# What's Up w/ Playmobil Toys??



## karina5 (Apr 15, 2006)

I was thinking they would be cute for DS and then had major sticker shock when looking at the price tag. So I went online to see about getting them used and still really expensive!!

I kind of remember these toys from 15 years ago or so when I used to babysit and nanny, but had no idea they are so popular!

Do your kids like them? Are they worth the money?


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## editmom (Dec 6, 2006)

They are all plastic. That said, I have never seen a child who did not like them and they go for many years of interest. They last as long as the dogs don't chew them. (can you tell I have personal experience?) They have very small pieces with the dolls, tiny carrots and tiny little hammers etc. Easy to loose. I can't say if it's worth it for your family. Are you wanting them because others have them or because your son has shown an interest? In my own personal opinion, though they are plastic they go in the boat with legos and Kinex. Traditional toys that last.


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## allborntogrow (Dec 31, 2007)

We have spent lots of money on playmobil. Yes, TONS of little, itty bitty pieces (possible chocking hazard if your kid still puts stuff in his mouth) but as long as you get some little containers you can keep things together. Every penny we have spent has been worth it. My son plays creatively for hours with his playmobil. Try kidsurplus.com. Not cheap but a little discounted!


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## maxymum (Oct 31, 2005)

playmobile is awesome. my sil gets it for ds at the discount stores maybe ross, tj max? i think???


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

we love them. even my 11 1/2 year old still plays with them. they will spend hours and hours setting up elaborate scenes. My dd has been playing with the same pirate set for 4 years now.

Look for them at target, on clearance, resale shops, TJMax and Ross and stuff. We didn't spend a huge fortune .. I think the most expensive thing was the pirate ship and it was about $40 . . . Similar to this one. And we have just built it up through the years for birthdays and Christmas. its nice because grandma can find it and it is easy to tell her "we would like to add to such and such a set". And they have little sets that are only about $3-$10. be forwarned though. this stuff does not come assembled. it took me about 5 hours to assemble the pirate ship. even the figures require freaking assembly. and they are not indestrucatble. we have had several peices break and there was much heartbreak and tears over it (the girl pirate which we can't find anywhere now.)

and as you can see the resale value is phenomenal. so if your child does tire of it or wants to get rid of it . . . .


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## OakBerry (May 24, 2005)

My ds loves them, and every Playmobil toy we have bought has been played with alot.
We got him the Playmobil hospital for Christmas. It was quite pricey, but he gets so much enjoyment out of that toy!
And every kid who comes over loves it too. Even ds's 7 year old cousin, who "hates" anything that isn't a Lego, likes it.


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## sonrisaa29 (Feb 3, 2007)

My son loves them as well. They're totally worth the money as they're pretty much indestructable. I love the details and thoughts that go into making the kits. Be prepared though, some of the larger kits take forever to put together.


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## North_Of_60 (May 30, 2006)

What's playmobil?


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## Momily (Feb 15, 2007)

My son never liked them as much as I thought he would. He played with them some, but got frustrated with how they fell apart. There were a couple of pieces he used a fair amount (mainly the 2 airplanes we had) but other things like the castle were definitely not worth the $. I know more kids who love them than kids who don't but I'd still start with something small before investing a lot of money.


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## Jess A (May 26, 2006)

I played with it as a child and loved it.

We bought the zoo set this year and all three kids play with it (the youngest under strict supervision of course). It's one of the few toys my two older kids can play with without fighting. They'll play for hours, and I LOVE to listen to the scenarios they act out.

The zoo set I got at an educational store that offers a 30% coupon a few weeks before Christmas. Relatives got little sets to go with it, so that was nice. It is all plastic, but I agree with the PP who puts it in the same category as LEGOs and KNEX--classic, creative toy that encourages imaginative and constructive play (constructive in the sense that the kids can set up scenes and such . . . I actually put the thing together and it did take hours).


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## marybethorama (Jun 9, 2005)

Youngest ds is obsessed.

My middle is not into them so much though.

Although they are pricey, they can be found at discount stores sometimes.

I do have to say that they last forever.

I think it depends on whether or not your child is into them. If not, it might not be worth it but if so, it's definitely worth it.

The only thing I'd say is that I'm not crazy about the dollhouse. Ds has played with one before (at a toy store display) but he wasn't crazy about it. Some of our Playmobil people live in a dollhouse that dh made.


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## sebandg'smama (Oct 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *North_Of_60* 
What's playmobil?

http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/dem.../Sites-CA-Site

I have found cheap playmobil at Winners.

It is a plastic toy, but at least it is a "safe" plastic.


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## Blooming (Feb 16, 2006)

All DS6 has played with for the last 3 years is playmobil. DH superglues the sets together for him (Like the castle).

But he mostly likes the people, their stiuff and the animals.

And his pirate ship.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

The greatest toy play value (besides things like cardboard boxes and such, of course.







) for us has been Playmobil. They are plastic, they are costly, but we've been Playmobil fans for nearly 20 yrs. We've had a pirate island for, I don't know, 15 years? that gets played with to this day. My 8 yr old has an intricate playmobil village set up in the basement that is a magnet for every child who has ever visited.


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## HollyBearsMom (May 13, 2002)

Playmobil is awseome!! We have received the majority of ours via hand me downs. You might want to do a ISO on craigslist/freecyle. Also check ebay to save some money.


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## mamabearsoblessed (Jan 8, 2003)

I







playmobil. My kidlets have never been very into it though.
Maybe this cub will love playmobil as much as Mama







. I just want an excuse to buy the awesome sets I see







.

ETA ~OT *Blooming*~ I love your 'us' picture in your siggy~ it's lovely and makes me smile. Just wanted to tell yopu that









nak


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## Absinthia (Mar 18, 2008)

My daughter liked Playmobil better than Lego. I find it worth the price.


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## Jessy1019 (Aug 6, 2006)

I loved Playmobil as a child, even collected a bunch as an adult, and my kids adore it as well. Definitely worth the price -- it's really good quality, lasts forever, and is totally beloved by the kids I know.


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## Eliseatthebeach (Sep 20, 2007)

We love Playmobil. Just as everyone has said, it's worth the price, well made, kids love it, lasts forever, etc.


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## MaryJaneLouise (Jul 26, 2005)

What ages are prime for these? My almost 3 yr olds, one is totally train obsessed and the other has yet to find his "thing".


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## loitering (Mar 27, 2006)

Hmm I *think* I've seen these toys before..but I'm not sure.

We've always been Round/Little People fans. We still have a stock of Round People from my childhood that ds plays with at my dad's house. And I've bought him the newer versions (schoolbus, barn, etc)


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MaryJaneLouise* 
What ages are prime for these? My almost 3 yr olds, one is totally train obsessed and the other has yet to find his "thing".

I would think almost three would be really young. We gave them to my dd when she turned 4 and still had to stash some of the smaller pieces for later. Some of the parts you just have to have really good fine motor skills to appreciate.


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## Ceili (Nov 21, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MaryJaneLouise* 
What ages are prime for these? My almost 3 yr olds, one is totally train obsessed and the other has yet to find his "thing".

They have a few sets for young toddlers (18 months+), but most of their stuff has little tiny pieces and is more appropriate for older kids. My almost 4 year old has several sets, but I've put away many of the little tiny pieces for when he's older. He doesn't have the fine motor skills necessary for putting the little pieces in their hands and he gets frustrated by it.


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## poppyseed (Dec 22, 2005)

The reason that playmobil is so expensive is because NONE of it is manufactured in China, the company has very strong ethos of it all being made and manufactured in Germany.


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## GordElner (Mar 19, 2008)

It's like lego with out all the sharp corners or constructive building options. Still very fun for a mini world of imagination! I do find the above stated, that it is not manufactured in china, to be very comforting! Yay no lead based paints to recall!


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## sarah0404 (May 28, 2006)

I







Playmobil! My kids are playing with the playmobil that my brothers and I played with as children. We have bought some new stuff too. It is pricey, but totally worth it. It has so much play value. My kids lay a white towel on the floor and pretend its snow. A couple of cushions under the towel and its a snowy mountain. They've also got a spare green carpet tile which is used as grass.

We've made houses out of shoe boxes and the Playmobil figures are the right size for the proper dolls house we have.

We've made food items for our playmobile too out of Fimo modelling clay.

Well worth the money for us.


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## North_Of_60 (May 30, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sebandg'smama* 
http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/dem.../Sites-CA-Site

I have found cheap playmobil at Winners.

It is a plastic toy, but at least it is a "safe" plastic.

Huh. I drove by a Playmobil store once that looked like a castle and thought of stopping, but wasn't sure what it was. So they just sell toys? I guess they don't have playmobile in Canada because I've never heard of/seen one until I moved to the states.


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## Embee (May 3, 2002)

My DS enjoys his Playmobil. We were able to splurge last birthday and get him the big castle. Since, he has saved his allowance and bought the pirate ship and many accessories for both the ship and the castle. DS loves all the little pieces and details. He is a "details" guy. He uses his playmobil accessories for lots of others kinds of play as well, making "scenes" as it were. There are little baskets, swords, knives, fruit, animals, candleabras, the list goes on and on, and he seemingly has endless uses for the whole lot.

They are made to "come apart" so as not to "break" and this has been wonderful for us (for the most part). DS loves to take the structures apart and rebuild them in different ways and then there is the obvious, none of his Playmobil toys have broken which is more than we can say for many of his other things. It can be frustrating at times though when the castle walls don't want to stay together as we're dragging it across the carpet but all in all, quality toys.

Another thing I really like about Playmobil is that they are their own thing. They are not heavily commercial and they don't tie there toys into other commercial areas: Star Wars and Pirate's of the Carribean Lego sets for example. I find it a bit challenging to find toys for older kids that don't do this. To my knowledge, Playmobil steers clear of this type of thing and I appreciate it.

Lastly, one thing that strikes me about these toys is the number of people who tell me that even their older children enjoy their Playmobil, 11, 12 and up even. Our local librarian talks about her SIL who comes over with her DD and wants to set up the castle! He's 25. And to think of it, *I* like playing with Playmobil! I like the idea of any toy that will get strong, regular and long term use. It just makes me feel better to have spent money on it I suppose.









The best,
Em


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## mamallama (Nov 22, 2001)

I agree that 3 is probably pretty young to really enjoy Playmobil.

It is pricey stuff, but my kids would rather have a small new piece of playmobil than a larger piece of something else (littlest petshop or whatever.)


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## sonrisaa29 (Feb 3, 2007)

Our son had just turned 3 when he started getting playmobil stuff. But he's also always been a very careful child. Never put things in his mouth etc. We started out with the bigger construction digger as his first piece.

My dh even loves putting them together and we're constantly amazed at the detail on them.


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## MtBikeLover (Jun 30, 2005)

My 5yo loves his playmobil pieces! We don't have much - most of what he has was received as gifts. But it gets played with almost every day.


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## mamatowill (Aug 23, 2004)

They definitely sell Playmobil in Canada since I starting buying it for DS there. You just can not buy it at Toys R Us. DS loves Playmobil! He can play for hours with it. He has a whole pirate thing going on under the table with one of them hanging off the grappling hook. Not all the toys are made in Germany- I have pieces that were made in Spain and Malta but none are made in China which is why I started buying it.


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## Needle in the Hay (Sep 16, 2006)

For the OP and the PP with 3 yr old boys, I'd go with Lego Duplo. They have train sets for the one who loves trains. We have lots and lots of duplo that DS still enjoys playing with and I don't think he'll outgrow them anytime soon.

He has recently received a couple of small playmobil sets & likes them, but some of the pieces are a bit fragile. Most of the pieces you'll be able to save for the next generation, though.

I haven't had any lego duplo pieces break except the battery-powered trains (I'd recommend putting those away when not in use while the kids are little-- they really don't like water play or getting peed on!)


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## Needle in the Hay (Sep 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamatowill* 
You just can not buy it at Toys R Us.

Maybe now they sell it there? Last fall I picked up some playmobil there to give my nephew for christmas, but it was a toysrus in the US, not Canada. The playmobil I bought there was less expensive than I can find where I live, which is not very far from Germany.


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## karne (Jul 6, 2005)

We have had really good success buying used sets of Playmobil on Craig's List. Also, for the younger set, there is something called playmobil 123-I think it's still made. It's chunkier, so good for a 3 y/o. We had a house, barn and train set. By the way, we love Playmobil bedcause it is so open-ended. There are so many small pieces, but I think this meets some developmental need in the older child for detail and exploration.


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## tinasquirrel (Jul 10, 2006)

We have a lot of Playmobil and the boys love it. We started getting it when older DS was 3.5yo. At first, he couldn't do the things that took a lot of manual dexterity like putting the swords into their hands, but now at 5.5yo, those small details are his favorite part about the Playbmobil.

We have the big castle set and it gets played with everyday. We have it set up on our old train table since we have gotten rid of the trains since the boys stopped playing with them. It probably took a few hours to put together, but it wasn't too bad. The walls do come apart, but the boys actually enjoy taking it apart and then putting it back together in different ways. As long as you keep the pieces together in big chunks, it's not a big deal to put back together.

We have the Farm "Take-Along" set and the Knights "take-along", which was great for bringing with us on a vacation. However, they don't really get played with too much at home.

I have found sets at TJ Maxx at a good price, but they are usually random sets that weren't too popular. You won't find the really popular sets usually. I buy a lot of Playmobil online at Ridge Road Station and they usually have good prices.


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## pia (Jul 28, 2003)

We have tons of Playmobil and ds loves it. Hours and hours of play in every which way!
Awesome quality - he even has an old pirate ship that is a hand-me-down from my brother who had it in the 70s.
We´ve also bought some space stuff on ebay from the 80s.
Sometimes you can get really good deals on ebay for used items as well as new.

I think it´s worth the price.









Some cool Playmobil sites:
http://collectobil.com/
http://www.playmodb.org/
playmotown.de/
http://www.playmo-western.de/

There´s loads more....there are a lot of adult fans out there too!


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## Blooming (Feb 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamabearsoblessed* 
I







playmobil. My kidlets have never been very into it though.
Maybe this cub will love playmobil as much as Mama







. I just want an excuse to buy the awesome sets I see







.

ETA ~OT *Blooming*~ I love your 'us' picture in your siggy~ it's lovely and makes me smile. Just wanted to tell yopu that









nak

Oh thanks mama. I love that picture too. And another cool thing about the pic- a fellow MDC mom took the picture.

I also hear you on just wanting an excuse to buy the sets you see. I want the knights market place so badly for DS and beleive me he doesn't need it. Well maybe he does.


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## PrennaMama (Oct 10, 2005)

When I was a kid, Playmobil was a symbol of wealth. I never had it, but covetted it!!

My dad bought dd (3) a Playmobil Zoo for X-mas... she loves it and her boy cousins (5, 6, 7) as well as her girl-buddies, all love it, too!

And personally I love it too! I can't believe I had to wait til I had a 3 yo before my dad would get me a playmobil set!

Kidding...! Mostly! Lol!


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## sebandg'smama (Oct 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *North_Of_60* 
Huh. I drove by a Playmobil store once that looked like a castle and thought of stopping, but wasn't sure what it was. So they just sell toys? I guess they don't have playmobile in Canada because I've never heard of/seen one until I moved to the states.

My niece introduced us to them, so that's going back 10 years here in Canada. Perhaps it's an Eastern thing?


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## marybethorama (Jun 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Blooming* 
I also hear you on just wanting an excuse to buy the sets you see. I want the knights market place so badly for DS and beleive me he doesn't need it. Well maybe he does.









LOL Well my son's Playmobil people don't have a washer/dryer and I'm really wanting to get the laundry room set


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## chantald (Oct 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PrennaMama* 
When I was a kid, Playmobil was a symbol of wealth. I never had it, but covetted it!!

Oh yes! I remember walking down the isles of the SuperMarche in France with my grandparents..with the shelves filled top to bottom with Playmobil and my mother REFUSED to even look at it.. We used to covet it so badly.. I was alwasy so jealous of my cousins (who lived in Europe) that they could have it and we (living in the US) could not. Not sure why my mother just didn't get some sets to bring home with us...

When they first appeared in our area here, I was thrilled and couldn't wait for DS to be old enough to play with it. He much prefers his legos though..







. But it was such a thrill to be in German toy stores last spring and see all the playmobil stuff.. wow.. I was a kid again...


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## mamatowill (Aug 23, 2004)

I can get the Playmobil in the Israeli Toys R Us it just seems to be the Canadian ones who do not sell it. DS uses his Playmobil with his dinos and other toys to create scenes and stuff.


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

DS (21 mos.) loves his Playmobil 1-2-3 (the 18 months+ version). He has 8 or 9 people that he lines up and calls by name, makes them all go to sleep, makes them all bend over with their butts in the air, makes them all kiss, etc.

I can't wait to buy him the real stuff! I loved it when I was a kid.


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