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Playmobil 4161 Advent Calendar Post Office
by hollyup
I have never seen an advent calender like this before, so I was unsure what to expect. It was actually a free gift from Toys R Us, because we spent over £50 on Playmobil. I think retail price was around £15, which I still think is reasonable, given the amount you get. It is packaged nicely, and the calender itself is made of sturdy ... cardboard, with a piece you can pull out to hang it from.
It comes with a 3D snow/house scene made of cardboard, which you slot together easily. This was an nice idea, because it gave my son somewhere to put the pieces each day.
The first door had a post box behind it. I was quite impressed with the quality of the items. The post box is really sturdy and slides open for easy removal of the letters. The second door contained letters to go in the post box. I found that it continued in the same way, with a larger item every few days, followed by several smaller ones.
The back of the main box it comes in does show you the order you receive the pieces in, however we found it was more fun to guess what it was going to be each day.
Some of the main bits you receive are: Post box and letters, desk and chair, Santa, Reindeer, Sleigh, Elf, Angel and Christmas tree. There are also many little bits to play with, such as a tiny working stamp and ink pad.
I will definitely be purchasing a Playmobil advent calender for next Christmas.
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Playmobil 4161 Advent Calendar Post Office
by azana
It's become somewhat of a tradition in our house to have a Playmobil advent calendar, and this year was no exception. This set, which is called the Christmas Post Office has been one of our favourites and was well worth the £16 I paid for it back in the Summer - you can pick one up right now for less than that if you like to prepare ... well in advance for next year.
Unlike other calendars from playmobil we have had in the past this one required no assembly at all, other than taking out the cardboard 3D display of Santa's post office onto which all the pieces were placed as we opened the windows in the main part of the calendar, which is A4 sized and quite thick as it contains little boxes with the playmobil in, from 1 to 24. The little windows were easily perforated and opened by my rather excited children and from start to finish this calendar really did not disappoint. The first window revealed a post box with a removable back, soon to be followed by actual little letters to post, right up to a sleigh, reindeer and a Christmas Tree near the Big Day itself. There were also plenty of toys, 3 figures (Santa himself, an elf and an angel) and lots of nice little details; in particular the children loved the mini working stamp which actually prints playmobil Santas onto the little notebook which is included.
I found the set was a source of delight to the children every single morning, and even the display section was excellent, featuring as it did Santa's mail room complete with a desk and chairs and a separate stable area for the lone reindeer. There was a minimal amount of assembly with the items, the tree and sledge had to be put together and Father Christmas had to have his hat put on, but the end result was a very Christmassy and playable with scene that has been much loved. Because the set comes with a small booklet telling you which item is for which days in theory you could put this together again and use it again, but I know from experience we are unlikely to do this, and the pieces are more likely to be added to our collection and played with throughout the year as everything is of normal playmobil size and of extremely good quality, as I have come to expect from Playmobil. Some of the smaller pieces, such as a teddy bear, the letters and the reindeer's carrot may be a little small for younger children but could be used with supervision.
At this price I paid this toy was really excellent and I really think the Playmobil calendars are both fantastic value and great fun. I really like this set which is one of the better calendars in my opinion and I think I enjoyed it as much as the children! Thoroughly and unreservedly recommended!
Link to see pictures of the whole set:
http://www.toys-hobbies.co.uk/trolleyed/products/
playmobil-4161-advent-calendar-christmas-post-office.htm
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Playmobil 4157 Advent Calendar Police
by azana
It's become a bit of a tradition in my house to have a Playmobil Advent Calendar as the countdown to the big day begins. I have playmobil crazy children who really enjoy opening a window each day and having a bit of playmobil to add to a festive scene - I say festive but this calendar which I purchased in October last year, was a little ... less typically Christmassy than other calendars that Playmobil produce featuring as it does the forces of Law and Order and a rather shady looking burglar, complete with stubble. This set was, however, much enjoyed and a bargainous £10 when I bought it - you would pay much more for the amount of playmobil you get here if bought separately as it includes 3 figures and a police bike and much more, there being 113 pieces in all, now long absorbed into the mass of playmobil we own but all still being played with when other Christmas gifts have long been forgotten. This calendar is currently available for not much more than I paid for it from Amazon and other outlets.
The calendar came in a large box with an outer sleeve. This had to be slid off and then inside the main box there were instructions to help you assemble the calendar itself. This involved slotting together cardboard to make inner boxes and putting bits of playmobil into each little compartment - this was a bit fiddly and time consuming but there was a handy photo of what each part should contain (the playmobil came in 3 or so bags) so that you couldn't go wrong. I have noticed that more newly released calendars including the one I have purchased for this year (set 4167) come ready assembled, more practical maybe but I shall miss the fun of putting the calendar together!
Once December started the countdown and opening of Playmobil could begin. On each day there was a little door to open and then an item to add to a seperate cardboard 3-D street screen. It took a little while to build up the scene especially when we started with a few unexciting items like a black crow and a lamp post, but things soon built up nicely, albeit non festively. There are a lot of nice bits to this set such as a bed, toilet and even a toothbrush for the burglar (this being playmobil you kind of assume the police will catch him in the end). There was perhaps even arguably too much detail to the scene in some ways - items such as a crowbar, grappling iron and more guns than your average British Bobby would be allowed to carry certainly gave rise to some "interesting" questions in our house! In some of the days' boxes the "prize" was bigger than others, the motorbike was probably the best piece but if you have other sets already there is bound to be something to please, what you get is so varied from a bike for the burglar to make his getaway on presumably, through to handcuffs and rubbish bins via a stash of coins, a wanted poster and even a loud hailer. There are also lots of traffic cones and items for the authentic playmobil slightly Germanic street. The cardboard street here is in scale to all the pieces which are of normal playmobil dimensions and again could be kept after Christmas.
As you would expect from playmobil the quality of everything is fantastic, though you should be aware there are some tiny pieces that might a little risky for younger children, say those under 3. All the figures have hands which turn fully and can grip all the little items and there is even a dog and a black cat. You really do get quite a lot of playmobil for the price you pay. As I have already said everything can be played with whilst you are building up the scene and after the Big Day itself. Our playmobil is always much played with and these bits have been no exception, my children were really pleased to get them and really enjoyed the whole thing, taking it in turns to open the box each day. Personally, I found this calendar, as I said at the start, far less festive than some of the others that playmobil make which feature much more traditional images of Christmas - think "Santa in the Park "as opposed to "Burglar climbing up a house" - I'd rather the former in all honesty. That said, this didn't seem to bother my children too much it has to be said!
I really think the playmobil calendars are a lovely idea and well worth purchasing. This was a good set, and would probably be enjoyed even more by boys than girls, but if it's your first playmobil calendar experience I would suggest looking at others first. We had a lego one one year and this was better than that in terms of the pieces you receive, value and the scene you make, but I still prefer some of the other calendars we have had in previous years. Christmas in the park remains my all time favourite due to having a fully working organ that plays jingle bells - magic! I will be sad when, inevitably, my children grow out of this kind of toy which I enjoy as much as them if I am honest, and we did enjoy this set, just not as much as the others. Recommended, at the right price.
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