I've been thinking about which of my hundreds of Klickies are my favourites, and I finally narrowed the choice to five.
Here's my current top five -
I'd like to see yours. Mine are almost all exactly as they came out of the box. Here they are, in the order I acquired them, not necessarily the order they were produced in.
[1991-3] Hook-hand Pirate from set 3749.
I bought this set while still at University or soon after; this guy's been with me for over 15 years. He was my first disabled klicky, and also the first with bare feet. He showed me it was OK for an adult to still collect toys intended for pre-teens. I bought some other Pirate sets around that time (2054 and 3791 for sure), but apart from setting them up for a while to look at and play with briefly, I didn't start collecting Klickies in large numbers, and I didn't buy any large sets like buildings or ships. Happily I also didn't throw them out, sell them, or worse, give them away. Body printing was just coming in at that time, but many klickies still had plain bodies, and the three in this set were all plain. Modern hook-hands have a turning hook, so this figure is unusual in having a fixed hook.
[1994] 4501 Sherlock Holmes, the first Special.
I must've still been checking out toyshops occasionally, or I would never have spotted this guy, and I bought the Vampire at the same time. This figure is so clearly Sherlock Holmes (though perhaps a little fatter than the literary figure), and so perfect. I only bought the one, curses, thinking that one was enough. The start of the Specials meant I could add occasional figures to my secret hoard, without major impact on my pocket, or feeling I had some incurable addiction.
[1999] 4561 - Li'l Devil.
I kept checking toyshops and buying occasional Specials that caught my eye, until this little guy came along. Collectobil has him labelled "Halloween Costume", but he's so clearly NOT a kid dressed up, but a horny li'l devil. I love the way you can position his hat to give a variety of daft expressions. He sat on my desk at work for several years, charming anyone who passed, until I foolishly gave him away to a needy child at Christmas: I won't make that mistake again! So this figure is a replacement, but still a great favourite.
[2007] Legionnaire from set 4271.
This set got me back into Playmobil last year. I had invested in a Viking Longship in 2003, but having assembled it, it sat gathering dust, and didn't spark further purchases. The Romans were a "wow" moment. I was passing through the small toy department of a local store with my wife, saw these and immediately bought them, then after I got them home, went straight back (it's about a mile away) and bought the warship, the tent, and the catapault. This guy was the spark that brought me here. Sadly when I went back the next week to get more, the store was closing down, and the shelves had been cleared. I set off in a bit of a fever for Hamleys in Central London, bought a few sets there, then John Lewis in Oxford Street where I got the Arena. My wife tagged along, amused and delighted at my uncontainable excitement. My wife is wonderfuly supportive of this strange hobby, and often helps with photography.
[2007] 4514 - Pierrot.
I didn't buy this guy when he first came out in 1994, but in 2007 after we'd been discussig clowns here on Playmofriends. I checked eBay, and in a month had acquired almost every clown every produced. The Pierrot is not really the slapstick sort of Clown like the modern Circus ones. I like the purity of his simple three colour outfit. I've added shoulderpads and changed his red cuffs for black and white, but even straight from the box I think he's a perfect Pierrot. I added the white shoulderpads from the 4670 knight, and then changed one for black to see how it looks. This guy sits on my desk at work, and has recently been joined by a whole band of Pierrots with tuba, saxaphones, trumpets, lute, squeezebox and tambourine.
