List of sets to be discontinued in 2013 Germany + Benelux (2014 international)

[retronio22]

I hope they stop releasing houses every 2-3 years!We want one new victorian house for many years!

[bonniebeth]

Well, they'll still be in stores in the secondary market for quite some time.

The cavemen theme... I think the problem is, there's only so much you can do with that. It wasn't creative enough to really capture the imagination. More women and children might have helped. Or instead of stickers for the cave drawings, there could have been a small stencil and a couple of markers so that kids could draw their own cave paintings on. The sets were cool but just not imaginative enough, a little bit cranked out.

Bolingsbroke, I agree that continuations of themes would be a better approach, though maybe not with releases twice a year. It's not as feasible since with playmobil, almost everything involves new molds, unlike lego. Plus as rhalius said, quality would suffer. Less thought would go into the production of each set. But if they just did that approach and released updates once a year, or even every two years, I'd be thrilled. They used to update themes, rather than just discontinuing them. The only one they have done that with in a long time is the Agents theme.

[Bolingbroke]

If they're so boring, why is it that it sells a gazillion times more than PM? Sometimes it's good to take a look at what the competition's doing, Rhalius  There's a certain pig-headedness on PM's part that sometimes is difficult to understand, especially since it lags so badly behind, in some aspects, compared to other toy companies. Can't they take what's good, and leave the rest?

[Bolingbroke]

Bolingsbroke, I agree that continuations of themes would be a better approach, though maybe not with releases twice a year. It's not as feasible since with playmobil, almost everything involves new molds, unlike lego. Plus as rhalius said, quality would suffer. Less thought would go into the production of each set. But if they just did that approach and released updates once a year, or even every two years, I'd be thrilled. They used to update themes, rather than just discontinuing them. The only one they have done that with in a long time is the Agents theme.

Yes. Once a year would be ideal. Especially since - what do you know - a theme might not have struck you in the first wave, but then, with the release of second wave sets, it mightve done the trick. One can only speculate what a second wave of Romans could have done, for example.

[naflibomyalp]

I too think it would be good to expand on themes (like the top agents 2) because then if a kid gets Playmo eg. at Christmas and they get say the fire station and an engine, in a few years time they or their parents might want to get them more sets that would go with what they already have.
If themes are only around for a few years then when they go to buy more it might not be available or it might have a new design (like a new uniform) that would not fit with their existing sets.  In my opinion it makes more business sense to attract the customer for longer by building on what they already own.

  naflibomlp

[tahra]

The olympics don't surprise me... And the dollhouse stuff and zoo will probably just be renewed..

The Stone Age makes me sad. They shold do a new batch of sets for it

The Future Planet is.. SHOCKING.  So's that pirate set...

Oh well. Let's see what comes next.

[Tiermann]

Well in one way naflibomlp they do that very well. While they add and drop sets every year all of them can go together. It's one of the things that makes Playmobil so great and puts it in the same general area as building toys like LEGO. I think they really should be emphasizing this aspect more, especially in the markets where there is growth potential like the US.  It's a play WORLD - something easy to see when you look at the dioramas seen at European shows. At the train shows I've been to in the US where there's been a Playmobil layout, there are always comments from people who didn't realize how much of a Playmobil world exists out there. One of the things that makes the old box back photos so great is that it really emphasizes this aspect of the toy. Something that has gone away since they have just been showing dios in the catalog that are that one narrow theme only. They really could add a page or two of mixed diorama photos to each catalog. Even if they kept it to sets in that catalog alone it could be great. A picture with a modern house construction site next to the harbor and police and firefighters responding to an incident there for instance. Isolating each theme on it's own page all the time makes the toys look more limited than they really are.

[Rasputin]

It must be a difficult position to be in for Geobra. It takes a very long time to get a theme to production, sometimes years. Then when the fad that stimulated the theme has already worn off the sets hit the market. Today people tend to be very impatient and moody in regards to fads. Lego is in a better position as the elements to make a theme are already being produced, they just need to reorganize existing bricks to make a new theme/set. A set or theme can hit the market in months rather than years. Movies/TV influence the masses shopping habits more than most people recognize. If a new movie hits the theaters or a fad becomes prevalent lego is going to be able to capitalize on it much quicker than Geobra. Then when it finally is realized in playmobil it looks like a lame copy and the fad has already changed, late to the party theory. I also think this is why so many sets seem to be increasingly FisherPrice-asized. In my opinon they are taking basic themes, pirates, houses, construction etc... and having to design them to be for a younger more innocent audience. Those parents seem to not want to build it with their kids but rather have it come out of the box all ready to go, instant gratification.  If they wanted a construction toy they would have bought lego instead.

Also from what I read/heard Geobra has been able to drastically reduce the cost of molds. If this is so then it makes sense that they do not need to keep a theme/set on the market as long to recoup the losses if it is not selling well. Just cut it and move on to one that may have a better profit margin. Their warehouse is after all only so large and can only accommodate so many things. Just like major computer organized stores now tend to do. A shelf space needs to make a minimum x dollar amount to stay, and the info is instantly accessible.

[tahra]

If they'd actually be willing to SELL the stuff.. They work in VERY mysterious ways. Really.

[Rasputin]

If they'd actually be willing to SELL the stuff.. They work in VERY mysterious ways. Really.

Are you referring to your particular county's situation, the lack of offical distribution?