In my son’s seemingly never-ending quest to have everything he can get his hands on in the fantasy series of toys from Playmobil (okay, Mom thinks it’s pretty cool too), we found the Playmobil Cannon Guard a little while back and thought it looked really cool. Given the price, it was a great value for a figure, cannon that actually fires, and accessories.

Back up a minute – actually fires? Yup, the Playmobil Cannon Guard has a small cannon with it that fires scale-size cannon balls. They actually don’t look much like cannon balls, but the effect is pretty neat anyway.

The guard seems ready to defend his post with armor protecting him over his arms, across his chest, and a helmet on his head. His expression isn’t too intimidating – he’s actually smiling like one of those Fisher Price Little People. His hands are curved to carry the torch which lights the cannon (not really). The cannon itself has a brown base designed to look wooden while the actual cannon is gray to look like cast iron.

Of course, like all of the figures and sets from Playmobil the Playmobil Cannon Guard is actually made from molded plastic. The plastic has a bit of give to prevent snapping and breaking with rough handling. All of his toys from Playmobil have held up fine with the exception of what’s gotten chewed by the dog or sucked up into the vacuum. There are no rough edges on seams to catch little fingers as he’s playing.

The “cannon balls” are made of brown plastic and are actually flat on either side and fasten onto the front of the cannon. A button can be pushed to release the ball and send it through the air. I can’t say that these cannon balls travel as far as the ones in the Playmobil Dragon Attack Cannon set, but that set is a bit bigger. There’s not as much of a problem with him attacking his siblings with the cannon that comes with the Playmobil Cannon Guard.

However, we have lost the cannon balls already. They are small and are prone to enticing our kittens into playing with them. He still has about six of the ten cannon balls which came with the Playmobil Cannon Guard originally, but that’s because we’ve found a few that were lost. Beware losing these if you have pets! I am also nervous that if our puppy finds it and starts chewing he will swallow on (maybe he has already) and I’m not quite sure how it would affect him.

There is a gray plastic tray to store the cannon balls in pyramid form, but a child would have to be really diligent about keeping them just so, and mine isn’t. I think the cats would still go after the balls piled up pyramid form too. It does make a nice-look accessory sitting next to the cannon, though. There’s also a dark gray cauldron with a plastic flame like fire for the guard to light the torch from.

Like so many of the toys from Playmobil, the Playmobil Cannon Guard really lets my son use his imagination. The guard’s hands are curved and will fit the weaponry which has come with other knights and sets in the series. He isn’t limited to just playing with the items which came with this set. It’s not even limited to the same series, so the Playmobil Cannon Guard can go and launch cannon balls at the construction workers using the Playmobil Crane and those workers can pick up swords and do battle with him. There’s no end to the possibilities as all of the sets and figures are interchangeable.

I like the way he uses his imagination, making the figures talk as he manipulates them. It’s really helped with his vocabulary and vocal skills as he has really come a long way with his development this year (he was diagnosed as high-functioning autistic).

The Playmobil Cannon Guard is available from the Playmobil Online Store for $4.99 which I thought was a great price. It’s something he has a lot of fun with and it goes great with the rest of his toys from Playmobil in this line. Even though he’s getting older, I have no qualms about purchasing these toys as they are quite durable and will be keepers in a toy box to bring out when I have children of a suitable age visiting my home again.



Other Playmobil toy reviews:

Playmobil Black Lion Leader ~ Playmobil Captive Prince ~ Playmobil Dragon Attack Cannon ~ Playmobil Dragon Troops ~ Playmobil Evil Knight ~ Playmobil Fierce Knight Leader ~ Playmobil Gold Dragon Leader ~ Playmobil Knights Duel Advent Calendar~ Playmobil Knights Tournament ~ Playmobil Red Dragon ~ Playmobil Rock Castle ~ Playmobil Three Black Lion Knights ~ Playmobil Three Fierce Knights ~ Playmobil Three Gold Dragon Knights ~ Playmobil Treasure Transport ~ Playmobil Viking Boat

Playmobil Compactor ~ Playmobil Crane ~ Playmobil Dump Truck ~ Playmobil Excavator ~ Playmobil Forklift

Playmobil Small Zoo ~ Playmobil Safari Set


© 2006 Patti Aliventi


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $4.99