Playmobil - is it worth the money?

[GoingPostal]

ds quite enjoys playing with his ELC Happyland houses and figures (not set on fire by them though). Would Playmobil be more interesting do you think? It seems expensive but I was thinking of getting him eg the pirate ship for his 3rd birthday, coming up soon.

Would appreciate some thoughts on whether it's worth the cash though before I splash out (and get sucked into expanding the range further) - or perhaps we stick with Happyland and I get him another building / set of people?

My DD is 3 and loves Playmobil. DS is nearly 6 and still regularly plays with his pirates ship and knights castle. Definitely worth the money but only if your DS will look after it, lots of tiny pieces that can get lost or broken. Good resale value on ebay too! If you start out with the carry packs and some additional figures it is not too expensive. I wouldn't bother with other sets.

I would stick with Happyland for now as the pirate ship is particularly fiddly with lots of very small, loseable parts, justifying the 4+ age recommendation imho. Perhap you could get one of the Supersets which are less of an outlay (£10-15) with more basic themed figures and settings and accessories to try out whether he'd like it.

Playmobil is fab. It's expensive but worth it. It is one of the only things the dc get out over and over again - I think that and Lego are the best toys tbh. My 9 yr old still plays with all the playmobil sets regularly - we do have loads and they play with them altogether. I love it too

Thanks that's very helpful. Small bits definitely a problem, keep finding the stuff from an aeroplane he has all over the place! Hadn't seen anything about Supersets, will look at those.

Agree with LIZS - Playmobil is age 4+ for a good reason. Some of the parts are absolutely tiny and there are so many of them. I bought a similar Playmobil set for my DS's 4th birthday and I got it out prior to giving it to him and removed quite a number of small party. Both from the point of view of them being swallowed/stuck up nose etc and from the pov that a 3yo doesn't have the fine motor skills to use the tiny pieces.

small parts!

Oh yes hadn't seen the age, would recommend age 4-5+ really, ds got the pirate ship for his 5th birthday and was ideal for him.

Dd had airport and plane when she was 3yrs and 2 mths, and despite the small parts, has always loved it....We joke now that we live in Playmobil house, in that we have added the house, supermarket, hospital and numerous sea creature parky things.....

Definitely worth the money.

Thanks again, that has decided me, will put it on a mental list for 2012 birthday...

am loving the idea of a playmobil victorian bathroom set though. Appreciate it is part of a large Victorian room set - what a random present it would be on its own though.

Yes. Every penny. DS#2 has loads and has played with it almost every day since he got his first (Playmobil Ark). I wish I had known about it when my other 2 were little.

We bought the playground 16 years ago and it still looks good. The people can be used in all sorts of small world play like Lego. Noah's Ark has scrubbed up beautifully as well. Definitely worth it - have bought lots second-hand and holds value well