5298 – Skull and Bones Corsair

Skull and Bones Corsair Released: 2013 RRP: N/A Rating: ★★★ The great joy of the smaller, and therefore more affordable, pirate boats in the Playmobil range is that you can have two for the price of one – one large pirate ship, that is. This facilitates either creating a fleet or, as in A.’s Playmobil

70151 – Pirate Ship with Underwater Motor

Pirate Ship with Underwater Motor Released: 2019 RRP: £39.99 Rating: ★★★★ Playmobil’s most recent pirate boat was this feature-packed set, with a correspondingly high price tag. As it happens, I was able to acquire ours, a Christmas gift for A., for half price because the box was damaged. The boat no longer features as part

9884 – Three Pirates

9884 – Three PIrates Released: 2020 RRP: £7.99 Rating: ★★★ One customisation for the Playmobil pirate ship that we did not discuss in our last article was the crew. The original brig included stickers to mark it as either a navy or pirate vessel, but if you bought two ships so as to have one

70411 – Skull Pirate Ship

Skull Pirate Ship Released: 2020 RRP: £89.99 Rating: ★★★★ The jewel in the crown of our Playmobil collection is the current pirate ship. Ostensibly, this was a birthday gift from A. for Daddy although, in reality, Daddy organised it. It’s an expensive toy, so the first bit of advice if you’re after one is shop

9441 – Addendum

Knight with Cannon Released: 2018 RRP: £3.99 Rating: ★★★★ We originally reviewed the knight (or rather gunner) with cannon last summer. The klicky works well as a fifteenth or sixteenth-century character. I was definitely drawn to the figure rather than his bombard. His bright red and black apparel suggest the livery of a retainer while

9496 – Santa’s Sleigh with Reindeer

Santa’s Sleigh with Reindeer Released: 2018 RRP: £11.99 Rating: ★★★★★ Santa Claus as you and I know him is a mash-up of several different cultural ideas. That’s why he’s celebrated in alternative ways in different European countries. His origins lie with the fourth-century bishop Nicholas of Myra (in modern-day Turkey), whose shrine can be found

70559 – Playmo-Friends Royal Soldier

Playmo-Friends Royal Soldier Released: 2020 RRP: £2.99 Rating: ★★★★★ Playmobil soldiers generally follow a historical ‘look’ although they can, of course, be situated anywhere in your universe. Ours, for example, form a militia that protects Daddy’s books from A.’s thieving pirates! They’re decontextualised and consequently, in play, have nothing to do with early modernity. With

6491 – Roman Tribune

Roman Tribune Released: 2016 RRP: £2.99 Rating: ★★★★★ Following on from our review of the Three Roman Soldiers set (#6490), which we published back in the summer, we now want to have a look at the Roman Tribune. These sets were released together and are, therefore, designed to complement one another. The Roman word ‘tribunus‘

4783 – Pirate with Treasure Chest

Pirate with Treasure Chest Released: 2014 RRP: £3.99 Rating: ★★★★ As far as western culture is concerned, there is no pirate more famous than Blackbeard. Known alternately as Edward Teach or Thatch, he was originally a member of Benjamin Hornigold’s crew operating out of the Bahamas in the early seventeenth century. After Hornigold’s retirement, Teach

9894 – Halloween Set Witch

Halloween Set Witch Released: 2020 RRP: £4.99 Rating: ★★★★★ All Hallows’ Eve is nearly upon us, and I am going to give A. a Playmobil (trick or) treat. Always happy to have a villain in town, and no doubt inspired by occasional references on CBeebies, she did ask for a witch earlier in the year.