I think that it's necessary for Playmobil to be accurate in what they show on the boxes! It's an important part of the high quality toy that we all expect. This example of what's happening at Target is one of the good reasons they should stop selling at big chain stores. Most of the people that shop at Target aren't looking for a specific toy (like Playmobil) anyways.
It seems like they would be doing better here in the US if they supported the smaller shops that they sell to, and stop with Target and TRU.
Okay, I'll step down from my soap box now...
When I was a kid, we bought Playmobil from Kmart and I believe Sears. My recent story: I quit collecting as a kid; in 2000, I bought Victorian themed sets for my Mum from a bookshop near my office; after I moved, I went back into hibernation until my mom started buying Christmas sets from Target.
It's a little snooty to call distributing to Target and (especially) Toys R Us as an image gaffe.
TRU is a bonafide toy store. And, in the US, Target is considered an upmarket alternative to Wal-Mart--so you could argue that PM is looking out for its image. And, if you don't distribute to toy stores, who do you distribute to?
A small minority of you guys, bless your hearts, get wrapped up in that 1990s morality that asserts that any shop with a staff larger than two (mom + pop = 2) is an evil institution.
To Mom and Pop: we love you guys, but if your store does too well, expands too much, we'll turn our noses up at you. It's about image. It's about my self-esteem. I'm better than the rabble. Do you understand??? (PS. And I'm not a snob. I champion the masses, provided we aren't seen together in public (It's cool to champion the masses, just not cool to be the masses).
But I digress...
In short: like I said, I bought PM as a kid from Kmart and Sears. PM has a history in the states of selling mass market.
I tell you what: 95% of those eclectic toys that sell only through speciality toy shops would love to find themselves on a shelf at Target.
They don't target tiny shops as an act of morality, but because they can't demonstrate the market penetration to woo the bigger stores.
Toy manufacturers are more pragmatic than we shoppers are.
"I would NEVER sell to anyone who shopped at <sniff> TARGET. Not that I have anything against <sniff> FACTORY WORKERS and vagrants. I just <ah ha ha ha> prefer that my products find homes devoid of FLEAS and HEAD LICE. No offense. Not that the hoi polloi has any business taking offense from their betters. <Ah ha ha ha>"
