Very useful! Online Parts Lookup

[GrahamB]

This is very useful, even if your country has a poor parts service (about 90% of the globe!).
sbblabotw (Heather) and Indianna mentioned this in another topic and I am sure many people know about it, but no-one is shouting about it here on PF, apparently. So I will!

1. Go to www.playmobil.de
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ERSATZTEILE FINDEN



3. In the dialogue box type in your part number (no spaces, no dashes)



If the part is available, you get a price in Euros (also a picture, sometimes) and a German name.

If its not available, you get the message:
Das von Ihnen gesuchte Ersatzteil ist leider nicht mehr vorrätig, ('The replacement part you are looking for is no longer available').

Why is this so great?
1. You can find out what parts are no longer available, quickly and easily (and investigate alternatives, maybe).
2. You can find out the cost of each part in advance and decide whether you want to pay that price
3. You can check what you are ordering is what you want (at least, when there is a picture or a distinctive German name) -no more receiving the wrong part because you have supplied the wrong part number.

Personally, from now on I will check with Ersatzteile Finden before I buy any parts on ebay.

[Indianna]

Graham, thanks for making this useful tutorial!  I wish Playmobil would add this feature to all their other websites but I suppose, as you say, the parts shown are the ones currently available from DS in Germany - other DS locations may not have their spare parts inventories linked up in the same way.  But it is a good sign that they are finding ways to provide more of this type of information.

Also, they are adding more and more building instructions all the time - they are up to 1658 sets as of today!  You noted last week, Graham, that there were 1448 building instructions available at that time, so great progress is being made.   

[cowabounga]

Thank you for the tip, Graham. I definitely have to try this.

[cheng]

thanks for sharing GrahamB !

and Indianna, it might have been asked somewhere before but is there anyway to find only the newer additions?

[skypurr]

Thank you for explaining this Graham, I hadn't realised this function was available.
I always end up looking for various parts before Kirkbean Exhibition and knowing that something is in stock or not will be a great help.

Elaine

[GrahamB]

So here's an example of how useful this is:

I have a list of 347 parts I need. I looked them all up on Ersatzteile-Finden (it took a while!) and confirmed 290 of them are available through DS (one was very pricey at 15,70 Euros - the electronic flame from 4835, Dragon Knight's Castle - so I may look for a secondhand alternative for that one).

57 parts were listed as no longer available. By careful scrutiny of PlaymoDB, building instructions and so on, I was able to identify alternative part numbers for 16 parts and alternatives in a different colour for a further 12, leaving just 29 parts to find on ebay, or by asking PF members 

I might add that nearly all the 29 parts without alternatives are from older sets, though I was surprised to find 4 parts from 4835 (Dragon Knights Tower) to be nla.

The way I have ordered spare parts in the past is to send a long list to Playmobil UK (Caroline Hayward usually deals with this) by email (Excel spreadsheet). I then get an email back with the total cost of my order (I request details of parts over £3 and usually this is given) and a list of parts no longer available. I think there is a provision in the system to supply alternatives automatically where a new part number has been given to an identical earlier part. Sometimes I have been able to locate alternatives myself and ask for them to be added to the order. Now, I can supply alternative part numbers up front, I can avoid buying parts I think are over-priced and I can start looking on ebay for the parts I still need straight away.

PS I found an error in Ersatzteile-Finden, the wrong picture for the tripod, number 30619330 Kamera Stativ II. The picture belongs to 30265930, wheel mount, but that number is described as nla.

[Indianna]

. . . and Indianna, it might have been asked somewhere before but is there anyway to find only the newer additions?

Hello cheng!  Sorry, but I don't know of a way to locate just the newly added instructions.  Maybe someone else does . . . ? 

[cheng]

Hello cheng!  Sorry, but I don't know of a way to locate just the newly added instructions.  Maybe someone else does . . . ? 

Thanks Indianna.....I thought silly me can't figure out something everyone else can, easily

[moreorless]

Thank you so much for posting this, very useful!

[Walts-Trains]

Graham just to update you Caroline Hayward has left Playmobil U.K.