-Review and Photos By Andy Jones
Admit it, you’re humming the theme song right now. Playmobil is continuing their licensed sets for collectors with the ’80s juggernaut The A-Team. This show featured Mr. T, explosions, Jeeps flipping over, punching, and bad guys, and it was everything an awesome ’80s action TV show needed. Playmobil has long been a company that produced toys for kids’ imaginations, but they’ve recently gone full-in on embracing the adult collectors.
The box features the same collector packaging as the 007 Astin Martin. It handsomely holds the van and displays the 4 members of the A-Team. I really like how this looks, especially with the explosion. However, I do have a complaint that is driving me crazy. Just like with the Astin Martin, the fully-assembled vehicle does not fit right back into its spot in the car. When you initially open the A-Team box, the van doesn’t have the tires on. With the tires in place and the roof panel with the spoiler, you cannot close the box lid all the way. Also, the tow hitch is just a hair too long. With the Astin Martin, I used an Exacto blade to accommodate the hubcap spikes. On this one, I stored the roof in the space under the figures and sliced a slot for the tow hitch.
The van itself looks fantastic. The red stripe, the spoiler, the lighting kit. It feels like an A-Team model kit, not the Playmobil version of the A-Team van. It’s solid and durable and doesn’t sacrifice any details. It’s still a Playmobil toy. The side door slides open, the back doors open, the roof comes off to access the interior, and the windshield comes off to insert figures in the front. You better not have anyone but BA drive, though.
In the back of the van there’s an equipment rack, where you can store two walkies and a flashlight. I also love the reel-to-reel recorder. It gives it that 80s hi-fi vibe. I also like the schematics that come with it.
I also love the abundance of detail put into this set. At first, I honestly thought Playmobil only did this set because it would be easy to produce their Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine in different colors and knock this out, but they did put some love and care into putting together this set as they have with their other licensed properties such as Back to the Future and Ghostbusters.
I love the tiger design on the back of Murdock’s leather jacket and his sock puppet as well as the newly sculpted muscled arms on BA Baracus. Yes, a new Playmobil arm has appeared and has already begun to show up in other Playmobil sets, like their superhero Special! Of course, he has a newly sculpted hairdo to match his Mandinka hairstyle. There was love put into making this set a reality.
One thing that is missing are guns. I’m not a gun guy, but the A-Team TV show definitely featured guns. The 007 Astin Martin also was missing any type of gun. I get it, it’s a toy company at heart, but these are not intended for children to play with. They did include a stick of dynamite, some tools, an arc welder, and two half gallons of milk for Mr. T. I think they would have been alright if they included a few guns. I used a rifle from the Playmobil SWAT guy set in these photos.
Not to say you can’t still have a ton of fun with this set. I like having Mr. T go around beating people up, and knocking over oil barrels. I really like how the spirit of the characters and the show comes through in the toys. I think Playmobil is doing a great job of addressing older collectors and people that have never bought Playmobil may be attracted to check out this set. I’m very excited for the Knight Rider set due out later this year, so stay tuned!
Playmobil provided this set for me to review. Some of the photos include accessories that did not originally come in the box.
-Review and Photos By Andy Jones
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