Last week we received the Pokémon Carry Case Playset to review. L loves Pikachu and know sof Pokémon, but has never watched the cartoons on TV or played the games. It’s more just something he’s picked up on school, but I thought this great set could change things.

Aimed at ages 5+ costing just £39.99 I was expecting a huge amount from this playset, the fact it comes with a Pikachu model to play with in the set meant L would love it regardless, but it needed to offer more than that. Having played with it quite a bit now I can safely say this is one of the best value toys we have looked at all year and well worth the money, plus it’s on sale at Smyths Toys now at £29,99.

The set itself looks quite plain when you get it, a big green plastic box, shaped as a rucksack with straps and a Pokémon ball design. It’s quite chunky and cumbersome, it’s when you open it up that it all makes sense.

The tough green exterior hides a whole world with so many fun features! You open up the rucksack and there are trees that pop up, rocks and boulders that you push up into position, a bridge that stems the two halves of the rucksack, increased play areas that slide out and the play area nearly doubles in size. It also all really easily folds back away into the rucksack/box. No help needed from parents!

As if a whole world appearing from the inside of the rucksack wasn’t enough each little mini area has its own interactive function. The battle arena that you slide out to make full sized has two springy nets that you can launch Pokémon from. There is a whirlpool that really whirls. A boulder trap all set up to roll the included boulder down and see where it ends up. The tree that you pull up tp full size has a hidden trap door. There is a cave for Pokémon to hide in. Another tree has platforms the Pokémon can sit on and act as look out. There’s a little bush that can launch a hiding pocket monster. It really is brilliant.

I feel that we keep on finding new things all the time and L really loves it. When it first arrived we were on a bit of a tight turn around between school and football, so L didn’t have much time to play with it. At this stage we didn’t realise the arena area pulled out to become even bigger or that there was a little hidden launch pad in the bushes. When we got home later that evening, after we had eaten and got L into bed, we could hear some sounds that were definitely not sleeping and L had got the set up in his bed and was happily playing and discovering more about it.

The next morning he appeared ready for school with the rucksack on his back to take in because he knew his friends would love to play with it with him. You can only imagine how the conversation went when we told him that couldn’t happen. But I do really like that you can easily travel with it, we’ve already said how it would be the perfect toy to take on holiday as it’s self contained and has so many features you wouldn’t have to worry about bringing anything else, this is enough to keep L amused for a whole week with no other toys. Our last holiday was in a self catering lodge and I can picture him playing with this when we got in after a hard day exploring.

There is enough spare space in the carry case to store more Pokémon if you want, it is designed to work with any 2 inch figure, so most of the battle packs. We also received a twin pack of Pokémon, we got Eevee and Togedemaru, I like that you can easily add to the play and still take it with you. This also means it doesn’t take up much space in the house, I do love a toy that comes with its own storage. You just fold it all away into the rucksack and it sits neatly in a cupboard, or at the end of the bed in our case.

I’m genuinely really impressed with the Pokémon Carry Case Playset, it’s sturdy and well made, even with all the moving parts. So much thought has gone into it and it really is like watching the Pokémon world comes to life before your eyes as it unfolds. It’s practical too, being able to carry it round as a rucksack is genius. This would make such a lovely gift for any Pokémon fan.

You can purchase Pokémon Carry Case Playset from Smyths Toys.

Disclosure – we received our toys for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, opinions and images are my own.