W.M.D. (Weapons of Miniturized Disarmament)

I'd like to give a shout out to Alec, who inspired this post. I have long been a fan of Playmobil as a good gift item for the 4 - 8 year old set (birthday party season can be challenging, so a small stockpile of Playmobil is good to have on hand). We have used their Advent calendars two years in a row now as a fun way to count down the days to Christmas and have a nice thing to play with along the way (they have a little piece of the whole set in a box with the number for each day of December leading to the 25th). My daughter likes the toys but I think I like them more. They are so detailed as far as all the pieces they include, and they are just the kind of thing I would have been totally into as a kid. The ambulance has IV fluids, oxygen mast and a stretcher with legs and wheels that pop out when you take the patient out to the ER loading bay. The horseback rider has a little helmet and a bucket to feed her horse. The fairies have snap-on wings and bouquets and little pineapple and strawberry hats. It's really quite amazing.

The drawback of giving it as a gift, I have found, is that some details might be a little more than some of us want. I decided to disarm the motorcycle cop before wrapping him up, and having given the gift several times now, I have accumulated quite an arsenal of tiny instruments of force. These include billy clubs, rifles with scope, handguns, handcuffs, and knives.

So I found it particularly funny to read Alec's link, a review of the Playmobil security checkpoint which was actually lacking in realistic details. The reviewer and subsquent commentors had some good suggestions for other security related products (though I believe some of them are actually already available). I guess I could have left the weapons with the gifts I gave. Then we might have more use for the syringe, surgical scissors and bandages that came with our ambulance. Or I could make the Advent Calendar a little bit more exciting next year.