PlaymoFriends
General => News => Topic started by: cachalote on January 11, 2010, 22:32:56
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:'( searching for the price of the 5869 schooner i came across a sad explanation of playmobil's history as described in target's page - http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3601288.
this is how it goes:
"Once upon a time in 1876, there was a locksmith named Andreas Brandstatter. Mr. Brandstatter planted a magical seed that would eventually blossom into Playmobil by founding an eponymous lock and metal fitting company in Furth, Germany. By the 1930s, Playmobil's pretend play had again been redefined; manufacturing telephones, cash registers, and various items for toy shops using sheet metal. At the beginning of the 1950s, Horst Brandstatter, the Playmobil's current owner, came on board and started a new era in the company history. He updated Playmobil pretend play products, searched out new markets and focused production on his favorite material, plastic. In 1958, the hula hoop craze gripped the world, and Horst Brandstatter was determined to perfect the pretend play toy that would inspire further exploration. Realizing that the technique, using air pressure, hot plastic hoses, and shape molds, could also produce basically any shape (in addition to the traditional bottles and hoops), Mr. Brandstatter created the first prototype Playmobil pretend play item, a closed racing car manufactured in a single production step. From that point on, the company expanded rapidly with products in toys. Playmobil was introduced at the 1974 International Toy Fair in Nuremberg and by using an innovative marketing strategy, parents and children responded uniformly with fascination and enthusiasm, to Playmobil"
:( >:( no mention of hans beck.
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Hi Cachalote :wave:
As sad as this may be it does not mention any of the employees who spent countless ( well maybe countable ) hours in research, development, marketing, labor etc... jobs. It is a reality of any company to own the ideas of its employees. This is after all solely owned by Mr. Brandstatter and he can do with it what he wants.
We all know the detailed history of Playmobil and who was the creator of this wonderful toy. Mr. B. is just doing what business does . As the saying goes "Its nothing personal, its just business".
I too take credit for all my employees work when ever I am dealing with clients , and similarly I take responsibility of all faults and this is just the way it goes ;)
Would Hans repay the lost hours if the toy failed? This is a risk in business. Mr. B. let Hans on what he thought was a long shot and this time it paid off big time. I am sure he absorbed many losses over the years too.
I know how poorly Hans was treated in the end and we all wish thing would be different but they are not. We all thank Hans for his creation but we can not forget to also thank Mr. B. for giving the opportunity. Lets just hope as Mr. B. ages that he will find a suitable heir, for the big smiles eternally etched in Playmobil.
Just my 2 cents
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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:( >:( no mention of hans beck.
Are you saying it used to mention Hans Beck, and now it doesn't?
The Playmobil USA website still carries this:
Press information - Company
Hans Beck, the "Father" of the PLAYMOBIL Figures
Hans Beck is born as the oldest son of a self-employed trader in Thuringia in 1929. He likes watching his younger siblings at play, and soon he takes up some tools to create toy animals and figures for them.
After his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker he applies at the Zirndorf company of geobra Brandstätter for a position as a toy developer (then called “sample maker”). The company’s owner, Mr. Horst Brandstätter, with a golden hand selects Mr. Beck from among a number of applicants. One of the main reasons for his decision is Mr. Beck’s hobby - he is an avid designer, engineer and pilot of model aircrafts.
From there, Hans Beck designed innovative products for the company, many of which considerably contributed to the company’s success. His masterpiece, however, was created in 1971. Horst Brandstätter wanted his chief designer to think of and develop a system toy. Brandstätter was thinking of a line of buildings and vehicles in which, in his opinion, figures could be placed as well. This guideline seemed too simplistic for Hans Beck. He instead was thinking of something completely new.
At first Beck developed a single figure to perfection: It was exactly 2.9 inches high, ideally proportioned for a child´s hand. It had – and still has - moving arms and legs, hands capable of gripping and holding objects, and a friendly face, which was especially important to Hans Beck. He then proceeded to make a number of like figures which differed only in their coloring and in several accessories added to each one. From the first creation, the figures have turned into construction workers, knights and Indians. He complemented this little line of toy figures with a car and a horse. He gave these models to children at every occasion possible; watching them at play to learn about the way children would play with his toy.
At that time, the company, which also manufactured large plastic items for daily use besides its traditional toy assortment, faced severe sales problems due to the oil crisis and increased costs of plastic. Thus Brandstätter wanted to release the figure series earlier than planned and asked Hans Beck to prepare a set of samples for the imminent 1974 Nuremberg Toy Fair. Hans Beck succeeded, even though the task seemed nearly impossible, and the toy figures, called PLAYMOBIL, were presented. With the exception of a Dutch customer, Otto Simon, buyers were hesitant; however, in the toy stores in fall 1974, parents and children had a different reaction. At the end of the year, geobra Brandstätter realized sales of 3 million marks with PLAYMOBIL, making up one-sixth of the company’s total sales volume.
Four facts contributed to the ongoing PLAYMOBIL success story: The unique idea of Hans Beck, the requested production capacity available, the readiness to take risks on the part of the company owner and the need of the young consumers for a system toy which, for the first time ever, focused not on technical building elements but on figures.
Hans Beck and the quickly growing R & D department continued to design whole play worlds. They created buildings, additional vehicles and animals, all of them scaled and designed to fit in with the figures. The animals, designed by Hans Beck in a completely new style, especially attracted attention and praise
Children appreciated the great attention to detail paid to the creation of each play theme. This dedication to the brand is expressed in the many letters sent to PLAYMOBIL by children around the world every day. These young fans send their ideas and make suggestions, many of which are taken into consideration (save for violent themes, which is against the PLAYMOBIL toy philosophy).
Ever since its market introduction in 1974, Hans Beck has been PLAYMOBIL´s "Corporate Conscience". Mr. Beck retired in 1998 and then lived near Lake Constance in the Southern part of Germany, where he sadly passed away in January 2009 after a long illness only a few months before his 80th birthday. He is survived by his wife and a son. Hans Beck will live forever in his figures, and millions of adults and kids will remain grateful for his masterpiece: the PLAYMOBIL figure.
February 2009
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I think Target erred. One ought to give credit where credit is due. Hans Beck created the playmobil world. Andreas Brandstatter produced the playmobil world. It clearly was, at the beginning, a partnership of the two basic essentials for any product on the market today - a unique idea and the means to manufacture that idea.
I wonder if Germany had knowledge of and control over the content of the Target blurb?
Thumbs down for Target!
My 2 cents. ;)
Reylocann
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Brandstatter also enabled the creation of the Playmobil world on Brandstatter payroll time.
I wonder if Germany ordered the change of the Target blurb, if it was indeed a change.
I think Target erred. One ought to give credit where credit is due. Hans Beck created the playmobil world. Andreas Brandstatter produced the playmobil world. It clearly was, at the beginning, a partnership of the two basic essentials for any product on the market today - a unique idea and the means to manufacture that idea.
I wonder if Germany had knowledge of and control over the content of the Target blurb?
Thumbs down for Target!
My 2 cents. ;)
Reylocann
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I think we should make a correction here before we go any further. Cachalote's link is to a Toys R Us website. Not Target. Let's not blame Target unjustly.
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I think we should make a correction here before we go any further. Cachalote's link is to a Toys R Us website. Not Target. Let's not blame Target unjustly.
Hi KM
Hey wait a minute, I was going to go and picket in front of Target with my already made signs and my pitch fork :lol:
I think the TRU link was to show the ship. I would like to see the Target article though.
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Hi KM
Hey wait a minute, I was going to go and picket in front of Target with my already made signs and my pitch fork :lol:
I think the TRU link was to show the ship. I would like to see the Target article though.
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
If you go to about the middle of the TRU link, you will be able to read Cachalote's quoted history under "Product Description."
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Too late, I just went to Target and refused to buy any of their Playmobil stock.
Oh wait, they hardly have any.
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Too late, I just went to Target and refused to buy any of their Playmobil stock.
Oh wait, they hardly have any.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Hello :wave:
Ok so it is TRU. I can change the signs. They raised their prices again so that is the last straw. I will never go there again, at least not until they have a decent sale ;) My bank account will also be much happier if I stay clear of TRU's . Anyways Playmobil.com has some great new sales this month on Roman's and City life stuff, and as Martin showed they give fathering credit to Hans :**: So does that make Horst the Mother of Playmobil :hmm:
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Hello :wave::**: So does that make Horst the Mother of Playmobil :hmm:
Or perhaps the midwife? Or obstetrician?
I can feel the metaphor being over-stretched even as I write...
Andrew
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Or perhaps the midwife? Or obstetrician?
I can feel the metaphor being over-stretched even as I write...
Andrew
Ouch! Nice pun, Andrew! :clap:
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Or perhaps the midwife? Or obstetrician?
I can feel the metaphor being over-stretched even as I write...
Andrew
Speaking of which, I interpet the future release of the new adventure series with the turbo swamp boat & 6 wheeled swamp buggy, equipped with the new harpoon launcher G.I. Joe wanna be's are possibly a Rose Mary's baby remake >:D :0 ? :lol:
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i made a terrible mistake - it was not in target's website, it was in toys r' us. :-[
i am really sorry if i misled someone. :-[
i am not saying that this message was different before - i really have no idea, i just saw it a couple of days ago.
also, i am not saying that geobra is to blame for the "revision" - they didn't made this mistake in their american site.
finally, i don't think mr. brandstatter has no credit in creating playmobil (quite the opposite).
i just make a distinction between the person who owns the business, and pays for it, and the person who owns the idea. :yup:
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i just make a distinction between the person who owns the business, and pays for it, and the person who owns the idea. :yup:
Hi Cachalote :wave:
I guess I see it as Mr. Mom owns it all and it was all done on his Euro. It would be the gentlemanly ladylike thing to give credit to Mr. Beck but that in itself is up to the man in the company wearing the pants skirt. Business is rarely gentlemanly ladylike though. ;D
As far as the brief history I doubt TRU just pulled it out of their :hehe: toy chest. There must be boilerplate press releases for companies to use in advertising descriptions :eh?:
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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i made a terrible mistake - it was not in target's website, it was in toys r' us. :-[
i am really sorry if i misled someone. :-[
i am not saying that this message was different before - i really have no idea, i just saw it a couple of days ago.
also, i am not saying that geobra is to blame for the "revision" - they didn't made this mistake in their american site.
finally, i don't think mr. brandstatter has no credit in creating playmobil (quite the opposite).
i just make a distinction between the person who owns the business, and pays for it, and the person who owns the idea. :yup:
Rasputin's and my point is, Brandstatter also owns the idea because Hans Beck had it and developed it while employed by Brandstatter. We've been over this ground before anyway, if Hans Beck had had the business sense to set up his own company to manufacture Playmobil, he'd the one puffing the big cigars.