Galaxy Patrol — Playskool toys on the playroom floor

Toddler proportions, familiar faces

Galactic Heroes shrinks the best-known faces in the galaxy down to toddler proportions: big head, short legs, enormous eyes, no capes to swallow. The figures are one solid piece with a cut at the waist and shoulders, which is as much articulation as a two-year-old needs.

Vehicles built for a whole fist

Vehicles on this mat carry one or two figures and nothing else. Hatches are big enough for a whole fist, lids clip rather than hinge, and the small arsenal of accessories moulds straight onto the figure so it cannot be dropped behind a radiator.

Two looks, one scale

The line ran long enough that there are two distinct looks on this mat — the earlier Jedi Force figures with the painted outlines, and the later Galactic Heroes with the flatter colours. Both are the same size and play together.

Big-eyed pilots and saucer-faced heroes are the Playskool way of handing a licensed universe to a two-year-old. The Playskool proportions do the work: no thin limbs, no removable helmets, nothing on a Playskool figure here that can be swallowed or snapped off.

It plays the same on a rug, a hard floor and a hotel bed, which matters more than it sounds. Explorers travel, and the fun travels with them.

Blocks go in first, this goes on top, and the Playskool name on the base survives the dishwasher-hot flannel that parents eventually take to it. That washability is half of why the Playskool range keeps its colour.