A Great Toy--Only A Few Glitches
348190
After reading the reviews, I was hesitant to buy this doll, but my daughters (6 and 4) really wanted it for Christmas, so I took the plunge. We downloaded the software, from the website, a couple of nights before Christmas. It took an hour or so, but we never encountered any error messages. The software could definitely be more sophisticated, but it's workable. We keep having to play the same first mystery (Charity Ball) over and over and again each time we start, which is kind of annoying. If anyone knows how to bypass that, please post. But other than that, they absolutely love it. They love how the doll interacts with the online world. They love that they can play with it both with the computer and away from it. They love being able to change her appearance. Yes, there is encouragement to buy more products, but as someone else pointed out, every other marketing plan for every other kid's toy is designed the same way. It is one of our most successful Christmas presents.
764328
My 31-month-old son received this for Christmas and absolutely loves it.  He plays with it and the treehouse everyday.  I agree with one of the reviewers that it's annoying that some of the items jam up the moat.  My son's favorite part of the castle is the slide leading to the "secret passage".  The biggest complaint I have with the castle is that it's not sturdy and the pieces don't stay on the castle.  For example, my son can easily remove both the yellow stairs and the blue ramp, though I've repeatedly snapped them back on.  This has never been a problem with the Weeble Treehouse, which came fully assembled.
3920750
We have been happy with other toys in this series, and my five year old son loves the space shuttle. There are two complaints: the quality seems less than other models. Some pieces don't stay together, others don't open and close as they should. This is especially frustrating for a child this age.
I was also disappointed with the "worry free packaging" because it didn't show all the combinations as on the original toy box (that I recently saw in a toy store).
Overall this is a great toy, but I hope Matchbox and Amazon can make some improvements.
484041
I have only one complaint about this toy. It comes with quite a few pattern cards so the child can make the pictured pattern, however, there are 9-10 cards that are not even possible to make with the blocks. I have taken pictures to illustrate what I mean. There are 40 colored blocks, each with an angled end but in these 9 pattern cards there are rectangles pictured. The blocks do not come with rectangles. At first I thought they meant to make the rectangles with 2 Of the angled pieces, but that is not the case.

Regardless, the toy has provided my 3 year old with a lot of enjoyment. He is obsessed with patterns and gets such a sense of accomplishment from making a pattern card all by himself.
367154
my 2 year old LOVES this toy. he spends half the day racing cars down the ramp, playing with the elevator, and asking us if we want to "come play car". we bought a pack of matchbox cars and they fly down the ramp perfectly. his favorite thing to do is to load up the top level then push car after car down the ramp, especially on the kitchen floor where the cars will shoot out of the bottom across the floor.

the only downside: the elevator is a little shoddy; it doesn't hold much weight and often drops on its own. occasionally, when my son STANDS on the toy, which he does (and at 3 1/2 feet tall and 40 pounds, he's not little), one of the ramp hinges will detach, but it's an easy fix.

all in all, totally worth the money. the joy is immense :)
1552772
My daughter had so much fun playing with this at first, until she got REALLY annoyed that the recipe card holder kept falling the wrong way. I inspected it a few times and made sure I assembled it correctly, and I did.  My daughter tends to be a little OCD about things so she felt better about the toy once I'd just removed the recipe card holder.

There is something strange about the setup.  I like that the "side table" or "cutting board" can be put on either side, but it doesn't hold all of the utensils correctly, so a lot of them are just floating around the playroom now. I'm not OCD but I do think that if you make a toy with so many accessories, you should be able to store them all inside or on the toy somehow.

It's fun for her to play with, just seems a little disorganized in the design.  The battery life is great, though, and except for the recipe card issue she plays with it often.
4771302
We love this set. My son enjoys playing dress-up with his sister, and loves her magnetic princess dolls, and also loves to carefully set out and then put on his clothes in the morning. I thought this would be a fun toy for him, and I greatly underestimated how much he would love it. He would take it everywhere if he could. We have lost a piece already, and part of the reason is because the set is poorly packaged. There is no good storage option other than to take it out of its beautiful wooden box and place it in something that actually closes. What you see is what you get - there is no functional cover on this box. It is wrapped in plastic, and as soon as that's removed, that's it. But that is my only complaint about this toy! The pieces are well-made, and durable. The magnets are strong. We have had no problem getting them to stick and stay, even during vigorous play time. Because all the "shirts" are different sizes, as well as all the pants and shoes, it's difficult to impossible to mix and match certain outfits - your only option really is to put the outfits on as shown, with a few exceptions.
439489
right out the box my kids (and hubby and I) enjoy using this.  Only issue, which I would say is a big deal is that some of the balls won't stay in position, as some other users have stated.

Not sure if there is any remedy.  I do not want to pay to replace it but would like a free replacement IF the new one wouldn't have the same issue.  otherwise, I might as well keep it.

Great concept--just some more quality control should be implemented.
1264348
We love Playmobil! This set is really cute and lots of fun. The only part we didn't care for is some of the pieces don't stay attached, so we are having to reassemble some of the parts every time we want to use it. We still like it and it won't keep us from purchasing Playmobil in the future.
858642
Really nice toy for my 3 year old.  The remote control works well too.  Radio and pre-programmed songs are hilarious.  The instructions are useless as with the other reviews, but if you have any mechanical inclination- you'll be able to figure it out by looking at the pictures.  I would recommend this for someone else.
4919230
We love everything about this cash register, except the one small feature. If your child tries to put two of the same color coins in consecutively, they jam. The first coin either needs to drop into the tray or be rolled out as "change." This is hard for our 21 month old to understand. Other than that, though, she loves this toy. It was no time at all before she could work everything. There are two coins of each kind, in three different colors and sizes. It helps children work on matching. There are a few options after you match the coins. First you have to drop them down, then you can give the as change, or make a sale and drop them into the tray. And the handle turns easily to open the tray and find the coins. It also makes a cash register sound when you do this. My husband and I each remember having a similar toy when we were young, and this one hasn't let us down on providing the same fun. Our daughter really enjoys playing with this toy, so I would really recommend it.
3487095
Excellent toy. I loved the videoI got with it it has potential for making epic vacation videos. I am amazed at the technology used to fly and maneuver these things and I'm a helicopter mechanic by profession. I'm just fascinated how these things can use a GPS to hover in one spot or set a waypoint course and fly a route by themselves. I took one star away because I received one that had issues right out of the box.
Minor issues, but if I pay a Grand for a toy it better work right.  The first issue was the camera would slowly droop to its full down, it was usually over a 7-10 minute period. Not a big deal but not the way it's supposed to work.
The second issue was the forward red LED lights on one arm did not work. Just the ones that were supposed to be on during flight for orientation. Again not a big deal, but not right. It flew perfect, shot video, and took stills just fine.  I just returned it to Amazon and ode red the Vision plus.
1753933
My boy and I have been pleased with this toy. After a couple of transformations, transformation time in either direction is less than 5 minutes: the same enjoyment as a quick 100-piece puzzle. The toy is solid. But, like any toy, it has its flaws. The material flaw so far: Without adult care, the side panels (truck mode) that hang off of Optimus' back (robot mode) will break. The break happens when prying the side panels from the truck, when beginning to transform from truck mode to robot mode. The cause: the connection that keeps the side panels in position (truck mode) is too tight.
1829938
I bought this toy for my son's 9th birthday. He wanted a "robot building kit" and I liked that this one had the versitility to built a multitude of different machines. He is very happy with it, the only issue that I have seen thus far is that sometimes the machines can fall apart easily. For example, my son built a car, and when he started using the remote to move it around, the wheels would fall off. Not too big of a deal, and it does not happen all of the time, but enough to be annoying. Also, we noticed that one of the motors has a wire that is hanging by a thread an will probably break soon (it's in a see through shell).
4349222
My 4 1/2 year old daughter and I love this toy.  She has been busy acting out the christmas story and putting the pieces just so to match the photo on the box.  My one complaint is that Mary's headpiece won't snap onto her head, so it just sits there loosely.  I'm not sure why some parts come put together and some we have to snap together (or not in this case...), I've always thought that to be a little weird about playmobil.
But, overall, a very nice toy.
578057
This Brio train set is a nicely detailed and sturdy toy that keeps my toddler engaged for long durations. There are a few things that I would like to call out:

1. This train is compatible with Thomas, Imaginarium and other standard wooden railroad tracks. However, there is a slight curvature on the sides of the cars, about half an inch above the wheels. This increases the width of the train set a bit - so not all bridges with side rails may allow the cars to pass through freely. Ours needed a light nudge at the leading end of the bridge to continue its journey. We tucked in a small piece of paper on either side of the bridge where the side rails meet the wooden track, so that the plastic side rails stay wider and do not bend inward at all. Problem solved!

2. As some others have noted, there is noticeable power difference between the forward and reverse directions of the engine car. Our train is able to easily pull (forward drive) up to two additional wooden cars. But when in reverse drive, the train is generally slower with just the two cars, there is an increased propensity for the cars to go off-track at curves or interchanges and climbing bridges is painstakingly slow. I would imagine that one would be happy with the bi-directional feature if used on level tracks only.

3. The On/Off switch (that also doubles as the forward/ reverse toggle) seems to require a good amount of force to operate. I believe that the sensitivity of the switch has gotten worse with time, and my 3 year old is now unable to switch it off or change direction. I also find it difficult to operate the switch. Interestingly enough, I always end up switching it from forward to reverse before being able to 'stop' the switch in the 'Off' position.

4. Contrary to some other reviews, I like that the flip-up parts of the train are removable. They do not come loose when the train is operated, or let's say, if the train falls off a bridge on the set. But at the same time, if you step on the train or if the toy is thrown, these parts are separated, thereby preventing breakage. They fit right back without any hassle.

Overall, this is a nice passenger train with great looks and reasonably good battery life
3354466
My son LOVES this toy! It's the only toy he will play with for a long period of time. However, after a couple months the monkey doesn't go up properly like it did when I first got it. Also, the bottom spinner has the same issue. It still works but not like it used too. Which is a shame because it's such a fun toy.