Gnomes (and other little men)

[Erik]

Nice collection and nice pics!!!

[sunflower]

Very nice gnome story! Great pics of lovely little fellows. I really like those big beards on such small guys.

[Salamander]

Thanks so much for all the info and pictures!

I had a weird experience with these gnomes.  I encountered two of them (I can now see it was 4953 Knight Gnome, Ritterwichtel) in a toy store in Vancouver in about 2001 or 2002.  They were the same, sealed in plastic bags, with nothing else to identify them.  I bought them both, along with a few boxes of the Karstadt purple wizard in the red ribbon box. (The one that would become a Special a few years later).

The toy store couldn't tell me much about them, the person *thought* that the owner of the store had been to a toy buying convention and picked them up there. I've always thought it was really odd how these German releases made their way here.  They weren't charging any more than they would a regular Playmo item, so I was excited to get them!

[kaethe]

Thank you so much for your wonderful and detailed review.  I had no idea there were so many variations, love the cloaks.
kaethe

[DrDalek6]

Those Gnomes are cool thanks for the photos and info, I were just thinking where are the Gnomes like the ones I bought  then I saw the photo of the Dwarves and I thought ah the green and blue ones mine are unfortunately incomplete but, it's great to see the all complete. There's some great sets there the one with the tree stump is really clever and some of the accessories are great they definately look better with the beards and cloaks though.

The Alien and 2nd verison devil are a bit creepy though not keen on the devil but, I like the alien it works as a concept a nice change fromt he usual aliens 

[Birdie]

Thanks, it's very nice to see all of them together and to get a good view on the accessories and details.
I never knew there was a garden gnome 

[GrahamB]

Thanks for the comments. These little gnomes are so lovely, it's a shame they weren't more widely available.

I have added a poll (top of page 1) for interest

Thanks so much for all the info and pictures!

I had a weird experience with these gnomes.  I encountered two of them (I can now see it was 4953 Knight Gnome, Ritterwichtel) in a toy store in Vancouver in about 2001 or 2002.  They were the same, sealed in plastic bags, with nothing else to identify them.  I bought them both, along with a few boxes of the Karstadt purple wizard in the red ribbon box. (The one that would become a Special a few years later).

The toy store couldn't tell me much about them, the person *thought* that the owner of the store had been to a toy buying convention and picked them up there. I've always thought it was really odd how these German releases made their way here.  They weren't charging any more than they would a regular Playmo item, so I was excited to get them!

That's interesting, Salamander. It seems Geobra use single-klicky sets as Giveaways at Toy fairs and the like. Certainly some Specials appear on ebay from time to time in plastic packets like the ones you described. My information on where the Karstadt gnomes were available comes only from Collector and Collectobil and it wouldn't surprise me if they were available elsewhere too. My avatar gnome was in with the PM my older children played with, but we never had a red egg (I got the other three eggs much more recently) and can't now remember how we came to have him here in the UK. Mind you, my parents did go on holiday to Austria back then, so maybe they bought it?

Haha, think that he has enough revolvers? I've always thought that it was really strange to include so many.

I thought so too, Pynedor, but there is a sprue with 5 revolvers in my MISB version of 4961, so I guess Geobra found it easier to put in a whole sprue than just a couple. They did this with a few other sets, such as Specials 4525, 4576 and 4620. It probably saves lots of requests for replacements to DS too!

[Indianna]

. . . I have added a poll (top of page 1) for interest . . .

It was difficult, but ultimately I chose the keyholder gnome (4962.)  I think it is that marvelous hooded cape that makes him my favorite.    

[Pippa]

Thanks so much for putting together all this information on thes cute little klickys!

I have a few from when I used to collect but hadn't even realized there were so many.  It's hard to pick a favorite but I went with the Bandito - I love the hat & cloak combo on him and the colors.  Now I want to track him down.  I also love the little alien.

[doug]

Thanks for the rundown Graham!  I love these guys, but know little about most of them, as they are seldom cheaper than $25 a pop on ebay.  Too rich for my blood.

The keyholder gnome rocks.  He's just slightly spooky.....

Hey, I have the Halloween version of the alchemist, and his hair and beard glow in the dark.    Does the standard version also?  Do any of the other white-haired gnomes? I know Snow White's dwarves and fire-gnome don't, but am curious about the rest....

Thanks!

doug