NovaBombardment's Latest Purchases.

[NovaBombardment]

Hello! This is a thread where I'll showcase new sets whenever I buy them. I had a set arrive last night, so I thought it would be a good starting point. The first set for the thread is the 1.2.3 "Push & Go" car.




The car is surprisingly heavy, and it has some sort of mechanism inside to keep the car's speed in check. A light shove will send it a little farther than you'd expect, but the back wheels have harsh traction that prevents it from sailing too fast. It's surprisingly noisy when you shove it around due to the parts inside of it.

Overall a nice toy that's really simplistic, but lovely.

[playmovictorian]

This is a cute set 

[GrahamB]

Looks nice! I am looking forward to seeing more Playmobil Junior (formerly known as 1-2-3) reviews from you. They are seldom mentioned on here, with the exception of JLMatterer's pictures, so it's good to see the spotlight on them. Keep up the good  work!

[NovaBombardment]

Thank you for the kind words! I'm having fun with this, though I kept it pretty brief for the first post. I wasn't sure how well this would go over since it seems like new threads are infrequent here, so I was a tad nervous launching a thread so shortly after I started posting. 

I go through phases with Playmobil where I'll buy a whole bunch at once, and then not buy any for months. This thread will be pretty active in the next week or two, but will slow down once all of my orders arrive.

Speaking of the thread being active, my Toys R Us order arrived this morning! I wasn't expecting anything to show up until next week, but I guess I got lucky! These are the Children's Carousel, and Rocking Snail sets.



It's worth noting that due to American and Canadian English, the "Children's Carousel" is sometimes listed as the "Number Merry-Go-Round"


The young boy is encouraged by an onlooking parent to help the girls get the carousel moving.

The carousel itself is not too large, not too small, but just right. It seats four, and the klickies are very secure in their seats as it spins. The seats can be spun 360 degrees as well, allowing for klickies to face their best friends. The carousel's base has the numbers one-eight on it, all creatively stylized in the design of various animals and insects. (You can see the worm shaped like a seven in the photo above.)

You get a whopping four characters with it, and they hit all of the inclusivity and hair colour check marks. I particularly like the girls with the honey bee and ice cream cone shirts, as they're easily the two cutest characters in the set.


It looks like the boy has spun the carousel too hard! He leaps into one of the chairs and starts laughing. "We want to get off!" the girls protest.

It can spin very quickly, making it a little dangerous for enthusiastic toddlers who spin it too fast. If you have a toddler that likes to go full force, keep an eye on them until you're sure they understand not to stop the carousel with their hands. The carousel spins very quietly, making it much better suited for quiet time than the Push & Go Car.


The carousel stops, and the woman is upset. She scolds the boy, but he doesn't listen. The two girls glare at him and shout "You're a bad kid! You can't play with us anymore!"


The woman comforts the two girls as the boy walks toward the snail ride. "I like your snail shirt!" the girl says. "Thank you! Let's be friends!"

The rocking snail is much lighter than the Push & Go Car, and rocks gently when you press on the snail's tail. It has some beads inside to make it rattle, but this isn't heard while the snail rocks. This set is best for the youngest of toddlers and babies, as there's not much to it. However the klicky has a nice sandcastle shirt, which goes nicely with the other adorable 1.2.3 klicky kid shirts.


1.2.3 klicky kids have the cutest shirts! I'd buy real versions of all of these for my niece and nephew. 

That's all I have for now, but more is on the way! I'll leave you with a cute picture of a kitten who loves Playmobil. He's the reason I had to convert to 1.2.3

[GrahamB]

... it seems like new threads are infrequent here,

You are not wrong there! Sadly many people seem to prefer Facebook for their PM discussions now, or one of the non-English sites like amclicks or klickywelt (which are excellent sites, but which have also seen declining activity in recent years). Personally, I love the international mix here on Playmofriends.

It's worth noting that due to American and Canadian English, the "Children's Carousel" is sometimes listed as the "Number Merry-Go-Round"

That happens quite a lot, and with British English too, the situation can get even more confusing. From simple differences like the spelling of mold or mould, to words like faucet/tap, fender/bumper or the American equivalent of what we in Britain call 'bumbags' (that often gets a snigger over here!).

[NovaBombardment]

(The First Junior Set!) Disney Princess: Playmobil Junior Aqua: Ariel's Shell Shower (71460)
(Technically this was the second one I ordered, but it arrived first.)

I'm happy to see the Disney sets step up in quality, as the ones from 2023 weren't very good or unique. Disney Princess is a good way to entice both boys and girls, and only having one set per princess is way better than having FIVE Winnie the Pooh sets. So far there are four sets, and you know they aren't done with it yet since they haven't pulled out the modern muscle of Frozen and Tangled.

Many of the Disney Princess movies have been under ruthless scrutiny for years, but I'm still a fan of them as they're some of Disney's best movies. The Little Mermaid gets criticized the most these days, but Ariel and friends are still lovable to me. Sometimes you just gotta sit back and enjoy the movie, you know?



Ariel is pretty amusing with the traditional Playmobil stare, but that's often a big part of what makes the licensed sets so fun. Flounder is cute in this set too, and I'm all for excluding Sebastian as I was never a fan of him. There's a random starfish to fill out the set, but he's still neat as he can spin very well on a flat surface. Flounder can pour water from his mouth, which clever toddlers can use to pour into Ariel's shower.



I was a little concerned about the length of Ariel's hair prior to buying the set, as it wasn't shown off in the available photos. It's nice and long as it should be, but it does have the side effect of making it impossible to spin her head around.



The shower is very large, which restricts how high you can fill the tub. This is fine for its intended audience, but will be an issue for bigger kids, and even bigger adults. The shower is also very heavy, so the suction cup that holds it in place won't sustain its weight for very long.


Edit: Upon further tinkering, the shower stays in place while using the sliding piece on the bottom to prop it against the side of the tub. When the suction cup is sufficiently wet, and with the water of the tub giving it some balance, the shower will stay in place. Holes in the bottom of the shower will allow the pooled water to pour out into the tub.

If you're having issues with the suction cup, it isn't a big issue since you can just place it on the side of your tub, and play to your heart's content. (Or until the bath gets cold) For the sake of the photos I had it face outside the tub, but don't do that as it leaks onto the floor. Facing the shower towards the tub will allow the water to pour back inside.

No matter how you end up doing it, you'll find that the shower effect is quite nice looking! I like the Aqua sets where the water interaction is a little more intricate, and this is a good one for that. The shell can also be removed, and act as a little seat for Ariel.



This is a great little set, and one of the best options for the new Playmobil Junior. It's something to goof around with in the bath, it has lovable characters that make sense for an aqua set, the water interaction is great, and it's all the more appealing with its lower $24.99 Canadian price point.

If one of your little ones wants a Disney Princess Playmobil set, this is a good one to go with! That is of course if you aren't too busy fuming about The Little Mermaid on social media.

[tahra]

Thank you for the detailed reviews!

I find the 123 "klickys" and animals adorable, and have been getting some lose, whenever I find them at a nice price...

I actually have most of those on my want list  


And the kitty is, of course, ADORABLE

[NovaBombardment]

Thank you for the detailed reviews!

You're welcome! I prefer the forum format on the internet as opposed to social media, as I've always enjoyed making detailed forum posts. Sometimes posts like the one above take multiple hours of coming back to in order to get them just how I like. As it is I left some details out, as there's a point where people won't read your posts if they're too long. I left out a segment showcasing how Flounder doesn't really sit well in the shell. Most of the positions he ends up in are pretty funny looking as they look really uncomfortable.

Maybe down the road when nothing's being released, I'll make new posts that expand on sets I already talked about. I'm still waiting on one more Junior set, which I actually ordered way before the Ariel one from the same place. : /

[tahra]

You're welcome! I prefer the forum format on the internet as opposed to social media, as I've always enjoyed making detailed forum posts. Sometimes posts like the one above take multiple hours of coming back to in order to get them just how I like. As it is I left some details out, as there's a point where people won't read your posts if they're too long. I left out a segment showcasing how Flounder doesn't really sit well in the shell. Most of the positions he ends up in are pretty funny looking as they look really uncomfortable.

I like long posts. I usually make them too....

[NovaBombardment]

The second Junior set has arrived! I actually ordered this one first, but the parcel had some issues in the mail. It finally got here after two weeks, even though I paid extra for express shipping.



I'm not going to format this one like a review, since there's not a ton to say about it. It's based on an older set with an updated colour scheme, and it's not as feature rich as some of the crazier sets from the 2020s. It's an old fashioned kind of toy that Santa would make for you, but it's still one of the better options for Junior's launch if you ask me.


It's just so darn cute!


The claw can extend quite high!


Marlie and I love our toys!


"Being a hard working man makes me feel like an important member of the community!"


The back of the vehicle can connect with other trailers, so the construction worker can enjoy a nice doughnut lunch break!