Playmobil Sky Trails Starter Kit Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Sian Manning
I have a ten (nearly eleven) year old son, he loves anything aeronautical, race oriented or fast – planes, airports, F1, cars, rollercoasters and races. So to be picked for a review where he gets to build a track race a jet pack propelled Playmobil person down it was his idea of huge fun.
The set (recommended age 7-99) comes in a big box, inside the big box are lots of varying sized parts, from uprights, to bases, track, to connectors, jetpacks to people. There are over 100 pieces in the box, so when you see a big box arrive, don’t be surprised that the finished Sky Trail is also big, be prepared to give up a chunk of your living room or child’s bedroom for a good while!
When we started opening the box – carefully, because I was there to help – we (I) realised that if the box is opened carefully along the helpful open here markings that you can keep the box and maintain it for storage. If you let your helpful and possibly over eager child do this, you may need to find an alternative storage method, as the box may end up as collateral recycling.
So once you have the box open you are met with all of the different building materials, all separated into bags (made from 100% recycled plastic) or held together with elastic bands, so you know what is where and what you have to build with, there are also some stickers and an instruction booklet.
Now to the building, my 10 year old struggled to do this by himself, the instructions are very pictorial, we found that the best way to do this was to try and orient your construction and the book, much like setting a map and a compass and then referring back the same way each time to make sure your construction and the instructions match up. Then you can follow and build page by page. You also need either a piece of furniture (table, side board etc) or a stand to use to get the structure higher using the included clamp. The pieces themselves are strong and robust, some can be harder to pop together for the first time, but once they are in place the build is easy and clips together well.
Once built you will need to play with angles, positions and heights to make sure that your sky rider rides well and doesn’t hit anything or stop on the way down. Once you are happy with your creation your designated rider zips down, or take the rider off and just use the jet pack and it hurtles down even faster. There is also the addition of a confetti funnel that really does add something extra, as your rider passes under it opens up and showers the room with small plastic pellets, you can decide whether this is a good or bad addition for your home!
The set can be made as many different ways as your imagination can take you, the results are endless as each piece can be repositioned and reused to make new and interesting trails. You can also add expansion sets from £9.99 for an extra sky rider, to £29.99 for an air lift, you can add extra fun with loops and flips, extra track and accessories so that your little one can have endless fun designing, playing and redesigning.
My ten year old has said that the set is lots of fun, he has enjoyed playing and building with it and he has asked for some of the expansion sets for his birthday next month. He wants to redesign and move the track and see how fast he can get the rider down the track.
We would definitely recommend this set to others that have children with similar interests or have a love to build. Just be mindful that although the pieces themselves are not particularly big individually, they do add up and become larger and take up a good chunk of room. It would be a great Christmas gift, with or without any of the additional sets, you could also ask relatives to buy the extras if you want a great gift for lots of people to buy together. The box wrapped and under the tree will also look impressive and irresistible!
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £69.99
You can purchase this item direct from Playmobil here www.playmobil.com