Thursday 20 October 2011

Toyologist Review: Playmobil Secret Agent Detection Jet

£17.99 from Toys R Us.


One of the great things about Toyology is that you're sent toys to test that you would never have thought of buying. A couple of months ago I was introduced to the world of Playmobil, something in my trio of decades on the planet I'd never really played with before. Back then I had a Baddy Top Agents set. This time it's a face off between the forces of good and evil, Secret Agents and Robo Gangsters, and an attempt to stop a robot-smuggling ring.


Anything that sneakily introduces a bit of science to unsuspecting children is always a hit with me. The Robo Gangster Lab had UV and this set has a mini metal detector.

Using the Detection Jet as a starting point, I attempted to introduce my boys into the fascinating World of Chemistry - metallic bonding, conductivity, and new synthesised diamine derivatives as corrosion inhibitors of steel in 0.5 M H2SO4.


Needless to say, they had zero interest.

(Next time I'll try something much more interesting such as the Inclusion of Protein Flexibility in Ligand-Receptor Docking - the big fat document of which is available on request.They don't send Toyology boxes to 'Dr. Johnson' for the fun of it!

...Well, obviously playing with toys is a lot of fun, but I was referring to the 'Dr.' bit.)


The Secret Agent comes with a standard Playmobil 'happy' face, a plain and simple helmet with poorly fitting visor and, in my eyes, is overall a little boring. The Gangster, however, has a fantastic evil frown and scar on his face. You can just imagine his maniacal laughter booming out as he revels in his latest evil plot. His helmet is ten times better than the 'goody' version and he also comes with a great little rocket pack.

The set is a little pricey on the face of it, but you do get a fully functional metal detector and it won't be long before children are running round the house with it finding other metal objects.


One thing to be wary of is having very young children around these toys. They contain extremely small parts and bits will easily snap off the Jet, for example. Baby will happily chew on a Transformer or Power Ranger without much problem, but these...well, even a rock can cause problems...


So while Baby is choking, I'll be in the garden hunting for buried treasure.


Other Toyology reviews can by found in the Toys R Us Toy Box on Facebook.

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