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Playmobil 3210 Guinea Pigs
by mickr
Playmobil 3210: Guinea Pigs
We have just started purchasing Playmobil items for our little one as Playmobil has always been highly recommended to us by our friends with youngsters as well as those who had sets when they were young. We found that a lot of Playmobil sets are rather expensive, so to start our little one off, we ... have begun to buy the smaller sets so over time the collection will grow without breaking our bank!
We purchased this set on Ebay for £1.50, though I have seen prices for this particular set range up to around £8.00. Personally, I think that £8.00 is a little too much for what it is, though as we are starting to realise, Playmobil does not come cheap! This is one reason I have trawled places such as Ebay and Car Boot sales in the last six months!
Within this set you will find;
* A green 'grass' base which is raised slightly from the floor. The silver four sided fence easily slots into the base as well as the small guinea pig house which has a red roof and brown/cream sides. The hutch has a small opening at the front to allow the guinea pigs to be put in and out, though the hole is rather small and getting the animals out again can be quite tricky without physically lifting the house off of the base and tipping them out!
* Two Playmobil children who are both in modern dress which slightly resemble farm yard clothes. As usual with Playmobil, their arms, legs and head move and their hands twist and are like little grips so they can hold on to certain items.
* Four guinea pigs of different colours which are quite small and get lost easily!
* A tortoise which is an unusual addition to the set though rather a nice little one
* Cabbages which are used for the animal's food though do nothing in particular.
This little set comes as part of the farm range, though can be played as a stand alone toy also. We do not have the main farm set as of yet, though my little one adores playing with this set alone and with her other Playmobil sets. Unfortunately, one of the guinea pigs have been lost as they are so small and a bit of fencing has bent slightly which means she can not slot it in herself, though apart from being bent, it seems durable enough to withstand actual breakages.
In my opinion, I think this is a lovely little set, though I would not have paid full price for it.
Recommended at the lower price range!
A/N: There is also a similar, more up-to-date guinea pig set which consists of more guinea pigs, two cabbages and a small green stand for £4.00, though personally I think if you want to get one of the sets, the main set of this review seems much better. Read the complete review |
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Playmobil 4468 Dolphin Basin
by queeny
We bought this for my daughter just after christmas from toys r us. It was something she wanted for christmas that santa didn't bring. She couldn't wait to hit the shops with her christmas money. The rrp was £49.99 but luckily it was in the christmas sale for half price. I feel that the rrp is expensive but the joy my daughter has got ... from this has been well worth the money. It was relatively easy to put together as the main assembly parts are quite large. The dolphin pool is in one piece with only the rocks and reception area that takes any real construction. The pieces are fitted together using the usual playmobil locking technique qnd comes with a handy tool which makes the job a lot easier. I would say it took me about an hour to get it all set up, which is not bad going for Playmobil. Once assembled, the clear pool has a viewing area to allow spectators to see the dolphins underwater. Very clever idea. The detail to this set is amazing, chairs in the viewing area, a till, even a bucket with fish, everything you need to create your own dolphin show. It comes complete with two dolphins a larger one and a baby. The best thing about this set is that you actually fill the pool with real water. This entertained my daughter no end. We initially set it up on the kitchen table and she couldn't wait to get her sleeves rolled up and get playing. it also features a crane with a little red ball that you can adjust for the dolphins to jump at. Of course kids being kids, my daughter soon had a man dangling from it by his foot shouting 'help'. strange but true! she's also had the dolphins in the bath and in with my washing up!. My point is that it provides hours of entertainment and well worth the investment. This kind of creative play is so good for kids and certainly beats hours of sitting infront of a games console.
I have no critisms about this, apart from a few splashes on the kitchen floor it has made my little girl very happy. Read the complete review |
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Playmobil 4462 Penguins
by DavyMichelle
Playmobil 4462: Penguins is reasonably priced at £23.27 - that's £10 more than the Alligator Basin costs, and yet you don't appear to get a whole lot more in this for your money. The big addition is the functioning water feature, which justifies the jump in price I think.
Inside the box, everything comes in plastic bags ... complete with an instruction leaflet. It takes about half an hour to get this set up, and it's definitely something for the adults to do rather than allowing children to help. Fitting the water pump isn't particularly fiddly at all, but it does need to be done correctly if it's going to work properly. As with all Playmobil sets that we've bought, we've found all the bits in here, including the water pump, to be well made and likely to last a long time.
Included is a water basin which comes complete with a working water fall. You fill your basin up with water, once it's fully assembled, then push down on the pump which is situated behind the rocks (but easy to locate) and the water spray down through the water fall. This is a very effective feature which is easy for kids from four years old and over to use. It's not overly stiff, and you get enough water coming down for grandson's liking. The idea is that you can stand the little penguins under the water fall and give them a little wash I think.
Also included are several penguin figures of different sizes, a couple of Zoo visitors (including a grandad!) and a woman who looks after the exhibit as well. Then there are a few bits of scenery, and some penguin eggs which sit in a little hidden cove which has a removable lid for easy access. There's also a pelican who is shown on the box to be sitting on a bit of greenery, though he doesn't actually attach to anything. I like the little bucket of fish which is included for feeding the penguins with, but the grandson does tend to chuck these fish about the place a bit, and I do think they're fiddly.
When you empty the basin of water, it's easy to just lift off the rocks to take the basin to a sink. But you do have to fish out all of the tiny fish to avoid them winding up down the drain! This is a bit fiddly, and I think I'd prefer a toy which didn't use real water. Maybe that's me being lazy and a bit grumpy though. For kids this is a real winner, and most will love that they can use real water in it. Read the complete review |