Toy Castles

[Raidra]

Please help me choose which toy castle to buy my kids for Xmas! My ideal castle would be wood, large enough for two kids to play at w/o fighting, fairly detailed, sturdy (as in, won't knock over easily or fall apart when the boys are playing with their knights), and not cost more than $200 or so. Oh, and the boys have Papo knights, so something that is compatible with that size figure.

I'm mostly concerned with the sturdiness.. they can't build structures with blocks without knocking them over two seconds later, and their Playmobil buildings (like the fire station) are always missing pieces.

The ones I've looked at so far are:

Willow Toys Castle
Pin Toys Castle (I think this was the PBK castle last year)
Maxim Sir Roderick's Castle
Papo Castles
M&D Castle

So far I'm leaning towards the Maxim one. I like the Willow Toys castle but I think the boys would appreciate more walls/doors/towers than that one offers. I really love the Kinderkram castle, but it's way out of our price range.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[mum1day]

I don't know if you've seen this one or not, but we're planning on getting this one from FAO. It is made of solid Pine from New Zealand.

http://www.fao.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=10180

[jec2]

I'm not sure on the castles, but I wanted to say Congratulations on #3, Rachel! Hope you and your boys are well.

[Raidra]

Thanks! Clearly I haven't been around much.. I forgot that you'd had your second. A very belated congratulations to you, too. ;)

[greatcanuk]

What about Ryan's Room Majestic Castle & Mighty Knights?
http://www.amazon.com/Small-World-Toys-5523575-Majestic/dp/B0002I9RNG

There are additional sets you can get--His Majesty and More (king, queen, etc.), Knights of the Dragon, Knights in Shining Armor, Seige the Day, Rock n' Launch (catapult), and playmat.

At one point, Target had a smaller version of this castle bundled with the His Majesty and More figures, but I'm pretty sure it's gone now, unless you find it on Ebay or something.

HTH,
Camille

[LBW]

We have the Maxim one and think it's great! I found it last year at TJ Maxx or Marshalls for under $100. It's sitting on a train table in DS1's room at the moment, and he and his friends can easily play with it together. I love that it is wood, and that the sides of the castle can be moved around. It has some neat features, like a working drawbridge, trap door, and hidden room that the boys get a kick out of. I was able to find some Maxim accessories on ebay, so he often play with those and/or his Playmobil figures.

[Raidra]

Two quick questions, if you don't mind.

I know the walls are moveable, but do they fall over easily or anything? Like.. do they stay put when you want them to?

And do you think the Papo or Schleich knights would fit in it? We have some Playmobile knights, too, but the boys prefer their Papo ones.

We have the Maxim treehouse that we got two years ago, so I'm familiar with their quality.

Thanks!

[LBW]

The two wings of the castle move and swivel - so you can align them to be straight with the main portion of the castle, or perpendicular, or whatever. The walls themselves don't really come out, but the small lighter wood pieces in the towers can be lifted up (if that makes sense). That means you can move the windows around. The kids don't really do this often. The darker wood portions of the towers are fixed, so the castle is very sturdy - nothing can fall over.

This site has some good pictures that show the walls swiveled out, and the wall peices being taken out.
http://www.outofthetoybox.com/c=08yJKTAvbK7gYw3NesQkoJUx7/product/MAXDS80040/Free_Shipping!_Sir_Roderick's_Medieval_Wooden_Toy_ Castle_Fortress_%26_Figures_Playset_by_Maxim.html

The playmobil knights are waaaayy undersized for the castle - but the kids don't seem to mind. I don't have any of the Papo or Schleich knights, so I'm not sure how they'd fit. They're larger than Playmobil, right? If I had to guess, I'd say they'd be fine. Do you have the figures that go with the Treehouse? They're probably the same size as the castle figures. I can measure the castle figures or doors, etc., for you later if you want.

[Raidra]

Thanks so much! I'm so glad to hear that it's sturdy.. that's one of my main concerns. It sounds like being able to swivel the walls out will help both boys be able to play with it without fighting too much.

We do have the treehouse figures, they're roughly the same size as the Papo figures, so I bet they'd work fine.

Thanks again!

[fivi2]

I don't know anything about the Ryan's Room one, but I just saw it at Tuesday Morning for $50.00. (Texas)

[greatcanuk]

I have the Ryan's Room castle, and just based on looking at the pictures posted above of the Maxim/Sir Roderick's Fortress, it looks as if the Maxim it would have more play value than the Ryan's Room castle. Also, the Ryan's Room castle itself is reasonably sturdy, but there are little pegs that connect the towers which could potentially break off. The Maxim seems to have some cool features which I could see being a hit with kids.

Camille