What's wrong with Playmobil? 2

[Oliver]

Great point, I really never see playmobil ads outside the odd one posted on youtube. So if made in Europe is important then why not more European based cultural/history sets instead they've gone away from those in favour of modern life and fantasy.
They did a Greek gods set, I suspect a Norse gods theme would fly off the shelves if done right and a Celtic theme would be popular too.

In terms of being made in Europe I meant that it has the reputation of being well made and safe, rather than the quirkier  sets they sometimes make.

I remember years ago reading an article that said that Playmobil was successful because it appealed to what middle-class parents wanted their children to like rather than what children actually liked. I think their is a 'halo' benefit from historical sets, and of course they appeal to adults and I don't know how much they spend on Playmobil - I'm not sure children are clamouring for Norse Gods honestly.

[Macruran]

You're probably right about Norse gods but at this point pivotting fully to the adult market would be a smart move for PM. If they do they probably have another couple of decades, if they don't they probably don't have ten years.

[Rasputin]

There possible can be no comparison to the purchasing power of “for kids” versus “adult collectors”

This is not LEGO and even with that brand I’d be surprised if the adult segment outperformed the kidos market share . I think LEGO targets kids 8-10 the most

[Oliver]

You're probably right about Norse gods but at this point pivotting fully to the adult market would be a smart move for PM. If they do they probably have another couple of decades, if they don't they probably don't have ten years.

Besides questions about the size and strength of the adult market for Playmobil (which I don't think is there) - children will always play with toys. There will always be a market for toys.

[Rhalius]

I'd be happy to just see a full new batch of the Vikings theme.
As long as the Vikings look better than the recent ones available only online.

They could have a longhouse set with a nice throne for the chieftan and a long table with benches and food.
Also maybe a harbour set for the Viking ship to dock. Maybe they could use the same mould for the ship, but different colours.

Perhaps they could pair them with a dark age wooden fort for them to raid, with soldiers and all more inspired by Saxons. Better to have the Vikings raid a fort than a town or a church since it is all still aimed at kids and this way you get a vikings vs soldiers thing, two factions where kids might prefer either side.

[tahra]

Perhaps they could pair them with a dark age wooden fort for them to raid,(...)

Ah, but carefully made so it's incompatible with both the original western fort AND the Asterix one, of course. 

[Rasputin]

I'd be happy to just see a full new batch of the Vikings theme.
As long as the Vikings look better than the recent ones available only online.

They could have a longhouse set with a nice throne for the chieftan and a long table with benches and food.
Also maybe a harbour set for the Viking ship to dock. Maybe they could use the same mould for the ship, but different colours.

Perhaps they could pair them with a dark age wooden fort for them to raid, with soldiers and all more inspired by Saxons. Better to have the Vikings raid a fort than a town or a church since it is all still aimed at kids and this way you get a vikings vs soldiers thing, two factions where kids might prefer either side.

Hell Ya , a proper Viking theme ! Great ideas

Ah, but carefully made so it's incompatible with both the original western fort AND the Asterix one, of course. 

Don’t encourage the retarded re-designers

[tahra]

Don’t encourage the retarded re-designers

They don't need it, I know..

I think it's just a "we don't give a darn" attitude. Very sad.

[NovaBombardment]

If I could point to anything I don't like about Playmobil in the last year, it's how Disney has taken over the Junior line. I did buy a couple of Disney sets that I like, but I wish there were some more standard options. Everything that isn't Disney in the Junior launch was a palette swap of an older toy, or not available in Canada due to being attached to Tinti.

I also don't like how some Playmobil sets seem to be built with a setting in mind, but don't give you anything to make it look like that location. There was a recent line of city cleaning sets that really caught my attention, but I knew better because I'd been tricked by the boxes before. It was this box in particular that caught my attention really hard, and then disappointed me when I thought about it.


Look how great this set looks on the box! Too bad there's no city or park to clean.

They should always include a cardboard standee to at least give you the back drop they used on the box. When I look back at older Playmobil boxes, they didn't seem to be as misleading with elaborate backgrounds. I have to wonder how many kids feel ripped off when they open a Playmobil set and find out that the box was such a huge lie.

The pricing seems really arbitrary at times too, and I've been passing on sets I genuinely want because they just cost too much. It's part of why I ended up gravitating toward 1.2.3, because the toys cost less and do more. The klickies aren't as articulated or varied in design, but the toys they come with are often way better than anything in the regular line.

[Klickteryx]

....

Look how great this set looks on the box! Too bad there's no city or park to clean.

They should always include a cardboard standee to at least give you the back drop they used on the box.

This seems a no brainer to me, printed cardboard backdrops. The licenced sets would benefit from these particularly as the settings are usually quite specific. They do it sometimes with the advent calendars. The Village Banquet set from the Asterix range has a backdrop of sorts with the gate and fence (that's similar but incompatible with the western version - it's like they don't know their own previous product lines) - anyway, a couple of cardboard scenes that join together and could go behind the gate and fence pieces or just stand alone would give the whole set a sense of depth and be more immersive to the setting.
I'd also like some play mats which are themed.