Weird News... Are they true?

[Miguel]

Can anyone tell me if this news that was in Malta Times online (http://wn.com/Malta/   in the right column "Maltese Business") is true???

"A pair of Maltesers have appeared in court charged with fencing stolen Playmobil figures, some of which had been modified to show "knights holding decapitated bleeding heads and arrows lodged in the heads".
Francis Difesa, 51, of St Paul's Bay and Nadine Cutajar, 26, of Ghaxaq, were held following a police investigation into the theft of "figures and parts of figures" from Playmobil's Malta plant.
According to the Times of Malta, Cutajar is charged with offloading the figures on eBay, while Difesa allegedly supplied the booty to a Bugibba shop. The shop's owner will also be charged "in the coming days".

Playmobil representative Anna Agius explained to the court that the little people offered for sale in the shop were "being sold in bags at ridiculously cheap prices which undermined legitimate retailers". Some of the figures on eBay had "not even yet been put on the market by Playmobil".
In both cases, the figures "had not been assembled to Playmobil standards and had not passed safety standards".
According to Agius, this disregard for assembly procedure "could jeopardise the jobs of 800 workers, since all Playmobil figures were made in Malta and had to achieve high standards".
Playmobil takes a very dim view indeed of extreme "customising" of its figures. Back in April, it rattled a miniature sabre at the German evangelical pastor who took a hairdryer to Jesus and stuck breasts on Eve. ®"

in
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/16/malta_playmobil/

[Bill Blackhurst]

There has recently been a lot of controversy regarding incidents like what you have described on other forums, & news reports. I personally have seen several vender's I used to deal with on eBay for parts, & figures missing, which may be the result of the source being shut down. There used to be a wide spread supply of Playmobil items being sold on eBay, EG; figure arms, heads, body clips, legs, complete custom figures, helmets, swords, beards, hair pieces, etc., with the origin source being shown as Malta, but since this event has taken place, it seems to have stopped.

[Martin Milner]

Of course it's true, why wouldn't it be?

I also take a dim view of theft, and of "extreme customisation". By extreme, I mean showing figures that have clearly been cut, melted, or otherwise surgically altered. I don't mind painting, or adding parts with modelling clays (e.g. I personally wouldn't object to a naked Eve with breasts and visible pubic hair, but a klicky Jesus nailed to a cross with  his arms spread and a spear stuck in his side with blood dripping down is tasteless and extreme).

Regardless of who buys it, Playmobil is still a children's toy, and as a community we should not be producing images viewable by children that might encourage them to melt and cut their own klickies. I also take a dim view of using Playmobil to manipulate children for political, religious or other purposes.

[Miguel]

There has recently been a lot of controversy regarding incidents like what you have described on other forums, & news reports. I personally have seen several vender's I used to deal with on eBay for parts, & figures missing, which may be the result of the source being shut down. There used to be a wide spread supply of Playmobil items being sold on eBay, EG; figure arms, heads, body clips, legs, complete custom figures, helmets, swords, beards, hair pieces, etc., with the origin source being shown as Malta, but since this event has taken place, it seems to have stopped.

Yes, the same applies to me Bill, in the past I have seen several sellers from Malta, which were selling things in interesting lots, missing. I think that even this year, I have seen lots made of celtic knights for sale on eBay, when they were not for sale in the shops (EU & USA). Still, this can be just a gossip, but I think that there are no doubts that that gossip has a bottom of true.

[Miguel]

Regardless of who buys it, Playmobil is still a children's toy, and as a community we should not be producing images viewable by children that might encourage them to melt and cut their own klickies. I also take a dim view of using Playmobil to manipulate children for political, religious or other purposes.

Well, yes, I think in that relies the base of what necessary is to live properly in the civilization, having the same goal as a collective, which is the evolution and the well being.

As to the "extreme customisation", I believe that everyone is free to do what one wants, if based on what I said above. Everyone has the right to complete himself in a way that brings satisfaction or joy, but one has to have in mind that his moves and moral, besides being reflected by his will, things, and others, is always an example and a product that can be used in someone else's mind to the best of good, or to the best of evil.