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.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have noticed that Playmobil has recently gotten the rights to a few A-list IPs. Most notably, they’ve made toys for Ghostbusters and How to Train Your Dragon, and they’e also made officially licensed NHL and MLS sets.
However, it looks like one brand they couldn’t secure was Jurassic World, but that’s clearly not stopping them from capitalizing on dino-mania. Enter The Explorers, Playmobil’s brand-new, all-original line of dinosaur-themed playsets.
Playmobil isn’t a stranger to the world of creating their own product lines. A few years ago, they did something similar with Super 4, which had an accompanying Netflix-exclusive show to support the toys (or vice versa).
The Explorers features three main characters—Nick, Emma, and Will—and their adventures on Dino Island. In addition to this Hidden Temple set, you can also find the Explorer Vehicle with Stegosaurus, Enemy Quad with Triceratops, Adventure Copter with Pterodactyl, Motocross Bike with Raptor, and Enemy Airboat with Raptors.
Specs:
- Product Number: 9429
- Number of Pieces: 121 pieces
- Number of figures: 3 adults (2 male, 1 female)
- Batteries required: 1 AAA, not included (for a small flashlight to enhance glow-in-the-dark details of the set)
Ease of Build:
On a scale of 1-5, this set is probably a 3 or 4. There are a lot of pieces for a set that’s not overly big once assembled. And, while there are some accessories, most of the pieces are actually involved in the build of the temple.
Coolest Features:
- Oh, come on, have you SEEN that T-Rex? Clearly, that’s the selling point here. It’s one piece and just so unbelievably cool. My kids immediately had him chowing down on as many people as they could find.
- This set comes with all three main characters (plus their dog).
- The temple has some very cool features, such as a working gate, glow-in-the-dark ruby eyes, a light-up laser gun (batteries included), and a functioning elevator.
- Cool accessories include a dog, camera, gold statue, microscope, backpacks, and other winged creatures.
- Have you SEEN that T-Rex??
Playability:
Lots. If your little ones are into dinosaurs, adventure, exploration, or the outdoors (and who isn’t?), then there’s a lot to love about the hidden temple. The walls of the temple are mildly versatile, too, so you can fiddle with the arrangement of the temple (and even connect to other Playmobil sets, such as castles).
For scale, the T-Rex is about the same size as the dragons from the How to Train Your Dragon sets and the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man from the Ghostbusters line. Which makes combining them all kinds of awesome. The dinosaur is also of similar quality—that is to say: fantastic.
Kid Verdict:
Have you SEEN that T-Rex? Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for this one. We love that each of the sets comes with a different dinosaur, and it’s great to see how well made they are. The T-Rex, especially, is super sturdy, looks amazing, and is fully poseable.
(Disclosure: This Playmobil set was provided free of charge for review purposes. All opinions remain our own.)
And there’s a woman and a person of color! WOOT!