Advent Calendar #5: Playmobil from the Brandstätter Group

It turns out that a really good way to make Christmas arrive quickly is to write advent calendar reviews every few days!  I can't believe that the 25th is already less than a week away.  But I'll continue this series all of the way through the end of December, so I can pack in as many calendars as possible.

Today's choice is a Playmobil advent calendar.  This was a last-minute addition to my list, and at $35, one of the more expensive calendars in the mix.  But it's added a lot of holiday cheer to my house, so I'm really glad I included it:

Pieces from the 2022 Playmobil advent calendar.

I spent a lot of time playing with Playmobil as a kid, and my own children had a vast collection of these toys as well.  But I haven't ever featured a Playmobil set on the blog, which is unfortunate.

I showed you a few of the grand Playmobil displays at the Toys R Us in the American Dream mall, like this one (which I love):

But I've never done a proper review.  So this advent calendar series gave me a great excuse.

I didn't choose the most recent advent calendar for my review, though, which is probably why I paid so much money.  Playmobil typically offers several advent calendars each year, and most of them cost $30.

This 2024 calendar is on Amazon for $29.99:

There's also a deluxe advent calendar that looks amazing, but it costs $59.99, which was out of my budget:

There's a two-story house with this set!

And there's a horse-themed 2024 calendar from a series called Horses of Waterfall that I'd never heard of before:

I need to pay more attention to Playmobil.

Here's one of the smaller Waterfall sets:

Playmobil horses have come a long way since I was a kid.

There are other themed calendars, like this Back to the Future set, which I believe is from 2020:

And there are calendars for younger kids, too:

Playmobil trains are awesome.

There's even a DIY calendar from the Wiltopia line, where you can set up the calendar yourself, and pick which animal goes into which box:

That's one way to be sure that the last day is the best!

The calendar that I chose is from 2022, and I like it because there are kitchen items included:

I'm obsessed with toy kitchens, as you might have noticed from things like this:

This:

This:

This:

...you get the picture.

Not only does the Playmobil calendar have kitchen pieces, but there are apparently some full-sized cookie cutters than can be used for real baking:

Or at least the little girl is baking with the cookie cutters.  I'm not sure what her strange friend is doing. Scrutinizing her face?

I spy a problem with your face.

And you know what?  He's got a point.  It looks like the little girl's face was photoshopped--except for the area around her eyes and eyebrows.  And there's something very wrong with the hair on her right side, too:

Is there hair growing out of her eye?

Maybe she's AI generated--heck, maybe both kids are.  It's getting harder and harder to tell.

In any case, the calendar slid out of its decorative cardboard sleeve, at which point I noticed something taped to the back:

It's a large, colorful winter scene!

The cardboard pieces fold out and connect together to make a small kitchen area and a larger outdoor section:

The cardboard along the bottom was pretty warped, though, so I set the whole thing aside to see if it would relax and flatten out.

The body of the calendar looks fairly attractive, with a wintery night scene including a cottage, a tree, and even Santa's sleigh up in the sky:

The numbered flaps each have yellow stars on them, and the stars are different sizes, which adds a tiny bit of difficulty to the number-finding game.  But for the most part, the flaps are very easy to find--especially number one, which is right in the middle row:

Behind the flap, I found a bag:

It's one of the dolls!

She's wearing a green snowflake shirt and jeans, and she has a separate apron that snaps to her waist:

On your marks, get set, bake!

Playmobil people are 3 inches tall or 1:24 scale, which means they should work in my Rolife Happy Meals Kitchen.  But this figure feels too small for the space:

The food looks huge.

It's strange that both Polly Pocket and Playmobil claim to be 1:24 scale, because they're quite different in size (Polly is 3.5 inches tall).  I guess there are a range of sizes that fit the 1:24 scale category, just like there are many different sizes of people in real life.

Here's a quick comparison with some of my smaller dolls:

From left: 1:12 dollhouse doll, 1:18 Lundby, 3.5-inch Polly Pocket, and 3-inch Playmobil (1:24 scale).

Door number two was harder to find, but that could be a me problem:

Can you find it?

My husband couldn't;t find it right away, either.

It's tucked away in the bottom right hand corner:

There was a big bag in this compartment, too:

I can't tell what it is!

Green and orange pieces?

Oh, right.  It's the cookie cutters:

It's a cute little set.  There are three cookie cutters and one face stamp.  I think the idea is that the cookie cutters are outlines of different heads (Santa, angel, ??), and the stamp gives all of those heads a face.  I couldn't figure out what the shape of the cookie cutter in the upper right is at first, though.

I spy a Christmas elf.

Oh, I get it!  This orientation makes it easier to see:

Definitely elf-like.

So it's an elf, or a head with a snow hat, sorta like this:

Cute.

The cookie cutters feel a bit flimsy, but I'll keep them around because they look fun to use.  It would be really great if a kid opened this door on a day when they could actually bake some cookies!

Which begs the question, what day of the week was December 2nd, 2022?  A school day or weekend?

It was a Friday!  Not as good as the weekend, but it might have worked.  This year the 2nd was a Monday.  That's no fun.

Door number three is very big:

The two pieces behind this door were not enclosed in plastic:

Just rattling around.

It looks like the kitchen island:

The two pieces snapped together easily, but the countertop is a little warped:

This surprise is not as good as the doll or the cookie cutters, but it was fun to put together, and is a substantial piece of furniture.

In contrast, door number four is tiny:

Good things come in small packages.

I can see a little bowl and a bit of something light blue:

That's Kitchen Aid blue.

Oooh!  This looks like it could be a mixer, and it's also something else to put together!  Double fun:

The assembly was easy, and the resulting mixer has two different attachments, and an arm that can lift up and down:

Incredible.

This is the best surprise yet!

There's no way number five can be better than the mixer:

Yeah, this looks like some bowls:

Not bowling me over.

Every kitchen needs bowls, so it's a useful surprise, I guess.  I also like that they can nest together for easy storage:

At this point, on only the fifth day, kids opening this calendar would already have a pretty cute little setup for play (and hopefully some real cookies to eat!):

Let's see what door number six has to offer:

Six is my favorite number.

There's another bag, but I can't see what's inside:

Is it Santa??

It's Santa!

On day six?

I'd have saved Santa until Christmas Eve.  That seems like a no-brainer.

But here he is!  And he comes with detachable cuffs, a hat, and a list:

That's a pretty short checklist for this time of year.

The list is printed strangely, such that Santa can only hold it the right way up if it's facing away from him.

How am I supposed to check this twice?

It's okay because the list is illegible anyway:

Oh, Santa.

That's a bummer.  I'd love to know what's on that list!

Instead, we'll see what's behind door number seven:

It's another bag of things...

Looks like a little candle display with a tablet and a sticker sheet:

Putting these things together is fun for me.  I wonder how little kids feel about it?

I'm not sure what the tablet is (and I did a bad job applying the sticker) but I suspect it's a cookie recipe:

We'll never know for sure.

Door number eight is another small one:

I see something orange in this bag:

The orange is red hair!  It's a little redheaded, freckled girl:

More scarlet fever.

She comes with an apron, a stool...and a paintbrush?

Is she going to paint the cookies?

We've got a pretty nice little kitchen scene going here.  Mother and daughter are ready to bake, they just need some ingredients:

Gimme something to paint!

Door number nine is huge, so I don't think we're gong to find ingredients in there:

This looks like more furniture for the kitchen!

Whoa!  It's the oven and shelving unit, and it comes in six pieces:

Everything snapped together easily, and it looks excellent!

Two ovens!

All of the drawers and doors open:

And I can see a ridge inside the oven that will probably accommodate baking trays.

That was pretty awesome!  What's next?

Door number ten had another small bag inside:

Here we go!  We finally got some ingredients.  It's two blank cartons, a sheet of stickers, and a half dozen eggs:

The stickers were hard for me to make look good, but the eggs are realistic:

Here's number eleven:

Which had a lot of green items inside:

It's kitchen utensils!  I see a whisk, a spatula, a meat tenderizer, and what looks like a rolling pin in three pieces:

The rolling pin parts snapped together, and now the rolling pin can actually roll:

Now the mother and daughter have everything they need to start baking!

Gimme something to pound!

Number twelve is the half way point:

Already?

This is when kids need a good surprise to keep their excitement going:

But this is actually the worst toy so far.  

It's a baking sheet with what looks like a bar cookie on it, but the cookie has some unrealistic designs on top, and an awkward slice out of one side with no paint on the cut edges, so it looks like the cookie is made out of the same thing as the baking sheet:

Teflon cookies?

I hope number thirteen is better:

It is!  It is!  Look:

It's a pony:

Everybody wants a pony for Christmas.

He can even bend his head:

I spy wonky mane.

It's true.  The mane on the right side is strange.  It cuts off abruptly at the neck joint:

The designers would have been better off with no cascading mane on the right side, which is how a pony's hair actually works:

All on one side, baby!

Door number fourteen is temptingly large:

What could this be?

It's a little boy!  And he has a bunch of snowballs:

I love his blue sweater.

His cuffs and hat are removable, and he can even hold the snowballs!

So great.

Number fifteen can't possibly be better than a pony or a cute kid, right?

Whatever it is, it's very small:

It's two small things!  Two adorable rabbits:

With the potential for more!

The eyes on the rabbit who's standing up are misprinted slightly, but it gives him a great expression!

What's he smiling about?

Those two make a pretty great prize.

Door number sixteen is another big one:

There's a bag with a bunch of stuff inside:

It's pieces to make a snowman!

We're gonna build a snowman!

I spy a missing nose.

Yeah, where's the carrot nose?  Do you see it?

It's visible in this picture...barely.

It somehow got stuck up inside the body of the snowman, and was pretty hard to get out!

But I'm glad it wasn't missing, because it certainly makes the snowman look complete:

Now we have the makings for an outdoor scene, too!

This is really fun.  I'm excited about what might be next:

It's another bag, but this one is opaque:

All of the bags are made out of 100% recycled plastic, by the way.

Way to go, Playmobil!

This bag held two cartons and two jars, with a sheet of stickers to decorate them:

I spy too many lids.

I'm not sure why there are two extra lids.  Maybe because they're easy to lose?

Superfluous lids.

Here's door number eighteen:

I see something that looks a bit like cookies!

It's a baking sheet with removable cookies:

These are so much better than the Teflon bar cookies:

Number nineteen is really tall!

Could this be Santa's sleigh?

Yes!  And it comes with a harness for the pony and a few stickers:

It looks nice when it's all put together:

And the harness is easy to slide onto the pony's back:

A one horse open sleigh!

The sticker doesn't cover a circular area near the front of the sleigh, and I'm not sure why.  It looks like something could attach there? 

Spoilers: there's nothing included in the advent calendar that fits in that spot, so it remains a mystery.

Also, I'm not sure why there's a pony pulling Santa's sleigh and not a reindeer.  Playmobil has done some wonderful sleigh and reindeer sets in the past, and getting a reindeer with this set would have made it nearly perfect.

Oh, well.  Let's see what's up with door number twenty:

There's another bag...

With a bag inside!  It's Santa's sack and a small pile of letters:

The bag looks a bit like a torso to me:

Strange.

Anyway, that's not a very exciting present compared to some of the things we've seen, but it will be a useful addition to the sleigh.

Maybe number twenty one will have some toys to fill the sack?

Nope, these are paper items:

It's cardboard to make two little present boxes:

These were pretty easy to fold, but they connect in a way that would make it difficult to re-open them and put little toys inside:

Nobody likes an empty present.

The presents add a lot of color and festivity to the scene, though, so it's fine.

Only a few doors left!

Door number twenty two has some small items inside:

Here are the toys!

There are five items, two of which are for a space rover type thing that needs to be assembled:

So there's a space rover, a video game controller, a microphone, and a white thing that I can't identify:

What on earth is it?

It reminds me of an ankle skip ball, you know, those toys that spin around your ankle:

But it also looks like a smart phone, which I don't think you'd want to spin around on your ankle.

Is it soap on a rope?

That seems more like a prison thing.

I checked the instruction manual, and while it doesn't say what the toy is, there's an item number:

30 20 5813

I looked up that number, and the part is called "MP3 player."  So there you have it.

Only two more days left!

Number twenty three has a small bag:

With two squirrels!

These aren't as cute as the bunnies (I wish they had dark eyes), but they're still pretty cute, and will look great in the outdoor scene.

Here we go, the very last door.  And it's a big one!

In a set that's been as fun as this one, it's hard to imagine what the grand finale will be!

It's the Christmas tree!  And it comes in several parts:

Here's the assembled tree:

That's a funny-looking tree.

Hm.  I guess I'm not very impressed with this tree.  I understand that it's white because it's meant to be snow-covered, but I wish it were green.  It looks a bit tacky.  And the branches are sparse.  And those light purple decorations are odd.

This set has a great Christmas tree:

That would've been a better finale.

But the real finale is getting to set up the entire winter scene!

It looks so nice!

I spy a lot of blank cardboard.

Indeed, the only awkward part of the cardboard scene is that the roof of the house section is blank cardboard.  It would have looked better if that part had been decorated with wallpaper and some kind of ceiling pattern:

I tried to ignore the blank areas, and cropped them out of my pictures as best I could:

...which wasn't always easy:

That's a lot of bare wall.

I think all of the cookies are done baking now!

But I'm not sure anyone is going to eat those bar cookies.

I assumed that the kitchen would be my favorite part of this scene, but I actually ended up enjoying the outside area even more, with that adorable little boy and his snowman friend:

And of course I love the pony and sleigh, too:

All of the animals are so sweet:

But, as the smell of baked cookies wafted out from inside the house, the little boy left his friends and came in for a quick snack:

Bottom line?  This has been my favorite calendar so far.  It delivers on so many levels.  The calendar itself might not be the most interesting to look at, but it's not off-putting, either.  And the large backdrop with its developing winter scene more than makes up for any aesthetic shortcomings.  The numbers were all pretty easy to find, but the surprises behind each door were fantastic and plentiful, with many doors holding multiple high-quality items.

I don't feel like there were any dud prizes, although there were a few things that were underwhelming compared to the overall lavishness of the set.  In particular, the bar cookies, Santa's empty sack, the empty presents, and the odd assortment of toys were my least favorite items.  Other small grievances are that Santa can't hold his list properly, and there's a lot of blank cardboard visible in the kitchen section of the backdrop scene.

Here are the basics:

Best toy: impossible to choose!  I like the snowman a lot, but also the tiny mixer, the pony, the kids...

Worst toy: Santa's sack

Number of good surprises: 24! Pretty much everything is good and adds to the scene--even the sack

Number of really good surprises: 14, and some of these are outstanding

Excitement rating, out of 10: 9

Aesthetic rating, out of 10: 9

I paid about $35 for this set, but its initial retail was $29.99.  That's a bargain.  Not only do you get an exciting advent calendar experience, but you get a wonderful holiday scene to enjoy, and a collection of toys that are durable, fun to play with, and could incorporate easily into a larger Playmobil collection.  I had forgotten how truly remarkable Playmobil toys are, and I'm grateful to this calendar for the reminder.