Heidi (2020)

[tahra]

(..) so it's not only the "too small apron"!

The apron is not small - it's just plain wrong. It is NOT for fat guys. Or women. But apparently that is too complicated for someone at playmobil to underastand...

Nothing that can't be fixed, but I think we only have "fat aprons" in light color. No idea if they even exist in dark. Do they?

[Hadoque]

Nothing that can't be fixed, but I think we only have "fat aprons" in light color. No idea if they even exist in dark. Do they?

The aprons for fat guys exist in white, a light yellow, a very dark yellow (some people who see less variations of the colour-spectrum might call it orange) and a mid-green. I´m not aware of other colours...

[playmovictorian]

Thank you so much for posting the pictures of HEIDI 3D TV series Playmobil sets and I must admit that I am a little disappointed by the very basic level of detail and finish of the classroom and grocery store furniture.

These to me are more evocative of a 21st century office than a late 19th century environment and décor. The grocery store shelf and cash register desk are so very simplistic in their design. It clearly shows no intention whatsoever of recreating a designated era and I so miss the wonderful level of details of the original Playmobil Victorian sets 

I will most definitely buy the set including Mr Sesemann, Ms Rottenmeier and Clara as I like the figures 

But that's about it as far as I am concerned.

Karim

[GrahamB]

These are nice sets, with some interesting klickies, buildings, scenery and accessories. I would be very happy to be given them as presents (in case any of my family are reading this.... )

Does anyone agree with me that showing the characters from the TV series on the set boxes might be a bit of a mistake, because some of the PM versions hardly look like the on-screen versions at all? Heidi is OK, but the shopkeeper in 70257 is quite off (needs a PM double chin!), as is the lady in 70258 (needs a different hairstyle). IMO, of course.

The bendy arms and legs of the TV versions are an obvious difference, but the lack of variety in PM body shapes, head shapes and heights (all children are the same size, for example) means that some look little like their screen counterparts, IMO again.

This is a problem for all PM copies of licensed characters, of course. Children probably don't mind that the figures they play with are quite a lot different from the movie versions. This has certainly not limited Lego sales, it seems. If there are true-to-original versions produced by Mattel or whoever, my worry is that those will be preferred over the PM versions. Does PM have an exclusive license to market Heidi sets, or are there competitors?

[playmovictorian]

I really wonder why Playmobil waited so long after the worldwide release of the HEIDI 3D TV animated series in 2015 and its already luke warm reception from most countries in terms of portraying the main characters and sticking to an original storyline loved around the world. I remember very well the TV series being shown in France in 2015 and really enjoyed the Frankfurt based episodes. Though a timeless story, most kids who watched it at the time would have forgotten about it by now, 4 years after its original release 

There are definitely interested parts in the sets to be released and I only regret that the Frankfurt part of the story wasn't revisited in terms of set release as Mr Sesemann's town mansion would have been any Victorian collector a dream come true...

I nevertheless very much look forward to add to my collection Mr Seselmann, Ms Rottenmeier and Clara 

I hope that I do not sound too harsh in my appreciation of these sets but from a Victorian collector perspective, Playmobil could have done so much better with regards to the classroom and grocery store sets...

[tahra]

I saw Heidi when I was little... this new version means nothing to me... Though the characters are somewhat recognizable, of course.

And I also don't really recall a lot of details...

But the sets.. Gorgeous klickys, and some nice things... But why is that woman in 70258  purplish and not grey?  Would be MUCH MUCH MUCH better in grey (greys come right after browns, and there are so very few )

[PMatt]

Does anyone agree with me that showing the characters from the TV series on the set boxes might be a bit of a mistake, because some of the PM versions hardly look like the on-screen versions at all? [...]
This is a problem for all PM copies of licensed characters, of course.

I do see your point here. Klickies have somewhat weird if iconic body proportions, and it's easier to embrace their aesthetics with "anonymous" characters rather than licensed ones. Say you're holding a PM firefighter in hand, you'd never question that's how a firefighter should look – that's how a PM firefighter looks, and since it's not meant to reproduce any distinctive features of a given person, everything works. But once we turn to movie/cartoon characters, the emphasis shifts to body proportions, facial features and hair – that's what makes a character instantly recognizable, and unluckily it's an area klickies tend to be weaker in.

As for the timing of these sets, I can't argue it seems kinda odd with regards to when Heidi last aired.

[tahra]

Well, if people want realism, I have no idea why they even look at playmobil.. for that, go to 12" Hot Toys

IMO, anyways

[Macruran]

But once we turn to movie/cartoon characters, the emphasis shifts to body proportions, facial features and hair – that's what makes a character instantly recognizable, and unluckily it's an area klickies tend to be weaker in.

It's almost as if the old man had good reasons not to do licensing...

[StJohn]

Klickies have somewhat weird if iconic body proportions, and it's easier to embrace their aesthetics with "anonymous" characters rather than licensed ones.

Very true! Let's go back to bedrock: given their proportions, Klickies are children pretending to be adults (knights, firefighters, builders) by donning some trademark accessories. This is how Hans Beck designed them, and he stuck to his idea and did not try to improve the standard form other than by introducing facial hair (= children wearing fake beards) and creating fat klickies (= chubby children). Ever since a lot of designing has been going on that no longer adheres to Beck's principle (stubble face, swimsuit figure, etc. ), but the child-like proportions stayed. It makes it much harder to reproduce proper adults.

It's almost as if the old man had good reasons not to do licensing...

Do you mean Horst Brandstätter? I think he wouldn't have minded, he was a businessman after all. Licensing just wasn't done back in the day.

Best wishes
StJohn