Black Belt Playmobil Set 4532 Review Capsule

One of hundreds of "Specials," this Playmobil Black Belt was a hard-to-find set that was reissued to USA Target stores under the "Pals" banner in 2005. For $1.99, it's highly recommended.

Introduction

The Black Belt is a great, simple figure that was once a somewhat highly priced item from the Specials line. Now that Target has carried a reissue in a new box, the price is about $2.

Originally sold in 1996, this figure is becoming widely available in the new box and the toy itself seems identical to the original issue.

Figure

This is a fairly simple figure that relies heavily on paint and a couple of parts to dress it up. Does it work? Hells yeah it works!

Take a simple figure, draw some lines and chest hair on it, add some "asian" eyes, a belt, and some cuffs around the wrists and blammo-- instant Karate Teacher. As it's a basic Playmobil design with few new parts there isn't much to say about it other than if you like Playmobil and you like Karate, this is a good way to combine both into one nice cheap toy. It's a high quality piece, there's just not much to say about it that isn't immediately obvious from looking at the picture.

Accessories

Not too many accessories are to be found on the Black Belt, and some of them are integrated to the figure's design.

Once assembled, the only loose piece is the board which he can "break" in half. It's a very interesting design with wood grain sculpted on top of it and it fits together nicely. The remaining parts of the figure are a headband, two cuffs, and a belt. The belt is essentially non-removable, but that's OK.

Packaging

Set 4532 comes in a box typical for the "Pals" range. The back shows the box' contents, and the front uses a slightly altered version of the photo that graced the 1996 release of this figure.

Fin

My toy kung fu is stronger than yours. This is great desk fodder, a good gift for kids, or just something nice to have around. For $2 you can do a lot worse, as you've no doubt noticed if you've been collecting toys for any length of time.

Reviewed and photographed by Adam Pawlus
Sample found at Target in Phoenix, AZ on March 20, 2005 for $1.99
Reviewed on March 22, 2005.