Playmobil Recycling Truck With Flashing Light – 70885- Review

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

The Playmobil City Life range seems to cover all of the vehicles that excite children; Police Cars, Fire Engines and of course the Recycling Truck. At our house the weekly flashing lights of the “Bin Lorry” seem to have a magnetic pull and my kids always run to the window to watch.

It has been a delight for us all to review the Playmobil Recycling Truck, and this is a great idea for a toy, but one that I had never really considered if I’m honest. You automatically go for the Emergency Service vehicles (we seriously have so many fire engines) so this is a refreshing change.

As always with Playmobil the box is exciting and tells you exactly what you are going to find inside. Once opened, the box includes the main structure of the vehicle, with three additional bags of parts plus the larger yellow bin. Children may require help with the construction, depending upon their age and ability. Within the bags are the two male character figures and the green and brown smaller bins, the vehicle wheels and connectors plus the exhaust, the lights feature and the “trash”.

It took my me around 30 minutes to build it up with help from the children, and whilst it does take a little time it really is solid. It is worth noting that batteries are included with this pack.

This is a 51-piece set so it is quite a large vehicle, really sturdy and has some super cool features. It looks smart and has a little hole to the side to fill up with petrol should you have this accessory.

In the first instance, the vehicle operates just like a real recycling truck. You can click one of the smaller two bins onto the back, lift the handle to raise it upwards, and the bin will tip its’ contents into the back of the truck. When you lower the handle again, the flip-door at the back of the vehicle will close up again. This alone is pretty amazing. The back of the vehicle can also be tilted and emptied which feels so realistic.

You can peek inside the back of the truck via a flip-door on the roof. We had a character accidentally fall into all of the trash during a game which triggered a rescue mission, so you can create some really fun scenarios with this toy.

What we especially liked were the cute characters with their hats and high-vis jackets. The roof of the drivers’ cab lifts off with a little tug to reveal two seats, a steering-wheel and space for a walkie talkie and the fire extinguisher. That was Daddy’s cue to act out a wheely bin fire. There aren’t any side doors or seat-belts but I feel the design is focused on making this easy for play. The roof clicks back on with relative ease.

The flashing lights were the cherry on top for us, as that’s the initial calling sign for my kids to run to the front window every Tuesday morning. They replicate the (often annoying) light of the bin lorry perfectly. The light flashes for 3 minutes so you cannot turn it off; this has his merits as it saves batteries by cutting out eventually, and it means that the kids don’t have to keep pressing it. The downside is, like the lorry it represents, the lights blinking on and off can get annoying for Mum! However, the kids loved it.

This is a lovely way to re-enforce the importance of recycling to children. I do wish that the bins had signage to state what type of rubbish should be put into each bin, but at least you have a toy glass bottle, tins and food waste so that the idea of using the correct bins can be played out and taught.

The suggested age range is 4-10, and this is due to the small parts I would imagine as I do think a younger child could really relate to this toy as well. That said it isn’t a truck that you want to be rammed into skirting boards, as we like to call Playmobil “special toys”. This leads onto the price-point of £24.99 which I feel is amazing for such a quality product, and I would easily have paid £5 more.

There’s plenty of play possibility with this if your child likes to play with cars and trucks, as I guarantee it will make a weekly appearance at the very least when those flashing lights appear out on your street. I think to really extend the fun with the figures it would be great if your child had some sort of house to collect rubbish from, and it wouldn’t necessarily need to be Playmobil if cost was an issue this Christmas. We collected trash from a variety of characters who we already had at home. That said, you wouldn’t be short of options to add more Playmobil to match this set.
I think a little more trash would have been good as we did have to use bits and bobs from doll sets to fill up the bins. You could just roll up some scraps of paper really and let the kids use their imaginations.

This is a fantastic option for Christmas for parents, family members or friends due to the price-point being so kind on your wallet, and as so many children love the “bin lorry”. The vehicle is sturdy and large which makes it great value. I have to add that the box is pretty large too, and perhaps this is just my children, but they get very excited opening presents in large boxes as to them it feels like a “better gift”. Bonkers logic, but finances are tight for many of us and if our children feel that they’re getting a really great present then that takes the pressure off us parents or relatives on Christmas morning.

You can’t really go wrong with Playmobil toys are they stand for quality, and the range is so vast that there is something for every child. We loved this Recycling Truck and would award it 5 stars out of 5.

Rating: 5/5 stars

RRP: £24.99

You can purchase the Playmobil Recycling Truck with Flashing Light from Playmobil here.