After a ship, the next thing any self-respecting pirate gang needs is a hideout to store their loot. This treasure chest gives your pirates that and more.
Retailing in the UK for £20 (unless you go to Hamley's to get skinned for £25, ahem) , the chest itself is a nice storage box for a child's Playmobil pirates. Just tumble everything in at play's end, and they're all safe from the vacuum cleaner and the cat until next time.
Open up the chest (this is a little tricky, the spring catches are quite strong) and with very little setting up you have a rocky pirate haven with two palm trees and a quay, ready for your schooner or galleon to moor up to.
Both sides of the chest can open up, so it can be a cave or an island with two open beaches, and with typical Playmobil thoroughness, the backdrop can be reversed depending on the role it is to play. It's only shiny cardboard, however, so needs to be done carefully to avoid damage.
The dastardly pirates have set a trap for their enemies however - the boards at the top of the quay will drop the unwary caller down into a pit - with scorpions and a snake for added zest, and if that's not enough, there's a crab to nip his toes, a parrot to generally annoy him, and a monkey to drop bananas down on him.
Three figures are included which I've not seen in other sets; a Chief with his long red beard, his one-eyed first mate in red hat & coat, and a crewman in a bandanna. They're all armed to the teeth with cutlasses and firearms.
There are plenty of rocks to hide behind, a campfire, a barrel with tabletop to plan the next raid, and the Big Bertha gun to fire at attacking ships.
My only complaint is a logical one that won't bother most children - the Big Bertha wouldn't have the range or accuracy of the smaller bore cannons, so if I were the Royal Navy coming to storm the hideout, I'd lay off outside Bertha range and just pound the hideout to dust.
I think this is overall an excellent value for money set, with lots of play scenario possibilities to set a child's imagination going, and one which I think every Playmobil Pirates collector would want.
