Playmobil and Christmas Theme

[Rasputin]

I recently purchased the Crusaders and with the coming of Christmas had an inquiry to a subject . I do not wish to talk about religion or its merits but seeing as Playmobil is marketed as an "Educational" toy i started to wonder how educational . The sets that i am aware of that represent the Christianity theory are Santa's, Crusaders, a Nun, Friar Tuck, a church, nativity scene and plenty of Christian crosses to boot . The second largest religion would be Islam and third is Hinduism . What has Playmobil produced to help me educate my children on the almost 2 billion Muslim's  ? I recently received a Lego catalog and was intrigued by their Tag Mahal . Will Playmobil produce a Mosque now that they educated us on the Christian Church ? We are getting a little taste of the " Divine Kingship " theory with the introduction of the Egyptians but how about modern forms of different Religions ? Just wondering what kind of "education" we are talking about ?

[Rasputin]

Just to make myself clear - I do not want to talk about Religion just Playmobils examples of it to educate the youth .

[CountBogro]

Hi Rasputin

I think you're seeing things that aren't really there.
Santa has nothing to do with Christianity. As far as I know there isn't a single letter in the bible anywhere about him - Santa Claus is about getting presents. pure and simple.
Crusaders are just another sort of knight; easily recognisable for everyone.
No Robin Hood without a Friar Tuck.
No fairy-tale wedding without a church; that's all.
And a lot of Germans and Dutch have nativity scene's in their house at Christmas. it's part of the seasonal decoration.
"Educational" in this sense doesn't mean that it's meant to teach arithmatics, geography or subjects like that but it's meant for social-emotional development of a child. In other words: role-play.
I mean - divine kingship in the Egyptians You can use it for almost everything ...

In the end; if you want to understand what the developers and designers of Playmobil are about; go to Nurnberg and Zirndorf and look around. See what they see and read what they read.
You'll understand...

Geobra isn't a very large international company. It is a local company that sells world-wide.

That's all.

Bogro

[Gepetto]

I think you are right Bogro, I would not try to look too deep into this. Vampires at halloween! Fairies in the woods! Elves running around the woods in their underwear with cannons! Opportunities to play and interact in real worlds and otherwise, socialize and fantasize.


Gepetto

[Rasputin]

Yes but  half (or more?) of the world is not represented in their spiritual beliefs and i would like to educate through play . It would only take a few specials like they did with the nun or monk .

with these and more out there i only see Playmobil represent one on the list of 9.


If for any reason a Moderator wants to edit or delete this query, please do not hesitate or ask   

I still am just wondering IF Playmobil has ever represented any other views like Lego with the Tag Mahal ? its rather a simple question

And Borgo , thank you, i pride myself on the imagination i have   

[Gustavo]

What a trip, Raz!!!

1. You can't (all right, you can, but you shouldn't and, if you shall, what's the reason??) compare Lego orientation with Playmobil.

2. I disagree. There's a lot of Celtic "paganism" in the fairies collections ... Mixed with medieval stuff. It's only (openly) a German toy, that's all ... I don't think their goal is to be worldwide educational. I think their goal is to be educational for German people. (And whoever wishes to buy it ) They aren't obliged to represent every existing feature of human culture.

You may be right, in some aspect, but you're expecting too much from them, according to what I've been knowing and hearing, last six months (since I came back to playmoworld, through collecting, as an adult).

That's what I think.


Gus

[Rasputin]

 There's a lot of Celtic "paganism" in the fairies collections ... Mixed with medieval stuff.That's what I think.


Gus

That is interesting i never thought of the fairies like that but now that you mention it  thanks for the input .

[cachalote]

a very interesting topic, raputin.

  at least "my group", the agnostic ant atheists (16% of the world's population) is very well represented.

by the way, countbogro - can you tell us what playmobil designers in nurnberg and zirndorf see and read (this would save us a trip to germany)?
i would really like to know what intelectual atmosphere surrounds them.

some of us (and i am one) have the feeling that playmobil designers or decisors tend to live "closed" in their very narrowminded worlds.

  can this be true countbogro?

please let us know.

[CountBogro]

... by the way, countbogro - can you tell us what playmobil designers in nurnberg and zirndorf see and read (this would save us a trip to germany)?
i would really like to know what intelectual atmosphere surrounds them. ... 

I started to look around on the web for images of the area where Zirndorf is located. But then suddenly it dawned on me. I don't have to - you all know it. Just look to the sets Playmobil has produced. (Specifically the modern sets) that is the looks of Zirndorf and surroundings.
The type of buildings, vehicles and people on the street are just like that.

... some of us (and i am one) have the feeling that playmobil designers or decisors tend to live "closed" in their very narrowminded worlds.

  can this be true countbogro? ...

Can this be true ? Of coarse it can be. But I wouldn't use those words. IMHO Gustavo is right. Geobra and it's designers are Germans who design for the German market and sell to Germany. And if anyone else wants to buy it too then that's great; but that's not the focus.

As you look to the historical sets; it has more in common with popular views of the themes then those of Historical (pure) accuracy. You only have to look at the vikings to know what I mean (they did not have horned helmets although those have become rather fixed the way we imagine the rampaging vikings to be). Although there seems to be a awefull lot of detail there that's just right (for instance; the chair in the Pyramid is exactly like the one found in King Tut's grave).

I wouldn't say it's a closed narrowminded world. I think it's a German childsview of the world and it's history.
After all; it is meant for History classes nor for World Religion classes. It's meant as a toy. Pure and simple.

And as for Lego - if it really would do something to represent world religion/ or views. Why did they produce the Taj Mahal (a mausoleum and definitly not a representative building) and not a Mosque or a synagogue.
I think they produced it as it's a world famous building.

... please let us know ...

I wish I could let you know  But I can only give you my opinion  . If you want to know - then you'd have to ask Geobra.

But that's just my own 0.02 worth.

Bogro

[Indianna]

This is such a fascinating topic and one which we have touched upon before.  I think that Bogro provided the essential point:

. . . It's meant as a toy. Pure and simple. . .

The Playmobil line is a commercial success because children love to play with it.  It is "educational" because it allows children to use their imaginations to make their own stories in open-ended play situations, not because it is an accurate rendering of the real world.  Rather, it suggests the real world (and fantasy, too) and provides an initial context for play.  As we all know so well, children (and us so-called grown-ups) often take that play experience far beyond the basic contexts of "fairy tale" or "knights" or "modern" or "western" and have some wonderful experiences - anything from mixing up the categories (elves in the old west? why not?) to using Playmobil to re-tell favorite stories like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.  Then there are the talented folks who create customs that fill in Playmobil's blank spots. 

There are some especially lucky children whose parents not only get down on the floor and play with them, but also take the trouble to make sure that besides having fun play experiences, their children will learn about the real world, too, maybe even WHILE they are playing with Playmobil (Rasputin's boys, for example, are very fortunate in this way.)

From a purely educational point of view, it would be impossible for Playmobil to represent every religious and/or ethnic group and culture throughout history.  For those of us who care about such things, we have plenty of oportunity to fill in the blanks during play.  If the kids are playing with the western sets, the discussion could range from the great number of different First Nation/American Indian tribes and their geographic locations and customs all the way to talking about Wounded Knee.  If it's Christmas time, then the challenge can be to use Playmobil elements and customs to create other religious celebrations.  The possibilities are literally infinite, and that is the real beauty of Playmobil.