much excitement every time we see one.

Oooh you miserable lot :)
We always give in the box and make it together. It's fun, I tell you, fun!!

We Santa bought the pyramid for the dc last year and they loved it, been really well played with all year. Helps that dh's asterix characters that he has collected over the years are also the right size for it.

Both dc love the asterix films and there is one that is set in the pyramids - (I think it is this one but we have ours in the box set hence the uncertainty!)

www.amazon.co.uk/Asterix-Cleopatra-Lee-Payant/dp/B0009S4VY4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1351199995&sr=8-4

But if you want to give them a fun dvd that shows the pyramids in use then I can recommend it - it definitely helped to give them a context and add to the fun of it.

Didn't take too long to put together but definitely easier without dc trying to help and instead causing chaos! Seem to remember there were a couple of bits that were a bit tricky to get right on the inside - but I was sitting watching dh do it and keeping out of it; left them all to it as a boys bonding experience whilst I was dozing on the sofa busy doing other important christmasy things!

Great thread! Does anyone have the Knights Castles? DS2 seems keen on this. But there are two, and big price difference, is the bigger one worth the extra 80 pounds?

We don't have the castle yet but I'm getting ds one for his birthday. We're going for the smaller one due to lack of space and going to get some extra nights etc to go with it.

Knights not nights of course doh! It's too early...

I ordered DS the campervan and fishing boat.

All he has is playmobil jet ski and rider he found at a charity shop so think he will love these. And pirate he got from one of the lucky dip figures bags. DD has always loved the lego ones so pleased I can get the playmobil ones for DS now :)

Also saw a small police station type thing reduced to £20 in ELC last week.

Plus, Tesco are 3 for 2 on toys plus a code for £10 off a £75 spend in case that helps anyone.