Barbie, playmobil or sylvanians?

[Fredthefish]

I’ve got a 4 year old girl (loves pink, sparkle and dollies if relevant!)
Which of these would you go with for Christmas? Or any other suggestions? I plan to coordinate with grandparents etc so need to make a decision soon.
Thank you!

My DD is 5 and has loved Sylvanians for ages and still does. We also have some playmobil- the ambulance for example, to take the Sylvanians to hospital. I have got a playmobil pirate ship for Christmas which I think Sylvanians will fit onto. She doesn't like the playmobil people figures much, and neither do I tbh.
Also we don't have space for bigger barbie stuff, like the car.
Lottie is a good call, her hair gets less knotty and she nice size. DD has asked for another Lottie for Christmas. I'm going for the swimming one with a couple of frocks handmade by someone on ebay.
We have a sparkly light up mermaid barbie which can go in the bath, if you want to tick several boxes at once and have some not too expensive wow factor, but without getting into collecting Barbies.

My 4 year old is having playmobil because as a toy there’s just more you can do with it.
I’d rather she didn’t have Barbie but her grandma will give her a Tokyo olympics Barbie for a sport she likes (grandma doesn’t buy her own presents, I have to) so that she’s not the odd one out in the class.

Good point about the fiddly aspect of Sylvanians though. Some kids just won't see the appeal in spending ages setting a little house etc up and they aren't as good for rescues or in the garden as they can't be cleaned properly.

My just turned 4 year old loves Sylvanian families but only if her sister (5) plays. She has some Playmobil but unlike her siblings isn’t mad on it. She got a Barbie last year with some animals (she loves animals) but plays with it occasionally. She has asked for a Barbie Dreamtopia this year.

In terms of longevity and resale potential - in this house Playmobil wins hands down. You have the fairy and princess ranges in terms of pink and sparkly, through to dinosaurs with everything in-between.
My 8 and 9 year old still play with it from time to time - a mix of the "everyday" city life sets and the pink sparkly ones - so usually the princesses going to unicorn school or something.

They also have the history sets - but Grandad seems to spend most of his time playing with those and not letting the kids get a look in.

The other big hit is the Our Generation/Design a Friend size dolls - DD2 has millions of the buggers.

It would have to be Barbie for me followed by Sylvanian families.

I'd like to say Sylvanians because I bloody love them... But none of my kids did; so probably Playmobil.

My daughter had all three at that age. The only ones that keep coming back out are barbies.

I would say Barbies, but you could always try one of the non named brand versions first (for example I saw in B&M bargains that they had barbie type dolls with different sets - eg gymnastics, supermarkets, princess carriages, different type career dolls- some actual barbie brand and some are not but they’re very good prices)

Sylvianians is lovely! I loved Barbie as a child but not sure if I would buy it for a DD now because of Barbie’s unrealistic body standards and the underlying message that everything she loves is very traditionally hyper feminine.

Barbies here! My twin girls are 4 and love playing with their big sisters Barbies and barbie camper van.
Going to get them the Malibu house for their main Xmas present, and have picked them up a Barbie doll scooter which comes with a little puppy figure.

Still playing with Playmobil age 11 here! And it has good resale value. There are some cute sets, I'd go with that or Sylvanians.

Playmobil. It's immortal, varied, easy to keep clean, is fun from toddlerhood to age 10, and really expands imaginative play. It also doesn't force girls down a pink and sparkly path.

It also comes in endless permutations - farms and boats and dentists and cars and carriages and all sorts.

I think I enjoyed it as much as the DC did.

Thank you so much for all of your responses. I’m definitely leaning towards playmobil. Is there a good place to get it? Or is generally the same price everywhere?

I usually buy from The Entertainer, who seem to know what the latest trends are, and Argos.

Playmobil has always gone down well here. Must have been played with from 4 - 11 In different ways. As for where to buy, I'd say shop around. The actual playmobil website sometimes has offer codes, and does bundles if you want a couple of sets so can work out well. Lidl sometimes have small sets and worth checking supermarkets etc. If you have a specific set in mind it's also worth setting an alert on Camel camel for Amazon prices. Or if not specific, set a Hot Deals UK alert for the word playmobil to see what gets reduced.

If you are getting playmobil I recommend getting a container for all the tiny, tiny bits that come with it. I got dd the Christmas house last year - it was on offer for about 20 quid and looked amazing all set up on the table on Christmas morning. But I keep finding the little bits everywhere. A playmobil feather, cup, or the baubles from the Christmas tree etc. rolling around on the floor. Nightmare if you have younger siblings that could put things in their mouths.
I'm not a fan of controlling play and getting things out and then putting them straight back in the box so I got my dd a special box and told her this was for her "little things" which has now become a place for random beads, figures etc. and mostly the little bits from playmobil. She knows she can get playmobil out whenever she wants but I always do a quick check when she's finished to make sure at least the little things are tidied somewhere safe because a) she knows where to find them next time and b) i don't want a choking hazard lying around, or to injure my foot on one of them

The Playmobil department store would be my suggestion. My niece as it and it's fantastic.

My 4 year old DD loves Playmobil. Only thing is I need to find a storage solution for it all but I love it for creative, engaging play and it keeps her busy for ages.

I think Barbie has more years in it. But mine is 5 and when she was 4 she was the same - we went Barbie but she would have been over the moon with Sylvanian or Playmobil too.

My 5 year old has all three but mostly plays with the playmobil. The barbies get their clothes changed a lot but not really played with and the sylvanians mostly sit in the box untouched (my 15 year old used to love the sylvanians though…)

Playmobil, no contest. DD is 16 and still has her two favourite Playmobil people on a shelf! We had lots of it, favourite was the hotel, bought most of it on Clubcard vouchers ( pity Clubcard isn't as good now). DD also signed up with Playmobil and they sent her a Christmas and birthday card every year.
Barbie was never really played with and no one in our house can stand the feel of Sylvanians.

Playmobil do princess, mermaid and fairy sets. Some of them with cute carry cases.
Second hand is a good idea because its already put together

Polly pockets also good for that age.

Playmobil 100%
I still played with my playmobil dolls house when I was 12, and now my daughter has it.

If she into pink and sparkly there are playmobil fairy, mermaid, Princess and unicorn sets. This year's advent calendar is mermaids. Of course they also have hundreds of other sets but those are the most sparkly ones