Playmobil is one of those iconic toys that I remember playing with when I was a child. I used to love setting everything up and then spending hours acting out scenes, so to now be able to watch my own children do the same is something special. We were offered the opportunity to review some of the brand new Playmobil Duck on Call range as part of the range launch. With big Playmobil fans in the house how could we say no? Read on to find out what we thought!
What is Playmobil Duck On Call?
The Playmobil Duck on Call range is a brand new Playmobil theme world and animated series featuring a duck as the main character! Ducklas, a cheeky boy in a duck’s body has adventures with his three small friends; a policewoman, a doctor and a firefighter, as they go on exciting missions. The Playmobil Duck on Call range is aimed at children between the ages of three and five years old and is packed full of innovation allowing them to have plenty of fun whilst role playing with the characters.
Duck on Call is set in a place called ‘Playmoville’ – a land where children are in charge. Freddy Fire, Polly Police and Mikey Medic are joined by Ducklas, a boy transformed into a duck by the mysterious Mr Hans as a result of all his shenanigans. To become a boy again, he much complete a heartfelt act of kindness, which is what he’s trying to achieve with his friends… if only Ducklas would stop accidentally messing things up! You’ll be able to see CGI animated Duck on Call episodes from June 2022 onward.
The Duck On Call range consists of various vehicles and play sets, with larger sets coming soon. We were sent two items; the the Duck on Call Mobile Operations Center (70830) and the Duck on Call Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle (70914). Although the two toys can be used together, they also work well on their own thanks to the characters included in each set.
Duck on Call – Mobile Operations Center Review (70830)
The larger of the two items we were sent, the kids immediately gravitated toward the Duck on Call Mobile Operations Center thanks to the exciting set up shown on the outside of the box. The Mobile Operations Centre is a box shaped set that cleverly unfolds and unpacks to form a base for the team’s adventures. There’s a jail cell, a command centre, a look out point and even an emergency slide which means there are numerous set ups for your child to play with.
Key features that ours enjoyed were the net launcher (allowing them to launch a capture net over villains with a simple mechanism), the moveable slide and the ladder. Much excitement came from the fact that they could remove the parts, fold down the room and the mugshot and the box would fold shut, allowing you to lock it closed with a key that clips on to the bottom. This makes it great for taking with you on trips or outings thanks to the secure closing!
When you’re ready to play, simply unlock the box, fold out the elements and set back out your scene. There are three characters that come with the set; a bad guy, Polly Police and Freddy Fire as well as freestanding desk, chair, hazard signs, flames and lots more accessories.
Our Thoughts:
It’s a neat set up that has a lot to give – although it is a little tricky to set the parts up in the first place, certainly this requires adult help. Our three year old enjoyed playing with it but I definitely felt that this set was more aimed at the older children in the range in order to get the most out of being able to pack it up and move it. Getting it to all fit into the box itself is a bit of an art form, but we found that it was a great way to store the smaller parts at the very least!
With an RRP of £34.99 I think this is going to be a popular set. It’s nice to have a ‘base’ that doesn’t require a huge amount of room to store it unlike many other play sets on the market. It’s clever, compact and has plenty of opportunities for play set ups wherever you are; at home or out and about.
Duck on Call – Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle Review (70914)
The Duck on Call Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle is the exact toy that I would have chosen for my eldest son a couple of years ago. It’s sturdy, brightly coloured and has just the right amount of accessories and parts to appeal to children from three years of age upward. One of the set of modular vehicles, the fire brigade emergency vehicle comes complete with Freddy Fire and Ducklas – which the children both loved! Simple to put together, you’ll find a couple of flaps and attachments to store things such as the shovel as well as the kids’ favourite part; the water cannon!
The back part of the vehicle can be moved around allowing you to angle the ‘water jet’ upward or to the side. Then, load in one of the two water jet pieces and lightly pull back the top of the rear cab to fire. You’ll get an impressive reach with those! The Duck on Call Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle also comes with a flame that can be positioned wherever you want, allowing you to set the fire and then try and put it out.
What’s more, children will love the flashing lights and siren unit on the top, allowing them to turn on lights and sounds at the tap of a button. It’s well made and more than capable of handling the slightly heavier play of a smaller child which is ideal for this toy – you will get hours of them driving it around on the floor being ‘ready for action!’
Our Thoughts:
I love the Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle because I think it’s perfectly placed for the 3-5 age range. Our eldest is five and he enjoyed trying to fire the water jet at the flames whilst our three year old had plenty of fun using the two characters to act our rescues. It’s a little chunkier than previous Playmobil items, including the Mobile Operations Centre but it works well either used on it’s own or as part of the set. Whilst I’d say that the Mobile Operations Centre is more suited to older children within the range, this would be the opposite. It’s great for children aged three upward and I really wish my son could have had something like this when he was a couple of years younger as he would of loved it just as much then as he does now!
RRP on the Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle is £29.99 and it feels fair for the amount of construction that you get with this. The shooter is easy to load and easy to use (and guaranteed to be loved by all kids), the sirens and lights work well and are sufficiently noisy to impress little children without driving parents around the bend. The characters are slightly larger and chunkier than those in the Mobile Operations Centre but still posable and appealed to both my children at both ends of the recommended age range. Overall, they’re now eyeing up other vehicles in the range… that should tell you that it was a hit!
Overall
We loved our Playmobil Duck on Call experiences. The parts we trialled were of the same great standard you know you’re going to get with Playmobil and I’m confident that they’ll be used for years to come, just like our other sets we have. As a parent I loved the flexibility of the Mobile Operations Centre and my five year old has spent hours setting it up, packing it away and locking things up like it’s a secret! The Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle is ideally placed for younger children to get to play with their favourite toy whilst also having enough exciting elements to entertain slightly older children. We can’t wait to see what the Duck on Call team will get up to!
WIN – A Giveaway!
Like what you’ve heard? We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be giving away a Playmobil Duck on Call Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle to one lucky winner! All you need to do is follow the steps below to enter.
****Prize is 1 x Playmobil Duck on Call Fire Brigade Emergency Vehicle, there is no monetary exchange available. The prize will be distributed by Playmobil directly to the winner within 30 days of the prize being claimed, Devon Mama cannot be held responsible for lost prizes.
All winner decisions are final, the winner has 48 hours to claim their prize or a new winner will be drawn.
Contest closes at midnight on 22nd May 2022.
UK Entrants Only****
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