Customer Reviews

Playmobil Amphibian Vehicle with Deinonychus

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My son saw this in the Gift Shop at the Museum of Science in Boston and talked about it for months. We got it for him a few weeks ago and put it together and it has been on of his favorites. It takes some assembly, but the directions are fairly easy to follow and the final product is of decent quality--as have been other Playmobil toys he has. But for what you pay for these, they should be high quality.

As a scientist, it bothers me that there are people and dinosaurs together, but this is about play and imagination and I grew up with the mistaken belief that people and dinosaurs co-existed and I turned out OK. But this is reflected in my zero score for "educational value."

For those of you like us who don't want your young kids playing with guns, there is a handgun and a rifle that came with the kit. Ours were "lost" as the kit was being put together, preempting the problem.

But the bottom line is that my son loves this, plays with it a lot (as he does his Playmobil Sphinx), and so I would definitely buy it again.

My 4-year-old got this for Christmas...she is a dinosaur lover and was thrilled with it. A couple months later and this set still sees daily use! She particularly loves the car and the little cage (all kinds of things end up in that cage!). My only complaint is that I've had to repeatedly put the wheels back on the car, and may of the other parts are now missing. Playmobil is pretty sturdy, generally, so I am mostly chalking this up to the fact that she is 4 and that her 2-year-old sister also loves to play with it. Maybe older kids wouldn't have the same problem. Otherwise, it is a fun set that has seen a lot of playtime around here!

My 4 and 5 year old sons, and 6 year old daughter love this set. As regards criticism about lack of realism due to humans and dinosaurs being in the same set, Playmobil is about imagination and role playing, and we would not have Predator, Jurassic Park, Land Before Time, and the Chased by Dinosaurs series of Walking with Dinosaurs, as well as numerous other memorable movies, television shows and novels containing both adults and dinosaurs if adults, who knew that dinosaurs and humans did not actually coexist, did not have the ability to imagine situations that involve humans interacting with dinosaurs.

When I bought my youngest daughter three of the Playmobil dinosaur sets for Christmas this year, choosing Deinonychus was a no-brainer. For reasons unclear to me, Deinonychus is her stated favorite.

For other children, Deinonychus may be rather a disappoinment. Sure, his mouth opens and closes like the large dinos in the other sets (ie. Triceratops & Spinosaurus - which we also purchased), but he hardly stands taller than a Playmobil person does while the others in the Playmobil dino line are fantastically HUGE. He does have a right sinister expression, needle-like teeth (ouch!) and those fantastic flesh-tearing dew claws (yes, I know they're not actually dew claws, but what the heck are they?), which makes him.. interesting enough, I suppose.

The dinosaur himself hasn't been a disappointment in the least and his small stature hasn't been noted as a drawback in my daughter's mind. In fact, true to her word, my daughter gravitates toward him more so than the much cooler (in my opinion) mommy Triceratops.... which surprised me a little, Triceratops being her second-favorite dino. I can, however, respect a child who knows what she wants.

Since Deinonychus is a runt, other cool accessories are included as compensation. Namely the 'Amphibian Vehicle' and accompanying cage which - let me tell you - require just as much assembly as the huge and impressive Playmobil Jet Plane. I put all these toys together before even wrapping them, and this one - by far - had the longest and most tedious assembly time. I was darn close to docking this one a couple of stars just for that - and for it really not being the most spectacular set from a parental perspective for all that work.

And then, Christmas morning, my older daughter abandoned her cool jet plane and latched onto the vehicle and cage, and began entrapping all manner of animal and human inside with glee, and then driving them off to her lair. Okay, disregarding any budding serial killer implications, this toy was a huge hit. And so far as Christmas morning went, it was perhaps the biggest hit. So, five stars it gets. How could it not?

Other fun items: A man with a jet pack (according to my kids, that is -- however, if it's not a jet pack, I don't know what it is), a gasoline can, some spears and guns (which were tossed before xmas morning), ropes and pulleys for mom and dad to tediously reel in and reconfigure later, and an unidentified hock - presumably as bait.

So, bottom line: This may not be the most impressive set to parents, but for kids it may just totally 'wow' them.

Country of Origin: Germany