Geobra redundancies and outsourcing, restructuring Playmobil (Autumn 2023)

[collectobart]

I’m confused , the heavy fantasy presence in the classic Medieval theme was a good or bad thing ?

It was good, but there had to be a balance. The Novelmorians provided the 50% classic, with the exception that they acquired some Leonardo da vinci-esque skills.

Then there was 50% room for wicked other realms, but the 2021-2022 releases were rushing 100% more fantasy to the shelves, while not offering enough simple classic counter items on the Novelmore side.
The other thing is: classic is self-evident, the fantasy stuff needs explanation to younger kids. Something really off the scale like Sal'ahari sands was brought to the market without a real effort to explain "what i was all about".

Kids buy toys that they can relate too, and the tv-series would have been an important element to build that "relationship", but with 26 episodes produced they decided it would be less "paper work" to put it on youtube.

[Rasputin]

Sounds like there were a lot of moving components that needed to be synchronized  for the theme to get off the ground . Then it would need the momentum to stay in the air ….all very complicated

With the history of the brand I see this approach as a gamble

Playmobil has/had a reputation as a mirror of the adult world in miniature. Be it construction, medieval, historic western, Victorian, etc…..

I can’t imagine Geobra taking Playmobil Western theme , mixing in 50% fantasy goblins, aliens, colorful buildings, building a complicated back story to the characters, needing people to watch social media or movies for imaginative story content, and now expecting it to succeed.

I personally would not only loose respect for the brand but I’d certainly buy less new and just divert those funds to the second hand market

[collectobart]

I can’t imagine Geobra taking Playmobil Western theme , mixing in 50% fantasy goblins, aliens, colorful buildings, building a complicated back story to the characters,

Now with the Western theme it would not match, you're right. That is an archetypal stretch no brain can wrap itself around :-)

But on the other hand, do you think My Little Pony, Transformers or Ninjago would have survived WITHOUT the media content? Kids move from the playroom to the tv, the ipad, the computer and back, and they stick with brands that they can connect with in all those mental spaces. That is a reality which was not ours when we were young, but a successful toy these days can't afford not being present all around.

[GrahamB]

That is a reality which was not ours when we were young...

Actually, you might have to be quite old to have lived in a time before the merchandising of TV programmes and movies. For me, it was Gerry Anderson series like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. There were a lot of toys appearing on the back of these series, many of which I wanted but never had unless I made them myself. After this (not for me) the whole Star Wars universe. And so on. But I concede that the integration of visual media, gaming and hands-on toys is much more sophisticated and extensive nowadays.

[Macruran]

Yeah it's definitely ramped up a lot in recent times. I think youngsters nowadays might have an expectation of an already-online shared world, like the Minecrafts that they do that they can go on and chat with their friends whenever. Simple toysets of gas stations might not do it for them anymore. 

[Eplay]

It was good, but there had to be a balance. The Novelmorians provided the 50% classic, with the exception that they acquired some Leonardo da vinci-esque skills.

Then there was 50% room for wicked other realms, but the 2021-2022 releases were rushing 100% more fantasy to the shelves, while not offering enough simple classic counter items on the Novelmore side.
The other thing is: classic is self-evident, the fantasy stuff needs explanation to younger kids. Something really off the scale like Sal'ahari sands was brought to the market without a real effort to explain "what i was all about".

Kids buy toys that they can relate too, and the tv-series would have been an important element to build that "relationship", but with 26 episodes produced they decided it would be less "paper work" to put it on youtube.

I agree. I didn’t get the connection between Novelmore and the Sala’ahari sands. So I wouldn’t buy it for my son (sorry). Violet vale is far more relatable if you don’t have the background story.

My son is a fan of Ninjago and builds and re-enacts the few episodes he is allowed to watch. His favourite stuffed animal is a dragon at the moment. The dragon looks nothing like the dragons in Ninjago, but that doesn’t seem to matter. He’s building his own fantasy world based on what he is allowed te see. He even invents his own super-Ninjago-powers.

Toys must have something to relate to or something that is interesting (fighting for most boys, whether it is cowboys, police, ninjas or knights) and something to stimulate their fantasy world.
Unicorns are interesting for girls as they know horses, but a unicorn gives them also a bit of a fantasy world. (e.g. my little pony)

[collectobart]

I agree. I didn’t get the connection between Novelmore and the Sala’ahari sands. So I wouldn’t buy it for my son (sorry). Violet vale is far more relatable if you don’t have the background story.

No need for a sorry, i warned them about all that before i left the company :-)

[Rasputin]

I grew up with plenty of Television programs but never felt the need to have Tom and Jerry or Yosemite Sam toys

When we had kids we raised them on a farm and we chose to not have mainstream television. We, as the parents, had total control over what their developing brains were exposed to. All 3 of our kids had great times playing with lego and Playmobil. They could relate to trucks, tractors, animals, boats, vehicles and general current civilization. We in the US don’t have a medieval history so that did not peak their interest unless I played /guided  along. The trains were fun due to the live action

There was no need for fantasy as that wasn’t in their realm of comprehension. They wanted to be adults so the copied what they saw

I personally think it has a lot more to do with the parents than the kids lack of interest   I saw a lot of  parents work 10+ hours , come home exhausted, set the kid in front of a screen and check out. Now I’m seeing kids who can’t even walk yet that are given screens as a pacifier.

I guess also my kids we so tired of all the fighting I did, they just wanted a peaceful existence 

[Macruran]

*pique

[Oliver]

[quote author=collectobart link=topic=17929.msg324195#msg324195 date=1697888381
Kids buy toys that they can relate too, and the tv-series would have been an important element to build that "relationship", but with 26 episodes produced they decided it would be less "paper work" to put it on youtube.
[/quote]

Do you think that in the modern world a cartoon gets less exposure from being on YouTube than it would on mainstream TV? I have no idea, but I just image that modern children have so much choice that it's hard for anything to break through (it's not like when I was a kid and you had 2 channels offering children's programming for an hour a day).

Playmobil has/had a reputation as a mirror of the adult world in miniature. Be it construction, medieval, historic western, Victorian, etc…..

I personally would not only loose respect for the brand but I’d certainly buy less new and just divert those funds to the second hand market

We're not normal people though, are we? The reason most parents will pick up Playmobil on Gumtree is because it's cheaper than buying new, not because they think a cartoon is tacky.

I agree that there's a big market for children recreating the adult world in miniature - it's what children instinctively want to do. I do wonder if they will become more risk-averse (why spend years developing these complex 'worlds' which end up under-performing when you can chuck out a new school using mostly-existing parts?). But honestly, without knowing sales figures for lines it's hard to judge what does well and what doesn't (except *maybe* using the second-hand market as a proxy).