3348 Grey Deep Sea Diver ?

[Sir Gareth]

Hi all,

I have just received another UK playmobil catalogue from 1984 to add to my collection.

As I was looking through it I noticed that the Deep Sea diver 3348 was in grey and with diving watches on his wrists. I have never seen this colour before for this set, the ones I have seen have always been yellow with a diving knife and that is the type shown in the UK 1985 Catalogue.

So was this set available for a Year before they changed it or did the printers make a mistake and place a photo of a never to be released prototype in the catalogue? 

[Richard]

Very interesting question.


Garry, it must be a printer error.

I've attached a page from the 1984-85 German catalogue as well as a photo of the back of the actual 3348 box.

I was in London during the summer of 1984. I was also in the US that summer. I know that I remember seeing this catalogue. But, I don't know if I remember seeing it in the UK or the US.

Regardless, I bought several of these figures to go with the Danish fishing trawler. Every one of them were yellow.

Hope this helps.

All the best,
Richard

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[Richard]

And, here are a few more ...

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[CountBogro]

Could it have been a Playpeople only release? Something like Antex is diong now?
Just a though ...

Bogro

[LHAAP]

it must be a printer error.

How do you explain the watch and the missing knife?

Could it have been a Playpeople only release?

It's possible, but when did Playmobil stop under the name Playpeople in the UK. Garry, you must know that

[sbblabotw]

a photo of the back of the actual 3348 box.

Added it to PlaymoDB, Richard, hope that's OK.  Found the klicky's previous appearance, too - he sure gets around.

3348 - Hard-Hat Diver (Yellow/Black)

I'll reserve adding the grey picture until an explanation can be found!

[Richard]

...  a never to be released prototype in the catalogue? 

This is certainly a possibility, Garry. Especially since the shoes were weighted to keep the diver under water. The shoes may have been just made of metal (much like the Playmobil anchors and pulley hooks). So, it would have made sense to do the helmet in grey to match the metal shoes.

Could it have been a Playpeople only release?

Good thought, Bogro! However, the 1984 catalogue cover that Garry posted confirms that Playmobil had taken over from Marx Playpeople. (1984 was also the year that I was fortunate enough to have met Norman Brown who was the President of Playmobil UK. So, I can also confirm that it was no longer Playpeople.)

Added it to PlaymoDB, Richard, hope that's OK.

Of course it's OK. And, Heather, you never have to ask. Any information I have is yours for the taking ...


All the best,
Richard

[Sir Gareth]

He is a bit of a mystery,

He certainly isn't Playpeople, they ended production in 1980 and they never made figures with twisting wrists, they came out in 1982.

I had thought that he might of been a Trol/Estrela or Antex figure that the printers might of had a picture of. My reason behind that thought is that the UK and I also believe that the U.S. catalogues are all printed in Germany and maybe other countries where as well, so they had this image on file.

I'm almost sure though that it is a mistake by the printers and this figure was the prototype for the yellow diver.

I consider the diver 3348 as a sort of bath toy with his weighted feet to make him sink and the air pipe you can blow into to create bubbles out of his helmet. If they had gone ahead with the grey colour the figure would soon get lost in the murky depths of any child's dirty bath water. At least with the yellow diver you would stand a better chance of seeing him, and by swapping his watches for a knife it gives a sense of danger to his missions in that he might have to fight of a sea monster or a shark.

I think the only person who can tell us more about this figure would be it's original designer.

[Richard]

I think the only person who can tell us more about this figure would be it's original designer.

And, if we look at the photo carefully, Garry ... Perhaps the "designer" has solved this mystery for us.

Compare the photo detail in image one (from the 1984 Catalogue)
to the photo detali in image two (from the actual box).

What's missing? And, it's probably missing because it hadn't yet been produced when the catalogue photo was taken ...

What say you Dr. Watson? ... "It was a prototype." 

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[Sir Gareth]

I hadn't noticed the missing hook,

Also the air pipe does not go to the top of the helmet, it appears to go to the back at the bottom maybe even attaching to the collar.

The colour could also just be random, just to make a few samples of the diver to be discussed around the board room table and he may always of been intended to be made in yellow.

99.9% sure now that this grey diver is a protoype and it is a printing error in the catalogue.