4294 Lighthouse.

[Customizer]

Great review Garry,

some little faster as me ! 

Here are some more pics !!

ENJOY !!

world greets

Andi

[Martin Milner]

Thank you, Gordon ... You are absolutely correct!

I don't understand why Playmobil does things like this ... 

German artist, Ralf Gemein is no stranger to Zirndorf. In fact, several of his paintings adorn their walls.

Ralf has freely given them (and all of us) an incredible number of his imaginary Playmobil sets constructed entirely from available Playmobil parts.

Please see attachment to understand how easy it would have been for Playmobil's designers to have correctly produced the figures for this set! ...

Thanks again, Gordon!

All the best,
richard   

A beautiful imaginary set from Ralf. I've seen a lot of his stuff on Garden Wargames, and am always impressed. Constructed entirely from available Playmobil parts is or course the clincher - either they don't know what they're doing wrong, which means they've not done enough historical research, or they do now and don't care, because "it's only for children", which is worse. It's not because they don't want to specd the money creating the moulds, because the moulds are there.

I think Playmobil is a fantastic educational toy, WAAAAY better than any other action figures out there it has to compete with, and most of their stuff is bang on for details like this.

I can only hope by the time I have children of my own they'll have improved, or else I'll have lots of fun with the kids correcting Playmobil mistakes.

[Timotheos]

A beautiful imaginary set from Ralf. I've seen a lot of his stuff on Garden Wargames, and am always impressed. Constructed entirely from available Playmobil parts is or course the clincher - either they don't know what they're doing wrong, which means they've not done enough historical research, or they do now and don't care, because "it's only for children", which is worse. It's not because they don't want to specd the money creating the moulds, because the moulds are there.

I think Playmobil is a fantastic educational toy, WAAAAY better than any other action figures out there it has to compete with, and most of their stuff is bang on for details like this.

I can only hope by the time I have children of my own they'll have improved, or else I'll have lots of fun with the kids correcting Playmobil mistakes.

I agree with you, Martin, and I am very sympathetic to Gordon's criticism.

Often I think the defense "Remember, it's for kids" is similar to the cliche "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel".

There are details PM could pay closer attention to without necessarily effecting cost.  And, past medieval sets illustrate this greater attention to detail.  So, there seems to be either a lessening of talent or a lessening of interest in the medieval sets--or else simply a greater ruthlessness in exploiting the fact that kids don't know better anyway.   

I wonder if Hans Beck was the driving genius behind the early medievals?  The current line of modern theme sets shows the same attention to detail as the early medieval sets.  So it isn't as if Playmobil is losing its spirit.  It just seems as if the people who like to read history books or visit museums have all been shot, and younger, hipper designers who are more familiar with the truncated universes of contemporary fantasy novels have taken over.

[playmofire]

Often I think the defense "Remember, it's for kids" is similar to the cliche "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel".

But have Playmobil ever used the defence "Remember, it's for kids"?

[Martin Milner]

But have Playmobil ever used the defence "Remember, it's for kids"?

Not Playmobil, but certainly on this and other forums I've seen this line used to defend Playmobil's occasional shortcomings.

Thank you, Gordon ... You are absolutely correct!

I don't understand why Playmobil does things like this ... 

German artist, Ralf Gemein is no stranger to Zirndorf. In fact, several of his paintings adorn their walls.

Ralf has freely given them (and all of us) an incredible number of his imaginary Playmobil sets constructed entirely from available Playmobil parts.

Please see attachment to understand how easy it would have been for Playmobil's designers to have correctly produced the figures for this set! ...

Thanks again, Gordon!

All the best,
richard  

I'm trying to think of reasons why Playmobil have chosen to move away from Medieval castle life generally, and more towards battles and sieges.

Is it chasing/saving the almighty dollar? Is it because the designers can't be bothered? Is it because boys don't play non-combat castle games, or is it responding to public demand?

[Timotheos]

Is it chasing/saving the almighty dollar? Is it because the designers can't be bothered? Is it because boys don't play non-combat castle games, or is it responding to public demand?

Parents on a short budget probably ask their son what he wants--he can only buy one--and he picks the set with the swords.  The daughter buys something modern from the hospital. 

If this is true, then from a dollar standpoint it doesn't make sense to continue to create sets that the boy is less likely to select. 

Granted, as a boy I didn't exclusively select the military themes. I also liked animals and had plenty of women figures.  I think the Merry Men set would have attracted my curiosity.

It seems modern times, though, are about efficiency and not those softer touches that appeal to the fringe.

[CountBogro]

We shouldn't forget that fight for customers is tough out there. Since the 70's a lot of money has diverted from the traditional toys to the electronic "arts". the remaining "dollars" and other currencies have been fought over by a lot of "traditional" companies.
Apparently, Playmobil is making the right decisions as they are still growing while a lot of others are slimming down. That these decisions aren't necesarily to our likings is something else. But for new sets to rise that we do like ... the company needs to keep on making a profit. If Geobra goes bankrupt, no new sets will be produced ...  period.

Still ... even as a child I remember that I liked the sets with canons and swords better as the medieval live - sets ... Which goes to show that not everyone knows how to value the true worth of items 

Bogro

[Martin Milner]

Just got my 4294 Lighthouse set yesterday, so I thought I'd revive this thread to add a couple more observations.

The wooden dock 30 28 2410 looks like a very adaptable part. It has 4 holes on the long side and 2 on the short sides, to connect system x yellow connectors, so you could connect several together to make a stage, a dias for a lord's table at a feast, or longways to make a bridge across a river. Just a few ideas that spring to mind. I'll be adding 5 to my next DS order and hope they let me have them.

Regarding the lighthouse construction, Playmobil seem to be developing this new non-modular system, so that each set is complete unto itself but CANNOT be connected to anything else. I san see why they do this (easier construction, easier to move about in one piece) and I can see why some people hate it.

I've got about 20-30 Spanish figures waiting for this lighthouse fort to become their base.

 

[Gustavo]

Nothing new, everything's been said.

I won't help saying that the hat is ("about 200 years") wrong, and this is BAD to me. (Small, aye? But Yes: it confuses kids.)

And add that the collar is missing. (Small? Kids could have been better taught by Zirndorf ... -- aren't they concerned about this? (...) We know they ... say they are.)

Playmobil needs History consultants, besides designers. "Oh, but they have them already ..." These guys need hearing this, and get more mature.

& Playmofriends: we need (official) "ambassadors"/attorneys/fan-consultants/similar-profession in &/or from Zirndorf, maybe in Klickywelt, where people speak local speech . . .


As for the Lighthouse & its parts and bits, it's marvelous!


Gus

[Richard]

Thanks to Lars, we can all watch the videos of the Lighthouse, the Spanish soldiers and the Pirates... Click HERE!
(Just look for the post from Lars ... Post#55.)