3 yr birthday present - playmobile or imaginex?

[mamadelbosque]

Hi there, my DS1 is turning 3 on the 8th and I want to get him either a castle or a pirate ship of some sort, and am contemplating either playmobile or imaginex, or possibly duplos and was wondering what everyones opinions on them were... I like that the playmobile are made in germany vs china but they seem a bit more detailed and possibly breakable... anythoughts??

[Holiztic]

We love our Plan pirate ship!

http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toys-0610.../dp/B00009YOR6

[DaughterOfKali]

If you go with plastic, I'd stick with Playmobil.

[LuckyMommaToo]

I have a 6 and 3 y.o., and I'd stay away from PM for a turning-3. Most of it is 4 and up. THere are endless tiny pieces, and it would be pretty difficult for a kid that young to manipulate them. Save it for when he's older.

The Imaginext stuff looks pretty fun to me.
-e

[eepster]

DS loves his Playmobils, but we started him off with Playmobil 123. My sister got DS a PM castle for Christmas a month and a half before turning 4 yo, and he was just ready for it. I'm not sure he would have been ready for it when he just turned 3. Though he did like the set with the bunny family and house he got last Easter when he was around 3 1/4 yo.

I wouldn't get the Imaginex one though. Whether you decide he's ready for Playmobil or not, the Imaginex isn't as high quality. I also don't see how it is more age appropriate.

I wouldn't bother with Duplo for a 3 yo. DS started using regular Legos at 3 yo. We just stuck to pretty simple sets to begin with.

[OTMomma]

Personally, I really like the Duplos- though my ds isn't 3 yet. We have regular Legos in the house, and some of them are SO small, they are really hard to clean up! The duplos clean up much better, and ds really enjoys building with them. We also have a wooden castle by Melissa and Doug that ds enjoys- it doesn't have the many many small parts of the Playmobile stuff, so is much better for a younger child.

[lonegirl]

I'd go with Duplos or just skip to Lego....my son turned 3 in Nov and he got a starter bucket of Legos for Christmas...he loves it. He still loves his Duplo and Megablocks too...but the Legos will grow with him for longer.

[Bug-a-Boo's Mama]

My son has several Imaginext sets and loves them. I actually think the quality is great. He's had pieces for over a year and nothing had broken, we haven't had any problems.

PlayMobil does seem to be geared for a bit older child. All sets have smaller pieces. Also, I feel it is more expensive. That is my personal opinion. But...I can attest to the fact that the pieces, at least the older ones, do last forever. My son is playing with a knight that must have been mine as it is marked 1972 on the foot. He is still in perfect condition. But the same can be said about the Little People things I have from when I was a child too.

At three, your son is really too old for the 123 PM sets-again my opinion. Imaginext is great for the age range. PM sets are starting to grow on me, but I don't know that we will ever get into them as there is so much to them-many little pieces, add ons, etc. It will all depend on what DS decides...right now he is all about Lego's.

[newbymom05]

We have and love both PM and IM and for 3 I say def Imaginext. We have the IM pirate ship and it's great. I think it's very well made--ours has taken a LOT of abuse. My boys use PM pirates w/ their IM ship, and like others have said, PM has a ton, an absolute ton of pieces. With IM you have a man and a weapon, maybe a one piece flag. With PM you have removable scalps, helmets, feathers for helmets, staffs, flags for the staff, weapons, hands, pieces of body armor, like gauntlets, breastplate, leg armor--and this is just for one man. Now that he's almost 5 all those pieces are wonderful (for him, lol), but at 3 my DS wasn't able to assemble it all w/o help.

We have 2 IM castles--def get the smaller one w/o the green dragon head in front. Cons are it doesn't make noise, but pros are it's indestructible! (Dragon head one is so narrow it falls over easily)

[Bellabaz]

Hey my dd1 has the same b day as your ds1. Anyway, we got dd1 a playmobile for christmas and then left it at her grandparents for next year. It was very nice and well made but had so many tiny parts that it was not appropriate for her or safe for dd2 (who is almost months). It was an animal lodge and when I say detailed, I am talking little nests inteh trees with little eggs in them for little birds. Playmobile is great thogh and I think they do make simpler sets. I don't know Imaginex. Duplos are always good too.

[mamadelbosque]

Hmm ok, thats kinda what I've been worried about with playmobil. It just looks *SO* cool!! (I admit, *I* want playmobil cause' *I* wanted it as a kid and never got it. I admit it!) We already have lots of duplos, so maybe I'll look at just getting him a new duplo set or two. I'm sure he'd be happy with that and save the playmobil for next christmas

[milkybean]

I think DS was 4 when he started with playmobil, but I'm not sure. I know that it has helped with his dealing with tiny objects, that's for sure.

If things like the little cuffs on the pirates made you worried, you could just take the tiniest pieces out.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by milkybean

If things like the little cuffs on the pirates made you worried, you could just take the tiniest pieces out.

The bunny family and house, that we got DS when he was 3 yo, came with silverware, teeny tine spoons, knives and forks. I just put them away still in the little baggy.

Usually if a few of the tiniest pieces get lost is doesn't really effect play. The bunny house also came with little butterflies that sat in the branches above the sleeping area. Those butterflies are missing ATM, but DS doesn't rally seem to notice and it certainly doesn't effect his ability to set up the house and play with it.

As I see it: You can buy a toy that has no tiny parts to worry about getting lost, but then it also has no tiny parts to play with or save till later. You're buying half as many things, but most of them won't get lost. Or, you can buy a toy with tiny parts and either save them for when he's older and relax a bit about it. If a few get lost, you still got more to begin with.

My DS really enjoys those tiny parts. He loves that he can change weapons and armor. He likes having little carrots to feed and a cooking pot so mommy bunny can cook dinner for the bunny family. He adores that the pirate captain has a map and that you can take his beard on and off. Etc.


Quality means more than just whether it will break or not. It is about details. It is about using plastics without phalates. It is about paying workers a fair living wage. It is about trusting the manufacturer who has a long history of safety.

[snoopy5386]

we have this imaginext pirate ship and I love it:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?...duct&pid=41293
the price is right which was a really big factor for us (we got it for DD for xmas, not sure how much she would play with it). It is very sturdy, well made, has the right # of pieces, is very stable and rolls on the ground, she has lots of fun with it.