parents - is playmobil worth the money?

pulliptears

most definitely worth the money. I worked in a toy shop when DD was small and would buy her a bit of Playmobil every week. She's 13 now and her collection is thousands of pounds worth. She spent all her pocket money on it for years. The thing I loved is if she only had a few pounds she could buy herself a klickie, if she had a few she could buy a set. Embarrassingly at one point she had 90% of that years catalogue.... These days its mostly in the loft, but she wont part with it. The only thing left out is her original Victorian Mansion and she will never get rid of that.

Playmobil holds its money brilliantly, and as the catalogue is refreshed every few years the value of sets holds out. Collectors go mad for some early sets and they can fetch hundreds. This is the house DD has, although she has an extra floor and more bits to it:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Playmobil-Victorian-Mansion-House-5300-FULLY-FURNISHED-/190457373483?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item2c5824e32b

Mrs_Bea

As a mum of three I can whole heartedly say that it is one of the few toys I think is worth the money!
Our two sons and one daughter all play together with their different sets, making one huge play time or play individually. It is FANTASTIC for encouraging proper imaginative and role playing play. It is also adaptable eg my son was building a huge Hogwarts thingy from lego (the other toy that I think is worth the money) and was using accessories from playmobil to complete his creation. It keeps all of mine quiet for hours and to be honest I love it too!

It also holds it's value as if you look on ebay you will see that it goes for almost the full price with discontinued sets going for mad amounts.

I also think that it is really good quality and seems to stand the test of time!

I could go on and on but in conclusion ten years of parenting has taught me several things about toys ... lego and playmobil are two things you can never have too much of!

Hope this helps!
p.s. I've just read a fantastic book called 'Detoxing Childhood' which basically says that we should actively encourage children to 'play' more with toys such as these and avoid relying on the tv/computer although they obviously have a place:)

bullybear

Hi All

My son loves his playmobil and is expensive but he loves it. I have registered with playmobil direct and get the scratch and dent emails and stuff is 1/2 price and box maybe damaged

kivsy

Have to say that although playmobil toys are good quality, I have bought several sets for my son who is 5 and then spent several hours building it for him only for a bit to fall off. It then gets put in the toy box and next time I see it it has all fallen apaprt again! Aaargghhh!!!
I have told my husband to not let me buy any this year, even if it is a good bargain!

goingsenile

Noticed Costco had quite a few of the bigger sets in last week- areoplane etc. Can't remember prices but I know when I bought my daughters Playmobile Zoo a couple of years ago, Costco where about £20-30 cheaper for the set
My daughter has had hours of fun with it
AJ

Mrs7ones

My daughter LOVES playmobil still and she's 13 :eek::eek::eek:.

We first bought some when DS1 was small, and he's now 18. When he lost interest it was passed to DD and she's been collecting it ever since. We've spent £1000's on it over the years and she has sooooo much of the stuff.

She;s had the very big sets (hospital/school etc) and the set where you just get a figure and played and played and played with it all. The thing with her though is that she doesn't play with it in the 'sets', so it's a bit disheartening when a set has cost £100 and it never gets build correctly of played with as it was probably intended - she takes from the boxes what she wants to play with at the time... That said, I still think it's worth every penny because of the hours she's had from it.

She has a fantastic imagination (and memory!!) and has a name for each of the figures (first and surname) and has them all in families..... Each figure also has a life story (all documented :eek:)... we even have obituaries for the figures she's lost.... (a bit odd eh???)

So, my feeling is that yes, it's worth the money..

pettelly

I've been persuaded! Just bought the playmobil hospital with extras on ebay for £80! Hope it's worth it!!

Mrs_Bea

Good choice - the hospital is worth every penny IMO!

The hospital is currently being played with in our lounge by my 3,7 and 10 year old although they have adapted it to include a roof top merry go round and I'm pretty sure the maternity department didn't come with a pony trying to bottle feed a dalmation puppy or a lego tunnel linking it to the huge playmobil pyramid :rotfl: oh the power of imagination! (This was brought down yesterday from the 7 year olds bedroom and kept them happy all yesterday and this morning the game continues although I may have to put my foot down soon as it is getting difficult to get from one end of the room to the other!)

Happy playing

rinroo

We've spent a small fortune on playmobil for our two son's and i know i've committed a playmobil sin, by putting it all in tubs and throwing out the boxes, my two spend hours playing with it.

It's definitely a firm favourite and their toy of choice. Their favourite pieces are the Police station and add on sets, the camper van and the ambulance. These are always out.

Yes there are lots of little fiddly pieces but I enjoy sitting on the floor playing with these bits( tree's, flowers, ice cream cones lol) whilst the boys play argument free for ages!

Well worth the money.

pettelly

So pleased - my husband saw some playmobil advertised on gumtree. He popped in to see on his way back from work and has just called me. He has got a medieval house, viking boat and a whole bunch of other stuff for £35! He says it's all brand new! I don't think the people selling had any idea how much it's going for on ebay - apparently they were a bit embarrassed even asking for £35, my husband thought they were waiting for him to bargain with them.

Thank you all for your advice. I'd ordered a small set of a few people from ebay. It arrived today and the kids got their paws on it before I could sneak it away to wait for their birthdays later this month - they played with it all morning. A sign of things to come I hope!