| The Playmobil Brand has a well diverse range of themes made for young children and also caters now to adult collectors due to highly detailed accessories and Playmo Figurines. It gives young minds a blank canvas to tell their stories through the theme and sets, which is also a great way for storytelling while they put them together.
There have been impressive themes and sets over the years, but Playmobil manages to be consistent with the evolutions and improving iterations of well-adored themes such as Pirates, an original theme that has been around and the recent sets from 2020/2021 continues to elevate the details. |
Most notable are the medium sets that integrates the play patterns as well spark imagination in introducing the theme to the kids. Playmobil Pirates continue to expand its concepts not just the ships and treasure hunting adventures, they’re also making elaborate sets that can be integrated to the previous range with its fresh take in making those adventures inviting. This is also based on the time period that the Pirates are not just the focal point of the storytelling.
The Pirates theme for 2020/2021 range is not just limiting to small sets of that you can build a crew for your small ship or adding a canon for an extra fire power it is also about the conflict that these adventurers face. They also have to brave the challenges and obstacles to seek that treasure and also face the peril in making it. Thus, the “Redcoat Bastion” or is some markets known also as “Redcoat Fort” with designated set no. 70413 is one of those unique sets that has a story to itself.
Defend the Bastion
This set is unique due to that it doesn’t focus on the Pirates, but their counterpart the Redcoats which back in the day are considered the UK’s formidable soldiers that guard certain important artifacts, documents, and sometimes treasures. They’re mostly the featured characters in this set for the reason it is named after them.
The word “Bastion” means a fortified area where they fire their weapons or preferably their main line of defense, which is their cannon that is included in the set. The new box colours and art are dominated by blues and a trim of gold as you can see to the rest of the range for Pirates. It is considered a medium set next to the bigger ones and following this are already ships, which makes it a break to the common thread that’s been know about this theme in the past years.
Its main story for this set focus on a small island that was constructed into a fortified defense wall, which is why it was called a “Bastion” for the assigned Redcoats as you see in the art depicting them defending the island against a small band of Pirates.
Fortified for the Taking
The “Redcoat Bastion” is a big box set for Playmobil and there’s an amount of play patterns that goes with this theme. But before you start you put together that may need some assembly through a lot of bags to open and intricately line them up before reading the instruction manual that comes with it.
Playmobil packed the pieces accordingly, but some even have smaller bags packed in the bigger bags. But it’s not difficult just need to organize them when putting them together step-by-step to avoid confusion and losing some important pieces that makes this little island fortress unique for this theme. There’s enough time to bond with parents and their children putting together. For adult collectors, this is just a fun way to relax and appreciate every pieces that they find when opening each bag to pour in and assemble this impressive set.
Every assembly starts with the biggest piece, namely the island’s base, which is a solid plastic with details of how it was molded by Playmobil. This piece has not appeared in any other theme and this must be new to the Pirates range as most use by the brand might have appeared in another theme and this basically new to the series.
Island Features:
- Mini Island Fortress
- Guarded Treasure Chest with Gold Coins, Gems, & Jewelry
- Glow-in-the-Dark Skeleton
- Empty Red Barrow
- Two Cannon Balls with tray
- One Large Cannon
- A Tiny Lizard
- Guarded by the Shark
- Well Armed Dinghy (Actually Floats!)
- Four Playmo Figures (both Readcoats and Pirates
The Island of New Stories
Once assembled you can definitely appreciate the tiny details that comes with the Bastion from the random red barrow to the coconut tree that rest in front of the fortress wall that have grown in the huge rocks. The fun you can have with this is the accessories that came with the island.
In the island the Redcoats are protecting the treasure chest full of coins and jewelry that is locked, but you slide the piece that keeps it shut reveals what the Pirates are after. Of course, they kept it under a dungeon where a skeleton reside that glows in the dark. Also, to keep the front part of the Bastion fortified is a huge cannon that included two projectile balls that you can load up and launch.
The story doesn’t stop there as the invading Pirates are also in this story, but before they can pass through the protected island they have to go through a shark that roams this place. Playmobil like to produce detailed creatures and the shark has opening and closing jaws that can bite its victim and that its going to be trouble for the bad guys.
Redcoats and Pirates
The Redcoats Bastion is the focal point of this set, but don’t forget about the Pirates and their Dinghy, their tiny boat that’s also armed with tiny projectile cannon that fires one projectile piece at a time. It also has an achor to dock the little boat as well as a pair of paddles to move them near the island. This Dinghy actually floats and can also carry two dastardly Pirates.
Playmobil’s continued evolution for the Playmo Figures are not just the sets they produce, but the characters that presented the sets. While the Redcoats in uniform has been more elaborate with the hats, belt, and weapon accessories it is the Pirates that are diverse with ethnic representation too.
It’s impressive that you find the facial prints diversifying having character than the generic smile that has been known with Playmobil. This brand needs more uniqueness to the facial expressions they need to add more than just that usual look.
Overall there’s hours of play pattern that goes to how a parent will tell a story using this set. For adult collectors, hours of going through research in history on how Playmobil adapts the aesthetics of the Redcoats and Pirates appearance during those eras, and not just putting it together that usually ends up on the display that most common collectors would do.
There’s a ton of story ideas for a set that includes four Playmo Figures, a shark, and a tiny iguana that sit near the concreate walls. The fun part is putting together and appreciating the intricate details for the reason why Playmobil’s Pirate sets are a narrative to itself.
Redcoats Bastion set no 70413 is part of the Pirates theme from Playmobil that was released for 2020/2021, which contains 101 pieces retails for at ₱ 4,299.75 (**$ 116.25 AUD | $ 88.59 USD) distributed in the Philippines by Ban Kee Trading. For more Playmobil details and other themes available follow Playmo PH via their social media on Facebook!
Special Acknowledgement to Ban Kee Trading, who sponsored this review with this Playmobil set that, is already available locally in the Philippines.
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