For The Revenge of 31 Days of Toy Terror I'm definitely checking out quite a few Playmobil sets, eh? You can credit that to Playmobil releasing some very cool spooky themed sets this August and the fact that my daughter and I have been having a blast playing with these. Today I'm checking out the largest "horror" set that Playmobil has released this year: The Take Along Haunted House. The concept here is simple as this is a small, portable haunted house. You may see some similarities to the 2015 Play Box Haunted House set (which I have and which might show up this year, too) but don't be fooled as the Take Along Haunted House is a completely different and much larger set. I love the often bizarre charm of Playmobil and every few years I seem to return to it to pick up a few items that interest me and, believe me pals, a haunted house playset definitely caught my attention. I originally considered making this the review for Halloween, but I believe I have something even spookier awaiting you. Any questions? Ok then! Let's get ready to tour the Take Along Haunted House...
The Facts:
Dimensions: 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 5 inches Closed, 16 x 8 1/2 x 5 inches Open
Includes: House, three figures, and a ton of accessories
Non-Scalper Price: $40 dollars
* Here's the outside of the spooky old house. As you can see it has a very colonial feel to it. The lanterns are separate pieces although the light effect is just a sticker wrapped around a tube-like piece. The broken wood planks above the door are also simply a sticker. I do love the eyes peering out, though. The door and windows are simply a facade and, sadly, they do not actually open.
* The set is actually hinged on both sides and it can open either way. From here you can see the rear of the set, which is completely blank. The roof is nicely shingled and there is a convenient carrying handle for kids (or collectors, no judgment) who may want to carry this around with them.
* Once you open the haunted house you'll need to put down the two floor tiles to create your play area. Inside you have the two halves of the house and lots of floor space to play around in.
* On the left side/ front of the house is the front door (part of a cardboard backdrop that fits into the frame) and a loft.
* On the loft are two very cool grotesques of a sort and a torch. I'm not sure they quite fit the style of the house but I can appreciate their presence here all the same. The torch is removable from its holder and can be carried around by any klicky who needs a light. The flame is even removable so it can be carried around as an unlit torch, too.
* Here is the loft! It's a bit cramped up here but it has a working trap door so klickies can access it or be dropped down from it.
* The right side/ rear of the house seems to makeup the sets laboratory complete with lots of charts and a blackboard. Like the front of the house, most of these details are simply a cardboard backdrop held on to the frame.
* This spider and web is an actual piece, though. The web hangs from a clip up in the top of the house. The spider has a little hole in it that can fit on a few small pegs on the web. It takes a few tries to get the absurdly large and bright spider on the web but, once on, she stays put quite well.
* Here is the scientist's directions for building a monster. As you can see, the directions show a monster that looks like a klicky. Kind of a cool little feature.
* On the left are a bunch of chemistry related scrawlings on a blackboard.
* Let's start checking out the residents of the haunted house, shall we? First up is this spooky vampire. I have a few Playmobil vampires but not this one. I love his blood red cape, pinstriped vest, and curly... mustache? Yup, this vampire is dapper as all get out.
* Next up is this colonial looking fellow. Again, Playmobil does some strange mixing of parts so have no clue when and where this set is supposed to take place. The 18th century, maybe? This guy looks like he should be riding down the street warning is that the British are coming but, instead, he is chilling out in a haunted laboratory trying to make monsters. That's cool, too. I love his vest and the little bat trinket hanging off of his tricorne hat.
* For when stuff gets messy this unshaven inventor can throw on his apron. It is guarantees to keep off monster guts and other nasty substances.
* Last, and not least, is this really unusual looking monster. He is definitely not a traditional looking Frankenstein styled creature. He's more zombie-like. He's green, wrapped in bandages, bald, and is wearing... a headband? Maybe this set takes place in the 1980s? I am so confused. I dig the set, but I'm just confused.
* To keep this guy under control he comes with some manacles. They're made from plastic (I actually had a Playmobil ghost as a kid that had a real metal ball and chain) but they seem quite durable.
* What good is a haunted house without some haunted furniture, right? First up is a coffin for the vampire. The front of the coffin has a spooky sticker on it showing off a skull and crossbones, a bat, and the Roman numerals 1017. Wait, so is this a new coffin and this set takes place in 1017 (which can't be right) or has this vampire been around since 1017, over 400 years before the birth of Vlad the Impaler, the historical Dracula. What is going on? Wait, wasn't that Bohr's model of the atom on the blackboard? That wasn't conceived of until 1913. This set takes place in the 1900s?
* Open up the coffin and there is plenty of room for this ancient vampire to chill out in. There are also four handles so that four klickies can act as pallbearers and carry the coffin around.
* To keep some of the lab equipment and writing implements in place the inventor has this nice shelving unit. It has two shelves and a nice image of a bat on top.
* There is also a really cool little chemistry table. It is made of four parts and my 5 year old was very, very proud that she built it herself without looking at the directions.
* There is also a very cool matching...chair? Is this a chair? Yup, I think so. It's quite cool and it looks great by the door. That way the monsters have somewhere to sit when they take their shoes off.
* This set comes with the full chemistry set: Alembic with stand, burner with flame, a funnel, an Erlenmeyer flask, and a volumetric flask. The pieces are really nicely colored to stand out. I loved these pieces as a kid and I'm kind of glad Playmobil is still using them. These accessories just interact really well together as the funnel and the alembic spout fit in the bottles while the burner fits underneath the alembic's pot.
* Maybe the coolest thing in this set is this collection of four jars with mysterious labels. What do these include? It appears they are filled with beetles, spiders, frogs, and snakes. Definitely a bit of something icky brewing up here. The caps are removable (my set actually came with five caps) but you can't actually put anything inside of the jars.
* To write correspondence with other mad scientists or to fill his journals with insane, arcane ramblings, the inventor has a quill and an inkwell that can sit on the desk.
* What is in this mysterious greenish black bottle? Some ancient elixir? The secret of life? Hooch? Who knows!
* Even when you're living in a haunted house you gotta keep the place clean. Otherwise you'll get ants. To help, the set comes with an eerie bucket and a broom that once belonged to someone accused of being a witch. Oooh!!
* Here's an open book filled with the ramblings of the mad inventor. Lots of unusual scrawling on how to build a person out of random body parts. If anyone here studied much biology, can you tell me if this is fairly accurate? I need to know. For science.
* Every haunted house needs some rats and a skull and, believe me, Playmobil doesn't leave you hanging. Want a skull? Bam. Here's your skull. Want rats? Boom. How about two!
For the price, this set has a lot of play value. I'm pretty sure that all of the pieces in the set have been used elsewhere before but still, the concept is cool. I love the weird Playmobil vibe that comes out in sets like this so I'm definitely glad to have picked up this set. It does feel a bit random at times and there are definitely somethings that could have been done better to keep the set from feeling so generic, but, otherwise, this set is a fun item for taking pictures of minifigures, arranging your other klickies, or just setting out during Halloween. It's a Great haunted house, although I hope that someday Playmobil releases a full size haunted house!
Here are a few more shots of the inside of the house!
And one more of the Vampire!
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I almost picked this up but given the size and similarity to last year's portable set I decided to pass on it.
ReplyDeleteThere definitely are a lot of similarities. I like this one much better, though, as it feels like an actual house. It also has room for lots of figures to just stand around, so it's a pretty solid display piece.
DeleteThat was actually the other deciding factor. If I had room to leave it up year-round I would totally get it. I have *so* many PM figures that could move in there.
DeleteYeah, it has a fairly large "footprint" unless you leave it folded up.
DeleteI saw another Halloween/horror-themed Playmobil set yesterday at the local mall: it's a smaller laboratory set-up but with the same chemistry set and some diagrams or charts. The figures included with it were a green-skinned zombie similar to the one above (except it looked female) and another vampire (no mustache this time).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, do the packs containing the single Playmobil figures have a code that tells you what's inside?
That set came out last year and is a small lab setup.
DeleteThe blind bag figures sadly do not have any code on them to let you know what's inside.
I wish the blind bags did. With the figures disassembled inside I find it really tough to tell what I'm getting. I tried to find the Zombie butler and the time traveler a month or so ago but ended up with two time travelers.
DeleteNow that TRU is closed I don't even know where to find the blind bag figures. Haven't seen any in quite awhile in a store now.
DeleteMy local Wal-Mart has a very small Playmobil section and they do have the blind bags. It's in the same aisle as Megablocks, random blind bags, and generic toys like slime and plastic army men.
DeleteNow that you mention it, I did find some at my WalMart but they were in an odd section of the toy dept and there were only like 5 bags on the shelf from a few series ago. They never carried PM before so it was odd to see them pop up with a couple smaller sets.
DeleteMine had quite a few of the blind bags and looks like they have restocked once. None of the pink bags, though; only the blue bags.
DeleteThe vampire's lab that I saw was part of the local mall's rather limited display of Playmobil figures and playsets. I was trying to find the wizard with the magic staff accessory like Gandalf's (except the gem is red) without much luck. But I did see a boxed ghost figure with a color-changing LED feature so I might get that if I can't find the wizard.
DeleteI remember seeing the ghost in the catalog and on Playmobil's site. I have one of the ghosts from a few years back (the adult and kid in skeleton costumes with ghost sheets) but this one looks way more ghostly and reminds me more of the old castle ghost I had as a kid.
Delete