Toy Review: Playmobil Scooby Doo Blind Bag (70288) and Scooby Doo & Shaggy with Ghost (70287)

This year, Playmobil got the rights to make Scooby-Doo toys and released a few right at the beginning of the year at War-Mart. For a 51-year-old show, there is a lot of collector appeal for the show and its characters, as many of the kids who watched the show then and into the 70s have fond memories of the Scooby gang. Following the release of Ghostbusters sets last year in January 2019, Playmobil decided to continue selling spooky with Scooby Doo.

Here’s a review of a set and of a mystery figure bag…

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Figures Series 1 (70288)
Ages 5+ | $3.99

One of the many icons with Scooby Doo are the many scary creeps, monsters, and other villains that the gang have encountered. All of them are some person up to no good that inevitably get unmasked by the “meddling kids,” and Playmobil plays that up with what else? mystery ghost bags. These aren’t all ghosts, but you get the idea.

We got one bag and did a feel test to try to figure what figure we got, and got since this figure has an obvious prop.

As you can see from the photo, there are two faces on the head. The head pieces has both head print and notches so the hair piece lines up with either correctly. The face is actually somewhat close to the animated character (Zen Tuo from the episode Mystery Mask Mixup):

Each figure has some accessories. The hat is an attachable accessory, and a rather odd accessory with this one is a fire staff, as he never uses on in the episode. There’s a sticker of the figure (the blue card in the photo) and one last item: a transparent data card. The card is small to fit the scale of the figure and holds a sticker  of a pic of the figure and its name.There’s a reason for this data card that will be pointed out later.

The figure has to be assembled, so there’s instructions on the figure checklist sheet that comes in the bag:

The checklist. If you are wondering who is who, here’s a list of the character and the episode it appeared going from top to bottom, left to right:

Top Row

• Witch Doctor (from A Tiki Scare is Not Fair)
• Headless Horseman (from The Headless Horseman of Halloween)
• Miner 49er (from Mine Your Own Business)
• Creeper (from Jeepers, it’s the Creeper)

Middle Row

• Snow Ghost (from That’s Snow Ghost)
• Carlotta (from A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts)
• Zen Tuo (from Mystery Mask Mix Up)
• Indian Witch Doctor (from Decoy for a Dognapper)

Bottom Row

• Spooky Space Kook (from the episode with the same name)
• Black Knight (from What a Night for a Knight)
• Ghost of Captain Cutler (from A Clue for Scooby Doo)
• Ghost Clown (from Bedlam in the Big Top)

Review: As a figure series, this is pretty fun – with a price of $3.99, it may take a while for a child to get a collection, but adult collectors will find this a fun collection to start or pick favorites The favorite of mine is the Spooky Space Kook, which I didn’t happen to get. I guess I get to toy hunt…

Assembly of the figure is pretty straightforward, although I should stress that you have to hold the arms in place while you side the insert in the torso. Articulation is limited, so my Zen Tuo could stand and sit and move arms separately. The wrists can twist, and the head can turn and is also removable to change the face. Face changing entails popping off the hat and hair, turning the head halfway around and popping the hair and hat back on. The figure cannot flex like the rendering on its sticker. His vest is also a separate part put over the torso.

The figure is a nice size for play, and with its accessory make for a fun bad guy to go against the Scooby-Doo Gang. For adults, it’s a perfect size for a place in your work area.

I really hope they do more, because I think a great addition would be Charlie the Robot!

Scooby-Doo! Scooby and Shaggy with Ghost (70287)
Age: 5+ | 12.99

I guess this would be called the Scooby-Doo Starter Set. It has 22 pieces and three figures: Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, and a ghost…well, the Phantom from Hassle in the Castle. And the phantom glows in the dark.

There’s a few accessories:

You get a Scooby Snack box, a data card (both have stickers you place) a hamburger, flashlight, and a rope with a clip and a handle (to catch ghosts). There’s also stickers of all the figures and an instruction sheet.

Review: The figures are again, pretty fun. The best figure is Scooby, which is a accurate and has enough articulation to make him a fun character to play with. He can stand on two legs thanks to a transparent base that is included.

Shaggy is decoed generic figure. He can turn his head, move his arms and sit. He can also hold items and his wrist rotates.

There are a few things that I look for when a set for a show or movie is released. There are some trademark actions that characters do that should be included, and in this case, this is one action I wanted to check on:

Can the figs do that? Well…sorta.

The limitations of the articulation very nearly keep this from being doable. You can do it, though, if you use the bas and hold on to Scooby’s tail. Now if Scooby’s head could turn……

Which leads me to the Phantom. He is a figure that kinda matches the villain:

There was a lot of effort to match the phantom, but not so much the body. It’s just odd. The other thing is that popping on the hood takes a few tries to get it right – it’s not as easy as it appears.

For those adults who want to collect – start here. Shaggy and Scooby are the most important characters, and they make up a good set. For the kids, it’s a set just asking for a chase scene to play!

You can buy these sets at War-Mart, where they will be exclusively sold until May 2020.

You can order the Scooby-Doo Mystery Figures here.
You can order the Scooby-Doo & Shaggy with Ghost here.