Playmobil purchasing guidelines

[playmofirth]

TLC

I admire your resolve.  We started with pirates but moved into Knights and modern stuff.  Although we dabbled with Vikings I think we stuck to these.  (There is plenty there to keep a person busy.)  I think we have more than my kids know what to do with but they are attached to it.

With regards to you could liking for Greek myths I think you could adapt the Romans to some of your needs.  The Roman galley could be used.  There are suitable accessories to meet your needs.

Playmofirth

[Wesley Myers]

Does anyone else develop guidelines for deciding on playmobil purchases?

Now, I'm not a collector, just a parent who wants to provide high quality play options.  So, this question is really for those who are buying for children who will play with the toys.

Today, I ran across a sticky note from 6+ months ago which stated pretty clearly my objectives with playmobil.  I remember feeling, at the time, a little overwhelmed by the choices available.  So, I drilled down to what I really value in a toy for my kids.  Here's what it said:

1.  portable  (which also means that it will take up little space at home)
2.  M & F  (which means both male and female klickies in the set)
3.  multi-race  (my most challenging playmobil objective!)
4.  animals  (always fun!)
5.  flexible fun  (meaning that the set could be played with in a variety of different ways/scenarios)

It bears noting that I'm a playmobil minimalist of sorts.  I don't like cluttering our living space; so, we tend to concentrate on much smaller playsets.  For instance, the largest set we own is the Forest Lodge (4207).  Predictably, I'm quite interested in the playmobil "take-along" line which I'd like to see expand.  We have the Barbarian Fort and the Unicorn Castle which pack an unbelievable amount of play options into a small package.  We also mix and match smaller sets together in a small glad storage container to take with us on trips (or even to make a 'new' playset at home).  When seemingly unrelated things are together in a small container, imagination-magic begins to happen!

tlc

Well, you can toss number 1 right out the window.

I falsely believed that the smaller sets were the better value at one time too.  However, I have come to realise it is the largest sets that have the best value - both money-wise and play-wise. 

It might not want to be something you were thinking of initially - getting the largest sets - but if you think the small ones have play value to them, you really need to get the big ones!

[kaethe]

Well, you can toss number 1 right out the window.

I falsely believed that the smaller sets were the better value at one time too.  However, I have come to realise it is the largest sets that have the best value - both money-wise and play-wise. 

i must agree with wesley, when my children were younger (in the 70s and early 80s) the bigger sets seemed so extravagant, so i focused on the little sets.  my son has since told me that he wished we would have bought the bigger playmobil sets ( the knights and castles) and not so many legos.  he told me his knights never had a place to defend or invade.  no place to call home.  at least i was a good mom and didn't throw out or tag sale any of his good toys, so we have all of the original knights, but no castles, and oh yes, the legos.
kaethe

[Rasputin]

HI

As a parent of 3 sons I must say I am forever impressed with what our boys can create with the amount of Playmobil we have. Currently they have in the middle of our living room a large fenced off area that is a makeshift zoo protected by an army of Zulu warriors. The zoo is stocked by a roving gang of construction trucks and treasure hunters. There is a large castle with knights that is forever battling them to free the animals back to nature.

This scene has been an ongoing event for 2 weeks and is forever evolving into new dimensions. My wife and I have learned to encourage their creative outlet that has taken over our living spaces. I know their time playing like this is limited to maybe 8 years. I encourage them and play with them but I see no point in trying to control creativity. There will be plenty of that in adult hood.

As far as purchasing goes we buy all themes so I have to prioritize purchasing sets that are being discontinued. We may have a bit of playmobil and I too do not want to overwhelm them so I now keep most of it in our barn. They go and get what they want and when it gets crowded in the house they have to take back the less used sets.

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

[tlc]

I agree that bigger sets must create even more opportunity for play -- especially with playmobil's incredible attention to detail in the accessories.

I am more concerned with instilling in kids that they have to have more stuff to make the older stuff worthwhile.  Imagination is unlimited and free but the acquisition process never really ends.  My wise spouse often says that everything that you own sits squarely on your shoulders.

The kids (and I, for that matter) love to look at the dizzying array of options in the playmobil catalog.  And its fun to plot the next additions.  But I'm glad that we carefully choose.

The Mies van der Rohe axiom of "less is more" lives on!  Now, if my dream Greek Mythology set ever comes to fruition -- Watch Out!  : )

tlc

[PrimusPilus]

My first sets I bought or got as a present when I was 10, back in 1980 (yep, I personally saw the Wall fall and the Web rise  ). Here in Brazil PM was at the time made by Trol, under license, and back then the options we had were crummy to say the least. Well, maybe there was a lot to have, at least the catalogs had an extensive variety, but to have to depend on small stores (no web, remember?) and worse of all, my very finite allowance, there wasn't much to choose  . But beggars can't be choosers, so the first one I bought myself was that silly banker that came with a desk (for crying out loud... ). Eventually I did manage to score some cool sets, like the policeman with motorcycle, some western sets and even - to my absolute delight - even some medieval clickys.

With not much to play with, I even played with the silly banker, and since I didn't have any wagon, a wheel chair from my sister's doctor set was used to haul around my weapons and equipment when my medieval knight was on his travels. What I'm saying is that kids can make lemonade out of lemons. Of course we cane give them a nudge in the right direction, but that's the great thing about PM, it's a VERY versatile toy.

[Christina]

I agree, the versatility of Playmobil is one of the things that sold it to me as a parent, along with my fond memories of playing with my brother's playmobil as a kid.  I thought he'd had a lot, but when I visited my parents a few weeks ago the sets I discovered (mostly complete) were the rather large Esso gas station, Construction Workers and Scaffold, Forklift, and 3 sheriffs, 2 umbrella girls, 2 farmers and 1 sheriff's horse from MacDonald's along with the mail order MacDonald's teepee/canoe/Indian chief set.  Those 4-ish sets were more than enough for hours and days of play and a wide variety of stories.

I love your idea of the minimalist Greek myth set, tlc -- as a not-so-minimalist I'd want more optional add-ons male and female clickies so that you could have a great big family dinner with all the gods or, sticking to the myths, you could have Hera, Athena and Aphrodite racing for the golden apple.  But I would definitely want to buy the set you describe.

And I share your concern about instilling a more-is-more philosophy, I'm also trying to avoid having so many toys that my son's overwhelmed by them.  Several of the sets I've got for him because they were getting discontinued and were on sale are hidden in a closet.  I haven't come up with totally formal purchasing guidelines but yours work for me, except for the portability one, though I am considering getting the puppet show one partly because of its portability.

Other things that have influenced purchasing decisions since I started buying Playmobil for my son (but sometimes he's just the excuse) back in October:

- I'd rather buy safari animals than zoo animals, which is the only reason we don't have any penguins yet.  Wild animals in captivity make me sad (sorry, bonniebeth!), so I feel a bit guilty about the baby elephant circus set I bought even though it was so discounted I couldn't not get it, and I won't be getting the Animal Trainer Set 4233

- He got the ambulance partly because there was a female paramedic, and I picked up some figures from Craigslist primarily because there were a mix of both men and women who were dressed for jobs and men and women who were more just family figures

- Any sets with guns have the guns removed for now before he plays with them, he's only three.

- Fun sets that encourage discussion of how modern life works (recycling truck, plane) are great for now.  I've also got some sets stored away that encourage cultural/historical knowledge: the roman arena and some supporting roman characters, and I'm probably going to get the pyramid at some point.

- Desired props for creating stop motion animation/music videos in the future are hard to resist (this one is pretty much entirely self-serving), as are sets that align strongly with his interests (fire trucks, recycling trucks, Cinderella -- I'm still on the lookout for that one.)

[bonniebeth]

- I'd rather buy safari animals than zoo animals, which is the only reason we don't have any penguins yet.  Wild animals in captivity make me sad (sorry, bonniebeth!), so I feel a bit guilty about the baby elephant circus set I bought even though it was so discounted I couldn't not get it, and I won't be getting the Animal Trainer Set 4233

No worries!  I know a lot of people feel that way.

[Bill Blackhurst]

Yep, me for one!

[tlc]

Primus - I can't get the image of the cargo-transport wheelchair out of my mind.  Most Excellent use of resources!

Christina - your little guy sounds pretty lucky; kudos on the thoughtful futuring that you put into your decisions!


tlc