Customising Playmobil what do people like best? Can you go to far?

[Emma.J]

 ???I was wondering what do other fans like when collecting sets?  I started off just getting the original sets of things like furniture or market stall or even the castle. But when I got several different castles I just itched to see what different designs I could build - always bigger and better.
I then started looking at totally different sets to see if I could nick bits out of them to mix in with my first set, like making a market stall for pots and pans by using items from the kitchen sets.
Now I use anything I can find but I don't really customise the individual piece's (mainly because I'm no good at it!) only do mixed sets.
But at heart I think personally for my own collections I just love to see what I can do with original parts, mix and matching things to improve on my displays. I dont know i'm in two minds about it, the victorian sets look pretty cool with extras in but I'm not sure I mix stuff with my Palace.
So if your talented enough to be able to do anything what would you do? And should you do anything, can Playmobil be customised too far?
I'm sure its been asked before but being new I'd love to get peoples opinions, I hope no one minds

Emma.

[Klickus Mobilius]

Since I don't know how to customize (yet), I like to mix sets.  I was also inclined to vote that it doesn't bother me as long as it looks good, but since I don't do that myself, I felt I shouldn't vote for it.

[macgayver]

When would you go too far ?

I dunnot believe creativity has limits

I cut, glue, paint, etc ... trying to use only playmoparts, that's the limit I set for myself

[Martin Milner]

There have been some amazing creations by the folks on this forum, through melting and bending, cutting and painting. For myself I prefer to just mix up the parts from different sets or figures, so it could all be returned to the original state if required.

There are some things Playmobil don't do, like fancy cakes and certain other foods, for which I might dip into other toy lines like Sylvanian Families, but it's not s frequent occurrence.

[playmovictorian]

Just like Macgayver, I strongly believe that customizing is only limited by one's imagination and it it limitless 

For me customising is taking the original theme one step further but always keeping in mind that accessories must compliment and never overshadow the set like a frame works for a picture.

The best example to date is the Wolfsburg exhibition which blew me away and still does .

On a smaller scale, Emma.j's creations are like a breath of fresh air with a very inventive use of stickers and printed materials .

Going too far would be using chemicals that are dangerous to inhale without taking the necessary precautionary steps  but the same applies to DIY...

Karim

[playmovictorian]

Interesting that Martin mentioned the Sylvanians as Emma has been mixing Sylvanians and Playmobil items in some of her creations and it worked to perfection as they are on the same scale 

Karim

[Miguel]

I didn't know Sylvanian Families...just googled for it now... that's awesome... 

[playmofire]

I voted for the last option although if at all possible I prefer to use all Playmobil bits, whether by mixing sets, buying spares or customising.  For some years I used a BMW estate car by a German firm called Dickie as a fire brigade staff car which I fitted with a working blue light.  When I was showing some some pictures to an employee of Playmobil I apologised for the non-Playmobil item and her reply was that they didn't make everything that people might want to use so there was nothing wrong in mixing to fill gaps.  I also use Bburago cars to fill in scense in the background as they are about the right scale and I prefer to cut these up or set them on fire (don't do this inside or without adult help if you are under 14) rather than PM stuff if I need accident damaged vehicles.

Here's some pics showing them in use at Ripon Fire Station Open Day in 2004.

[Gepetto]

I voted for the last option because it seemed similar to the 2nd option with a little more latitude for customizing. I think Karim's point is well taken in that I prefer the scene remain Playmobil focused but anything that would flesh out and enhance that scene is fine with me.



Gepetto

[playmofire]

I voted for the last option because it seemed similar to the 2nd option with a little more latitude for customizing. I think Karim's point is well taken in that I prefer the scene remain Playmobil focused but anything that would flesh out and enhance that scene is fine with me.



Gepetto

You say it so much more elegantly and clearly than I do.