Playmobil has a great line of fantasy playsets and figures. I know because ever since my son chose a castle last year over construction sets to spend his money one, we’ve been actively collecting the various sets and figures in that line. He has thoroughly enjoyed playing with all of them, although some are better than others.

The Playmobil Treasure Transport was a more recent addition to his collection. We were out and saw it, so he spent some of his own money on it. It looked really cool on the box, with knights and horses, a wagon and gold. The premise from Playmobil is that the knights are escorting the gold to a safe place. My son creates adventures with the figures and sets where sometimes the gold arrives, and sometimes it doesn’t.

The gold, unfortunately, has all disappeared. Made of glittery plastic, it’s quite enticing for the cats in the house. I am hopeful it will turn up again, but I have a feeling it is gone, one of the small pieces which have been sacrificed to the vacuum cleaner. I bought some glittery gold beads and glued them together to replace what was lost somewhere in my house. While it doesn’t look the same as what came with the Playmobil Treasure Transport originally, it’s been a nice fill-in.

The rest of the set is still in use. It comes with two horses, four knights, a wagon on wheels which locks to secure the treasure chest, the gold, and various armaments and flags. Everything is color coordinated with the yellow and blue theme and a lion’s head on the shields and wagon. The knights clothing is adorned in the same colors, and the horses’ bridle and reins are in the same color of blue.

The knights are nice and don’t look like four carbon copies of the same figure. A little thought has gone into making them different. One has heavy armor including a thick helmet and faceplate. Another has bright red curly hair and a blue helmet. One boasts a blond beard and a huge sword on his belt. The last shoots bows and arrows. There has been great attention to detail paid to the figures as all have boots, belts, vests, collars, etc. that are distinctive. I really like the individuality that Playmobil gives to its characters,

Movement is an issue with the horses for me. While their heads do move slightly, their legs do not at all. I really like these figures as they are white with gray manes and tails and look beautiful. I just wish their legs moved, at least a little bit. On the knights they can sit or stand, their heads move, as do their arms. The wheels on the wagon move smoothly and the rear door opens and closes with ease as well. There wasn’t a long assembly time with the wagon. I think overall it took about 15 minutes for me to have the wagon assembled, along with all of the horses and knights in their accoutrements.

Like all of the toys from Playmobil, the plastic in the Playmobil Treasure Transport is molded nicely and sturdy, with a little bit of give to it to prevent breaking and snapping. The edges on everything from the figures to weaponry are smooth; no roughness to catch on his hands. All of the colors are bright, vivid, and even. The figures as well as the weaponry are interchangeable with what my son already owns. A knight from one of this other sets or figure collections can come on in as reinforcement if the troops need it and pick up the flag in his curved hand with no problem.

The figures are also interchangeable across sections. His knights can go help out the construction workers and vice-versa. Ever seen a knight in full armor working an excavator? It’s pretty interesting. But that’s what’s great about Playmobil – the only thing limiting what they can do is a child’s imagination. He generally uses these sets on his train table which provides a nice play area complete with grass and roads for him to play on in his room.

Playmobil recommends the Playmobil Treasure Transport for ages 4 and up. I can understand that due to the small pieces which easily get lost. I’m always happy to get more weaponry as I am sure a lot has disappeared into the vacuum over the past year. If you have a child who is prone to putting toys in his or her mouth, I would caution against them having this toy – or just about any from Playmobil – without supervision. Likewise, younger siblings and animals can also be at risk for swallowing some of the smaller pieces.

The Playmobil Treasure Transport is available from the Playmobil Online Store for $19.99 which I didn’t feel was a bad price for all that comes with the set. The pieces are durable and I anticipate them lasting long after he is through playing with them. The only problem seems to be keeping track of the smaller pieces, but with the amount of weaponry we’ve gotten with other figures and a little bit of ingenuity, we’ve managed to compensate just fine.


Other Playmobil toy reviews:

Playmobil Black Lion Leader ~ Playmobil Cannon Guard ~ 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 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$): $19.99