Flea loved this set. It was very simple to put together, taking just 5 minutes, and there are some great accessories, so children can play building sandcastles, sailing the boat, or play with the tiny little animal toy figures.

The Playmobil Giant Dragon breathes fire and what could be more exciting than that? Both boys have recently watched how to train your dragon and were keen to start training their own.

If you have children who look dragons, fantasy, knights and castles then the Playmobil Great Dragon Castle is a brilliant investment. You can attach Dragon’s Dungeon to is via the broken bridge and than you truly do have the ultimate play set with the Green Dragon and Knights to pit against the Reds.

For less than £40 the Playmobil Dragon’s Dungeon is an excellent set and would make a great set without having to buy the great dragon castle. It has plenty of play potential and will keep children occupied for hours. We all loved the fact that it has its own light too.

The Playmobil My Take Along Princess Fantasy Chest is a fantastic Playmobil set that will become a well loved toy. My niece has played with it each day since she received it and even took it to Grandma’s house for a sleepover, where all three children enjoyed it.

Fancy winning your own Maileg Christmas Pixie Advent Calendar?
We’re offering one of our readers the chance to win a magnificant Maileg Christmas Elf advent calendar. These magnificant characters stand at more than 1.5m tall and would make a fantastic addition to your festive decor!
Read on for details of how to enter, and see our guide to the best advent calendars of 2010…

I must admit to being a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to children and advent calendars. I mean, do they really need chocolate behind the little doors? Couldn’t a nice picture making up a nativity scene suffice? It would appear not. Especially where chocolate and toy manufacturers are concerned. But if you do want an alternative to chocolate, then you can’t go far wrong with a Playmobil advent calendar range. It would seem there is one to suit nearly everybody. The advent calendar features all the attention to detail that you’d expect from Playmobil; from a golden frog on a lily pad to a net and butterflies.

I’ve never seen a Playmobil Advent calendar before and to be honest, I didn’t even realise that they made them but as soon as we saw ours we were BIG fans. We got the Pony Ranch calendar, which is ideal as my eight year old is horse mad. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw it and instead of counting the days until Christmas Day, she’s counting the days until she can open her first box.

This is a cardboard advent calendar that comes complete with 24 Playmobil toys and accessories that gradually build up into a complete scene – there’s even a burglar on a bike! I found assembly a bit tricky, but the toy collection inside the Playmobil police advent calendar is excellent and great value, with plenty of play value.

I am a fan of giving tangible long lasting gifts rather than sweets etc, so these are perfect for my niece at Halloween. I know that I will be buying more next year for the boys. Great value with long lasting playability. Perfect for Playmobil fans everywhere.

The Playmobil Dragon’s Land Advent Calendar is fantastic! Every day holds a new toy that builds up a Dragon’s Land scene. Little S hasn’t really had Playmobil before, and he absolutely loved it. He sets it all up, puts it back in the box, tries out different arrangements; for him the possibilities are endless. All the pieces are well made and detailed. Some days you get more than one piece which was really exciting for Little S. He really liked the little skeleton and the working crossbow.

Assembly aside, there’s very little to complain about here. A completely fantastic idea, beautifully made and with some really fantastic details and thoughtful touches – like including a chalk pencil so children can write on the blackboard, and having an open front so children can really play with the whole space. If you own the Playmobil School Gym, this can be attached to the school, which makes a really fun addition.

Flea begged for this Playmobil Hospital set for almost six months before we relented and bought it for her. And I don’t blame her for coveting it – it’s a proper hospital with operating theatres, wards, a reception, treatment rooms and even an on-site clown. What’s not to love, you’ll think? Then you’ll open the box.

Once it’s together this is a great play set with lots to keep children interested, and we liked that this comes with everything kids need to play pirates – lots of figures, plenty of accessories and some really nice details – apparently it’s one of Playmobil’s best sellers over the years, and we can certainly see why. But do set aside an evening to assemble the large Playmobil pirate ship – and don’t forget the screwdriver!

The Playmobil Noah’s Ark is a great set and has some nice touches if you recognise what they are (we didn’t) – a working crane, for example. It’s around 50cm long, so not too big, which is great when it comes to storage. There aren’t as many accessories as you’ll find with some Playmobil sets but how much do animals need? All the basics are provided – hay for beds, food to eat, boxes to put things in. The Playmobil Noah’s Ark is, I’d say, a good quality take on a classic toy.

As a toy, we have very few complaints about the Playmobil Vet’s Car, but this would be better described as a 4×4 vehicle rather than a “vet’s” car. We were expecting animals, so we were disappointed!

The Playmobil Family Camper is of my favourite sets of Playmobil because it encourages kids to role play within family situations, and it’s really flexible in how kids can play. Great value for money considering all the accessories included within it, and it has stood up to a month’s play without anything breaking off or looking worn. Thoroughly recommended. Just don’t pick it up from above.

I think the Playmobil Easter Egg is a fantastic alternative to chocolate eggs if you know children will be receiving their share of chocolate from other people. There are a good set of choices that should please all kids, and the plastic egg can be used as a moneybox afterwards, making the whole thing remarkably good value for money at £7.99

Of all the Playmobil sets that have passed through our house, this was the one that Flea played with least. This surprised me at first, because Flea is quite a big fan of dinosaurs, as a rule. I think, though, that the dinosaurs don’t naturally mix with the other Playmobil sets, and if Flea is playing dinosaurs she has a whole set of plastic dinosaurs that look a lot more realistic than the Playmobil Spinosaurus. Having said that, if you’re looking for a toy for a hardcore dinosaur fan, this range is solidly made and very good quality and value.

The Playmobil Take Along Pirate Island is a great value pirate toy that stores away easily, and can be taken with you easily to friends’ houses. Just bear in mind that there are a lot of small pieces, so it’s not for kids who still like to put small things in places where they might cause injuries.

“Playmobil Pirates is a great, absorbing game for little swashbucklers, with some nice in-game features and extras to discover.”

It comes in a fairly hefty box and Mia’s eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the picture on the front of the box which shows what the calendar contains. It’s vibrant, fun and has big ‘wow’ factor. You have to ‘build’ it to begin with, which threw us a little. You create the calendar’s inner chambers and then fill them with Playmobil characters, set props, flowers etc as shown in the instructions. Very pink and very girlie.

The Advent calendar we got to try is the Playmobil Pirate Island. It comes flat packed in a box and requires that you set it all up yourself. Once you have put together there are 24 compartments and you can place the toys in each one of them. When it is all assembled, children will be able to open a window a day to discover a new toy.

The Playmobil Pirate Island Superset is a nice addition to a pirate Playmobil collection, but the base is a little limiting. I’m also possibly weirdly liberal, but I found it kind of amazing how many weapons two pirates need – daggers, swords, guns and a cannon?

The Playmobil Go-Kart Race Compact Set is a nice little set, and inexpensive enough to make a good present for a birthday party, as you don’t need any other Playmobil sets to be able to play with this set.

The Playmobil Playground Set is a really great toy that’s perfectly pitched for children aged 4 and 5, who enjoy pretend play around schools, playtime, making friends. There are some lovely items, and the quality is very impressive, with each piece strong enough for robust handling by pre-schoolers.

For us, the Playmobil Expedition Ship would be an expensive set as it’s mostly used as a bath toy – and there are far cheaper bath toys around! But if you have a child who is keen on boats and fixing things, this is a nice set, which is fairly robust and has some nice details.

The Playmobil Take Along Knights Battle Chest is one of the more disappointing Playmobil sets and I personally wouldn’t recommend it. I think it’s quite small – I’ve seen much nicer wooden castles, which you could play with using Playmobil or other figures, and which would probably last longer and stand up to a bit more rough handling.

The Playmobil Ambulance is a great value set considering how much play value it has. Nice and sturdy, and it really encourages imaginative play. As an added bonus, it introduces the idea of kids getting knocked off bicycles, so we’ve been chatting about road safety, too. Totally recommend this one.

This set is well made and a great first Playmobil set for young children. However once you have rocked the dinosaur and slid the figures down the slide a few times there is not much else to do. I would buy a couple of different sets in the range to get maximum enjoyment out of it.

A fantastic play set with a bit more to explore than is sometimes the case – the hidden rooms and traps added a lot of fun to the toy, and I think Flea will play with it for a long time because of that element. We’ve already added a couple of robbers and camels to the set, and I can see us adding more over time.