Geobra international

[Ismene]

Of course not.. That was when I was a kid (and dinos roamed the Earth) - probably most adventure movies (when we only had one or two channels and there was actually INTEREST in tv) were cowboy movies. Or cowboys and indians (who back then were mostly the bad guys).

And of course, Errol Flynn's pirate movies (not seen a proper pirate movie since.... Cutthroat Island... and that one was probably the only one for a very long time too )

Ha ha. I watched westerns as a kid, but they were already really old by that point. The Native Americans were often "noble savages" or sidekicks (at least that's a step up from nearly always being the bad guys?). The cooks were usually Chinese.

Pirates might have some interest for kids still, though (based on knowing several small children) dinosaurs and princesses are big.

[playmofire]

My five and a half year old great-niece's interests in Playmobil appear to be horses/ponies (an interest of her mother, real ones, not Playmobil ones), trains and fire engines.  I have no responsibility for either of the last two!

[Rhalius]

Still though, the western theme is a completely american theme and even features the american civil war.
And its not a theme they just had once or twice, but its one that has been around for many years.

In comparison, to do a similar thing geared towards the Dutch they'd have to go with the Dutch golden age which was in the pike and shot era where we fought the eighty years war against Spain and won our independence, and established a trade empire. Would be a theme of trade ships, harbours, pike and shot soldiers and forts, and guild houses for craftsmen.

I believe some european countries did have kind of a representation in some of the medieval factions however. Fleur de lis symbols are strongly linked to France so any factions that use them could be seen as french. Nuremberg soldiers and knights are clearly german, as well as teutonic knights and the gothic plate armor designs.
But still, its mostly still open to interpretation. A shame they keep going with fantasy heraldry these days instead of something that actually existed or is historically linked to specific countries.

[Ismene]

Still though, the western theme is a completely american theme and even features the american civil war.
And its not a theme they just had once or twice, but its one that has been around for many years.

Yes, though I'm pretty sure the only reason it survives is because PM's primary market is Europe. Western stuff is old school, and the Civil War makes a lot of Americans uncomfortable.