84486 Stay Puffed

[StJohn]

Congratulations, Mad Hatter! What a very cool thing you've got there. Thanks for the pics. It is great to see the pair of you happy together.

I have asked bluntly in shops if they will sell me their PM displays when they are finished with, but without success. "A man comes to set them up and the next time he comes, he takes the old one away with him". So what HAPPENS to them?

Thanks for this report, GrahamB! Like you I feel no desire to procure display figures for myself (having enough problems as it is, accommodating the 3-inch originals in my limited space  ) but I would like to point out that quite a few of them are traded around here. So they do ultimately end up on the market. Is it the "man", or is it the shopkeeper who lets go of them in the end, and isn't it the same there where you are?

Lovely acquisition, congrats and thanks for sharing.

Best wishes
StJohn

[GrahamB]

... I would like to point out that quite a few of them are traded around here. So they do ultimately end up on the market. Is it the "man", or is it the shopkeeper who lets go of them in the end, and isn't it the same there where you are?

It is standard-sized ex-display PM parts I would gladly buy, but I think "the man" who collected them from our local toyshop works for PM(UK) and I bet they trash them, as Tahra said. But I did once buy a Camper van 4859 on eBay UK with a blob of glue from a glue-gun on each tyre as well as on some of the accessories; it had obviously been glued to a display (possibly a shop display), so perhaps some do appear for sale here too. The glue came off with a bit of effort, which leads me to think it might be worth buying ex-shop display PM, which usually appears (to me) to be fixed in place with a glue-gun.

Like this one I saw a couple of years ago. I'd gladly give them, oh 70, 80, 90.... a pound?

[The_Mad_Hadder]

As GrahamB and Tahra have mentioned, store displays are indeed destroyed after their use including the big figures which in my opinion is not only wasteful, but destroys history.

As the saying goes "It is not what you know, but rather who you know"

I will not be disclosing where I get these sets from as I am not willing to lose my source, nor get them in trouble for doing me the favour. PM strictly forbids the sale and or give away of any advertising material that was not intended for general consumption (i.e Items not intended to be given to the general public) This includes but is not limited to, posters, banners, display stands, display boxes, display cases, counters and giant figures.

Playmobil in Canada currently does not require toy stores to return the giant figures/ display items or to provide proof of destruction. The cardboard cut outs and stands usually just end up in recycling. Most toy stores as they are required to pay for the giant figures just buy one and usually keep it for a very long time. A common one around here is the pirate captin. Canada is not huge on Playmobil like in Germany and therefor the selling of playmobil displays is not as such a concern currently for Playmobil Canada though this may change.

Toy stores in Canada also do not get sent a printed order list for display items anymore. They are either required to go online or a PM sales representative comes to the store and brings along a trade advertisement catalog. I would love to get my hands on one of these but that is currently not possible.


I will be getting other things as well such as the following stand:


but only after they are finished with it. Reason being is that the toys that stock it come with it. The store has to purchase 4 of set 9219, 6 of set 9220 and 8 of the following sets: 9221-9224. These purchases must be made prior to the beginning of the new sale year (at least 4 months prior to toys hitting the shelves)



I will not be a great source for PM information as Canada is one of the last countries to get the sets with most toys sold here coming out the year prior in Germany.

[StJohn]

Thanks for the insights, GrahamB.

But I did once buy a Camper van 4859 on eBay UK with a blob of glue from a glue-gun on each tyre as well as on some of the accessories; it had obviously been glued to a display (possibly a shop display), so perhaps some do appear for sale here too.

I remember getting figures and dragons with glue traces from an eBay UK seller a few years ago! I bought from him several items, and there was glue on them each time. I  forgot his name but he was friendly, very customer oriented and fair in prices. Did we perhaps frequent the same shop, GrahamB?

Best wishes
StJohn

[Hadoque]

Very impressive, congratulations!! 

store displays are indeed destroyed after their use including the big figures which in my opinion is not only wasteful, but destroys history.

"Geobra Brandstifter & Co." 


Brandstifter = German for "arsonist"

[GrahamB]

Thanks for the explanation, TMH. You protect your source!

It's a shame Geobra don't allow the sale of display materials (even if they don't police this in Canada- yet!) and scandalous that the items are just destroyed. But that's commerce!

Did we perhaps frequent the same shop, GrahamB?

Maybe. I have a feeling he/she was based in Sussex or Surrey, but I only bought the one lot from them, and that was on eBayUK.

[Tiermann]

Yes it's too bad they don't make these sorts fo things available to people who woudl make a good home for them.

I remember seeing them using glue guns when I had a tour of the Deko department at Zirndorf - that's where they make a lot of the store displays. They also farm out some of the displays to people who work from home. I use hot glue on my own dioramas for small parts I don't want to fall off when I bump the table. Works fine and comes off pretty well if you are careful with it - doesn't take much to do the job.