Playmobil Circus Ring Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It continues to astound me that there is a toy company out there today that still makes toys of this caliber. The attention to detail on this playset is amazing. If you are a parent (or collector!) out there contemplating this set, do not delay ... get it before it's discontinued! It is incredibly sturdy plastic and everything fits well together - no wonky pieces. In fact, one of the most satisfying elements to assembling a Playmobil toy is their legendary "click" when a piece fits into another. Just like the "burp" on a Tupperware container, the "click" on a Playmobil piece tells you it's not going to fall apart with play.

Although most of the playset snaps together in one large plastic piece, the "walls" are very thick cardboard & the roof is fabric. Took about 1-1/2 hours to assemble (weirdly enough the great circus episode of Bones came on while I was doing it!) and the instructions are incredibly easy to understand. I even like how they show the decals in the instructions ... if you have been instructed to place a decal on a piece in an earlier step, when they show the decal sheet later, that sticker is now missing from the illustration. Making it very easy to see which decals you should have left to attach. I've never seen this detail before in an instruction sheet and I've worked in the toy industry for years. (Although the decals are VERY adhesive so I would not suggest letting the kids attach them - they stick immediately in place, making it difficult to readjust.) There was also a bunch of extra little construction "bits" left over which will be great if we ever lose any of the connectors, etc.

The details ... THE DETAILS! This set is amazing. Even more amazing than I guessed from the photos on the box. The graphics are colorful and fun, the acrobat act really works, and there is enough room for at least 30 figures to fit in the stands to watch the show. There are even two sections of seats that are removable allowing the animals, etc. to come in-and-out of the ring and the thick velvet curtains really slide back and forth to let them into the tent. But the pièce de résistance??? The light show. Seriously. We hadn't even noticed that it had one so I was lucky I had batteries on hand. Add two AAs, press the button and the structure around the back entrance puts on an amazing light show for 2 minutes before shutting itself off to save battery power. Wow!

Everything is easy to take apart and store away as well, and it even comes in a sturdy two-piece box with tabs on the side that lock into place so the toy can be put away for safe storage. There's even room to fit some extra add-on sets in the box as well. (More on those later.) Also included is an adorable Playmobil Circus poster your kids can hang up to advertise their circus!

The only con I see to this set is the figure selection. For a $[...] toy, they should've included a few more basic figures - a ticket seller (there are two booths after all!), a clown and a dad. (The set only comes with a mom and two kids as spectators, and although I think the fun is in adding to the audience, I feel a whole family should have been included.) Also, perhaps at least one animal such as an elephant should have come with the standard set. Additionally, since they went to the trouble of adding an LED light show, I think a spotlight attached to the main brace would've been GENIUS. They could've even made that an add-on accessory as they do with the light kits for the Playmobil houses.

ADDITIONAL ADD-ON SETS: if you can afford it, get the add on sets! There are many extra playsets on the side that go with this set including animal acts and a circus trailer. After the ring, the next two sets you should get are the horse act (because it comes with a rotating-ring base that fits into the center of the tent playset and can then be used with all of the acts) and the clown band which has music to accompany your circus. Also, the tightrope act is great because the tightrope fits right to the main structure of the tent (although it can be played with on the side without the circus tent playset).

I don't think I've ever taken the time to write a review this long about a toy, but I felt I just had to ... as toys get more cheaply-made and less-detailed (I recently saw a toy from another company listed as a playset that had only a figure and a chair!), Playmobil should be commended for bucking the trend and continuing to provide very sturdy, very imaginative (and happy!) toys that are fun for the whole family and can last for years to come.

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Product Description:
There's a circus full of fun under this festive big top. First, kids build the set inside a circus ring large enough to accommodate animals, clowns, and even trapeze artists. Then, let the play begin! Set includes seven circus figures. Playmobil. Ages: 5+