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Original poster

Imaginext castle or playmobil castle?

47 replies

ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 17:49

This is for DS who will be 3.2 at Christmas

He is already getting the playmobil police and bank set, as well as some take n play trains.

The price difference once you've bought the various extras (dragons, cannons etc) is around £40; playmobil being the more expensive.

Help please!

Thanks Cake

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Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 17:50

playmobil

imaginext

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olibeansmummy · 07/10/2013 18:07

Not the playmobil one! It falls apart if you so much as look at it :(

Stillhopingstillhere · 07/10/2013 18:14

Imaginext all the way here.
We have some playmobil vehicles and we have the dinosaurs but have found some of the large structures fall apart.

The Imaginext castle is great! Enough detail but not thousands of fiddly pieces, indestructible, folds down, it's great! My ds is a year older than yours and adores it, most played with toy hands down.

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 18:37

Oh really? Gosh, the reviews on amazon are absolutely amazing for the playmobil one! What a shame, it looked so nice Sad

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olibeansmummy · 07/10/2013 18:41

It looks awesome and the bits that come with it are fab as always with playmobil but it's just spoilt by the fact that it won't stay together! Plus as you fix one bit, another bit falls apart til you're going round in circles Angry I complained to playmobil about it but they didn't care :(

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 18:48

Oh that's really bad! I've watched the YouTube reviews, it does look quite big which isn't too much of an issue, but could be a bit of a pain to be taking upstairs and down all the time.

I'm just worried the imaginext set pales a bit in comparison. I'll see if there are any YouTube reviews for it.

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ShoeWhore · 07/10/2013 18:49

We love the Playmobil one and don't find it falls apart that much. Now my dcs are a bit older they actually like to take it apart and reconfigure it though.

WorkingtoohardMama · 07/10/2013 18:55

Another vote for imaginext, my ds is 7 and gets an imaginext set every Christmas, he's asked for the castle this year.

The imaginext toys are really sturdy and make great bases for other toys - ds wants the castle for his lego figures - he did look at a lego castle, but said he'd prefer the imaginext one because he won't have to keep fixing it!

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 19:08

Argh, now I'm even more stuck.

I like the playmobil one because it looks like you get more with it, it looks more grown up (so hoping it'd last a good few years) and I like that it's enclosed.

The imaginext one is cheaper, you can fold it down and people have said it's tougher. However; I don't like the flashing lights/sounds side of it, that's not a snobbery thing, but after the baby stage when we were given more plastic noisy toys than we can shake a stick at, it can get a little tiresome!

In DS' defence, he is extremely tactile for his age; not rough at all. Almost neurotically so. He picks things up relatively quickly, too.

Before I came on here, I was really leaning towards Playmobil. I am a bit twitchy that people have said it falls apart though.

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Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 19:08

But I like the imaginext add ons more. The dragons and catapults are really lovely.

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Stillhopingstillhere · 07/10/2013 19:11

Yeah and they interact with the castle.
The castle isn't making noises all the time, honestly it's pretty quiet. Although it does shout "dragon! Don't be dinner!" when the dragon roars! I've had children up to age 9 or 10 playing with it so I don't think it is babyish at all.

Personal choice really, my ds is crap at fixing things, the playmobil one for us would be a source of great misery. He's not heavy handed with toys but does like to fire stuff at the castle!

tutu100 · 07/10/2013 19:14

My ds2 has this playmobil castle here. He got it for Christmas last year when he was 4. It does come apart sometimes but is easy to pop back together. And as someone else says he puts it together differently so it might still have 4 sides but they don't all meet which makes the inside bit bigger.

It does have lots of small accessories which I have put away for when he is bigger. I debated getting the imaginex castle as well, but ds2 has other playmobil bits and I thought the playmobil might have more longevity than the imaginext (also ds2 wasn't interested at all in the imaginext castle).

The only thing I don't like about it is that it is quite big, so for us to store it away we do have to dismantle it slightly, but ds2 loves it so it's out more often than it is away. My brother got him a dragon set to go with it, and this year he's going to ask for another set of knights.

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 19:23

tutu that's what I was thinking; he already has playmobil things and enjoys them.

I don't know if it's because i'd like to play with it more!

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Stillhopingstillhere · 07/10/2013 19:27

It depends whether he likes intricate things, my ds wouldn't have bothered with all the pieces in the playmobil set. As long as his knights have swords and shields he's happy. I think if he had the playmobil set that's all he'd bother with so all the extra bits aren't worth it for us.

The imaginext does have treasure with it too and you can get a cool little archer that fires arrows. I've been happier with the Imaginext range than the playmobil stuff but it could well be that my ds just prefers those sorts of toys, less pieces and stay together!

Kinect · 07/10/2013 19:36

If you go the playmobil route & it is a hit, you can extend the castles and there are quite a few nifty extras.

I don't want the medieval bakery and large barrel, oh no.

Knight's Accessories

siblingrevelry · 07/10/2013 19:47

Same as previous posters with regards to the playmobil castle-looks fan but my DS's (6 & 5) struggle to put it back together (and they're very adept at things like lego/puzzles), and my DH spent hours on Xmas eve cursing the thing!

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 19:53

There's a comment on amazon that says if you buy the extra wall from Playmobil directly, it is a lot sturdier. Hmm.

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Methe · 07/10/2013 19:59

The imaginext castle is £40 from toys r us today. I ordered it today on click and collect and hand just picked t up. It was still showing at £60 on the shelves though and the cashire said it's only an online price.

We've had playmobil stuff before and all the tiny bits ended up getting lost.

5madthings · 07/10/2013 20:01

Imagimext all the way, hate hate hate play mobile, falls apart if you so much as breathe on it and far too may little bits.

We have the imagmext boat, submarine, helicopter, batcave and various accessories and ds4 is getting the castle for Xmas.

It is indestructible, my kids love it and oit gets plate with loads :)

ReluctantBeing · 07/10/2013 20:07

I would go for imaginext. The sounds are hilarious. 'Who is it?'

timeforahaircut · 07/10/2013 20:09

Imaginext, definitely.

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 20:10

this imaginext review just blew us away.

I thought I was sold on playmobil. After seeing this (it's a 6 minute review, but the guy is actually quite informative, if a little odd), i think we might be going with the imaginex.

I fear I might be projecting what I want to play with onto him!

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Original poster
ziggiestardust · 07/10/2013 20:11

imaginext sorry

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MegBusset · 07/10/2013 20:16

Don't get the Playmobil castle unless you really enjoy putting battlements together every 30 seconds

we have got the Melissa & Doug folding wooden castle, it's brilliant.

DTisMYdoctor · 07/10/2013 20:18

I love playmobil (and DS is quite fond of it too) but I've just bought the imaginext castle on the strength of a thread I posted on here last week. I was put off by reports of it falling apart, and the fact that the imaginext one was sturdy and folds down a bit helped swing it for me. DS also seemed much keener on the imaginext one when I showed it to him.

I'm not adverse to getting him some of the knights accessories from playmobil though - I can imagine that all sorts of characters will end up being involved in escapades at the castle!