These seem so simple, but they are one of the best toys that Play Dough has put out in quite a while! My two boys (6 and 3) have a plethora of playdough toys, however (being boys) their interest in pretend baking, making sweet treats, cutting hair, etc is short lived. They LOVE action figures and often end up mashing playdough into all the little nooks and crannies of their guys. Or they make their own "action figures" out of playdough, but then inevitably smash each other's creations and end up fighting. Since we first found the spiderman play-dough action figure in the store a couple months ago, we now own every guy that is available in the US market. Thats how big of a hit these things are. The only one we don't own is the Hulk set... because fyi he is larger and does not have the same bendy extremities. The kids HAVE to have the bendy guys. The guys are the perfect size for both kids to easily hang on to. While the bendy extremities aren't poseable, they love them. In my opinion, the level of bendability is great because it gives them the sense of having a "squishy" toy, without all the hassle of the fragility and filthiness that comes along with squishy toys. These things have gotten hours of play not only with playdough, but also in the bathtub, at soccer games, in the car, etc. They have quickly become one of their favorite action figures. Even with all that play, there is very minimal sign of wear. A tiny bit of the paint (like around the faces) is a little beat up. This is consistent with how my kids play with them. If they were used strictly just as playdough toys, I don't think they would have any signs of wear. The playdough sticks to the guys when making things like armor, but isn't difficult to get off when want because the plastic is smooth. The creators also seemed to be cognizant that kids get playdough stuck in action figures and specifically designed these to have very few places that playdough could get stuck permanently. One negative is the price (but we all want things for cheaper, amirite?). When on sale these are a pretty good deal and are consistent with the pricing for other playdough sets. For my kids specifically, the extras that come with the guys to make the set are nice (they can make armor, capes, weapons, webs, etc), but they really just play with the action figures. At full price, that makes each guy about $10-12... which in my opinion is a lot for the type of toy it is. ALSO, my kids obviously *had* to have venom. Playdough marketing obviously knew this was gonna be the case for a lot of kids because right now he is only available in a much more expensive set. Also, this may be a minor detail, but my kids really dislike their playdough colors mixing. Most of the sets come with a few small jars of playdough to be able to make the accessories. Most of these jars come with two colors split/mixed into one. It is very hard to separate them out without mixing a bit, and then when storing the colors have to go back in the same container as well. As an adult paying money for these toys, I don't mind it because I know that they don't need an entire jar of white just to make one cape and I appreciate that the cost is likely less because they aren't putting more jars into each set. For kids that are sensitive to things like this just fyi. As of now, there are only a handful of superheroes and Star Wars characters available. I think that there is a huge market to continue to make these and extend them to other franchises/characters. I do wish that there was more inclusivity for girls that may want to play with something like this. These are pretty gender-neutral toys, but there are no female characters that I can find as of now.
