Welcome to the Playmobil Playroom, where we take a monthly peek inside those impressive blue boxes and see what treasures await within. Sometimes we’ll have step-by-step photos walking you through assembly, maybe we’ll discuss and review a particular set or theme, or maybe we’ll have an unboxing video.
One of the best features of any good Playmobil set is its ability both to stand alone as an awesome playset and to be part of a rich theme that has plenty of options to expand and grow. Yes, imaginative kids can make their knights play alongside their astronauts and interact with princesses, but when a theme becomes truly deep and immersive, then it’s a solid win in our book.
Enter the City Life Zoo theme: one of the most satisfying Playmobil play experiences in recent memory.
The Large City Zoo (6634) is the centerpiece set and is a great base with which kids can become budding zookeepers or zoologists. It comes with a rocky entrance arch (topped with decorative animal cutouts and complete with turnstiles and a feeding schedule), a penguin habitat, a lion enclosure, a souvenir shop, and more. Also included are seven figures, two adult lions, one lion cub, two adult and four baby penguins, a family of otters, a peacock, a pelican, fish in a bucket, a wheelbarrow with meat (for the lions), a stroller, mouse, fencing, balloons, park bench, tree, and loads of other accessories.
Assembly of this set is relatively straightforward (unlike some of our previous Playmobil adventures), so time spent between opening up the box and playing is minimal. Which is a very good thing.
For my kids, it’s all about the animals. Any set that comes with animals is a surefire winner, so a zoo? Filled with animals? Yeah, this one was a hit. They immediately set up an elaborate storyline that involved every single piece in the box, plus about five or six other Playmobil sets (across nearly as many themes).
But this theme isn’t limited to just this one set. Oh, no sirree. Don’t tell my kids, but the “expansion” sets and figures seem almost limitless. And I’m not gonna lie—I kinda want a few of them for myself. Grow the zoo with a children’s petting zoo, a wild animal enclosure, a flamingo pond, and a zookeeper’s cart (among many more options).
But your zoo doesn’t have to end there. Want a world-class plastic zoo? Playmobil has upped the ante with a plethora of animal families to stock your collection: alligators, alpacas, koalas, pandas, giraffes, rhinos, meerkats, and so many more. Needless to say, my kids want them all.
Bravo, Playmobil. I think I know what the stockings will be filled with this year.
(Disclosure: These Playmobil sets were provided free of charge for review purposes. All opinions remain our own.)
