Greetings from St. Louis, Missouri, USA! *stands up* Hello, my name is Matt, and I'm an.... Oh wait, wrong group. Just kidding.
I’m an off and on, long time Playmobil collector. My wife loves Playmobil too, but she’s not as consistently into it as I am. I don’t know if I have a favorite theme or not. It’s sort of like asking a parent to choose their favorite child, right? But, we mostly have Dollhouse, Western, and Knights items. And our kids have Egyptian, Zoo, RC Train, Fairytale Castle, etc as well. And of course, we have all kinds of random other sets mixed in with these. If I had to pick my favorite Playmobil items, I’d have to pick three things… My Western Train set, and the two life-size klickies that I picked up when a local toy store changed ownership and the new owner didn’t want them anymore (a viking and a modern male, see my avatar photo). What do I most regret not buying when I had the chance? The Colorado Springs train station. It’s way too expensive on eBay these days, and I really kick myself for not getting it when I first got that Western train set so many years ago!!!
I’ve been playing with Playmobil toys off and on for over 30 years now, starting with the first klickies that I got in McDonalds Happy Meals as a kid. These days, I go in phases where I get interested in a theme (or one of my kids does) and we purchase a bunch of stuff and play with them for a while, and then I’ll loose interest and move on to some other hobby for a year or two. But I always come back. I don’t think that I’ll ever completely loose interest in Playmobil!!!
Some of my favorite Playmobil memories… Getting my first exposure to Playmobil as a kid when I got a few of them in McDonalds Happy Meals. (I wish they’d do this again some day!) Getting my first Western themed set as a kid from the J.C. Penny Christmas catalog (at least I think that’s where it came from). Buying our first Dollhouse on vacation with my wife, when we were young/poor and should of spent our money on more practical things, but bought it anyway!! Getting some “Parts Play Packages” from Playmobil Direct Service about 10 years ago (About $10 each for a large box full of random klickies and accessories. I wonder if they ever did this again?) Visiting the Playmobil store in Orlando, FL (which has been closed for several years now.) Collecting nearly the entire Dollhouse theme, keeping it a secret from our oldest daughter until she was about six years old, and then setting it all up in front of the tree one night before a Christmas morning surprise. Getting those giant klickies that I mentioned earlier. Building giant RC train layouts with my son. Putting the RC Christmas train up around the tree every year. Etc.
So, it’s been a while since I’ve personally been “into” Playmobil. My kids got them all out and set up a giant land in the basement a year or two ago. They mixed everything together and made a mess of the collection. I wasn’t upset or anything, because they had a LOT of fun doing it. And they still play with them from time to time. But it’s been bugging me enough, that I decided to start the task of sorting everything and re-assembling the castle and various buildings as they should be. This will take hours and hours and hours, but it’s fun remembering where/when/how we got each item as I sort through them. Eventually, I’ll probably bring them all upstairs (our basement is unfinished not my favorite place to hang out) and set up a giant land of my own for a couple weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed that my kids are now old enough that when it’s all said and done, everything doesn’t end up in random piles looking like a massive tornado blew through the Playmobil town again
Recent additions to our collection? This past fall, I purchased the Western School House and Water Tower for our Western train collection, and also the Bakery and Museum for our Medieval set. Earlier this week, I purchased the Pop Stars set, as the deal was too good to pass up on Amazon ($35 shipped for the entire set: Stage, Tour Bus, Band, and Keyboard Player. Crazy deal, no joke!!) And what do I have my sights on? The Alpine Chalet and Cable Car that are apparently releasing in the US later this spring. Those are too cool!!
I guess, I’m going to head back down to the basement and continue sorting the collection now
And I plan to read through many of the past posts to see how you all like organizing and storing your stuff.
-Matt
