If only you could have seen into the future.
Playmobil Canada is still here and very helpful when it comes to ordering parts or sets. As for still supporting little retailers with product, Turtle Pond Toys in Dundas has a very healthy supply from sets to the cardboard displays, signage and even a life size pirate captin. Or Hobby and Toy Central which has about 1/5 of their very large store dedicated to Playmobil.
You have to understand that in 2010, Canada was not doing so well financially, US and the housing market crash of 2008 pulled us into our own recession that we are just getting out of now and a lot of little toy stores were struggling as sales continued to plummet due to over all unemployment in Canada and lack of disposable income and then this was compounded with the fact that many buyers have now moved to the on-line shopping with at home delivery next day free of charge.
Dundas hobby downsized, Bayshore Hobbies closed up shop, Ottawa Hobbies went out of business and so many others.
I have to agree with what playmobil did with regards to cutting off clients that were unable to pay, the ship was sinking at the time and if clients do not pay then your own company suffers. Playmobil saw this and took appropriate action at the time. I would have to point out that if you were able to do a little more digging, you would find that the companies that were cut off, were either those that had a history of overdue, short paid or dispute accounts.
You also have to look at your own spending habits now with regards to Playmobil toys. Are you still buying from your local toy store or are you buying from Playmobil directly? Have you moved to e-bay were the sellers have very little overhead and may not even be declaring their income from their sales? Or are you like me for instance where Playmobil can be considered more like shares/ stocks in a company rather then toys. They only hold the value they have if they remain in the box and at that point they are no longer a toy, nor are they aiding in sales for Playmobil. Playmobil does not get a penny of the thousands of dollars that I have spent on mint in the box toys. Like shares on the stock market, once the original item has been sold, the company gets no more money. For instance, I purchased last night Playmobil 3747 mint in the box never opened for 69.99USD, it sold back in 1991 for 18.75USD from a toy store which taking into consideration inflation would be worth about 34.02USD today. This means the seller made approximately a 205% return on investment, but Playmobil has not made any more money then the 13.00USD ( Currently 23.68USD buying power) that it made in 1991.
I continue to buy playmobil from my local toy and hobby stories when I can as well as get all my parts and replacement bits from Playmobil directly, but with the discontinuing of the western theme all together, and the lack of having kids as of yet my support directly to this company is less then ideal by a companies standards.
Playmobils push into the licensing market with Ghost Busters is the era that we are in, and whether we like it or not we are all partly responsible for this trend. We want the lowest price, the so called "best deal". We want what we see on tv and we continue to buy things made in third world countries where work safety standards, wages, environment protection and living conditions are poor. Now the mouth is starting to bite the hand that feeds and this is the result. Playmobil thankfully is still being made in Germany and Malta , by European citizens with quality materials for the world over to enjoy. It is still an expensive toy, but you pay for the quality of the toy and the communities in which these companies support. How long this will last is hard to say, but in Canada I have seen far to many companies close and move to Mexico or China all to "cut costs" because they state it is more "economical" and this would be true if not for what has been stated above.
This is food for thought and not meant to cause upset, but before you reply, if you own a cell phone you are contributing to this trend.
Cheers,
James
