Has anyone else heard of this?

[Rasputin]

Hi 

   I was reading a local add of the hospital and it stated how it was "Hard To Find" There was also a link to FOS. They wanted $200 bla bla bla . I thought how stupid you can just go to Playmobil.com and buy it there for less. I checked and then realized when you go to the "Add To Basket" it turns into the "Note Product" (out of stock) Hmmm what else is selling well . A lot of sets seem to be out and it got me wondering . Doesn't Germany send New Jersey sets more than once a year. If they are sending sets and those get through why not parts orders . or are all Playmobil items stuck on a dock waiting ? The TRU ran out of items and I was told not till 2010 would they get more . Is there a bigger problem than just parts ? Is Playmobil selling so well they can not keep its socked up even at the warehouse ?

   Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

[Bill Blackhurst]

Hi 
   I was reading a local add of the hospital and it stated how it was "Hard To Find" There was also a link to FOS. They wanted $200 bla bla bla . I thought how stupid you can just go to Playmobil.com and buy it there for less. I checked and then realized when you go to the "Add To Basket" it turns into the "Note Product" (out of stock) Hmmm what else is selling well . A lot of sets seem to be out and it got me wondering . Doesn't Germany send New Jersey sets more than once a year. If they are sending sets and those get through why not parts orders . or are all Playmobil items stuck on a dock waiting ? The TRU ran out of items and I was told not till 2010 would they get more . Is there a bigger problem than just parts ? Is Playmobil selling so well they can not keep its socked up even at the warehouse ?
   Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

This is all second hand information, but it is what I have been told by private sources. 1. Playmobil in the past has shipped parts restock orders separately from product resupply shipments. 2. It was discussed shortly after the financial collapse of last year that Playmobil USA was having cash flow problems & wasn't able to supply customer demands due to when it came time to place orders from Germany, the need to come up with financial backing was cut off!
I have a feeling that most of the problems reflect the business practices of PM home office in NJ. There may not be enough cash in the till to get more product!

[Justindo]

It is interesting that so many sets are currently unavailable but supposedly not discontinued.  I was thinking of ordering some Western fort add on sets but saw that Playmobil USA and a number of other online vendors were out of stock.  I called Playmobil USA to try to order them, but they confirmed they were out and wouldn't get any in until next year.

I realize sales are higher around this time of year, but I would think Playmobil USA would have sufficient supply.  The parts department seems to have the same problem.  As Bill writes, I too have heard, and believe, that Playmobil USA is having cash flow problems.

[core]

Interesting, I had posted this almost a year ago:

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=2790.msg32127#msg32127

fwiw the store owner I talked to was the now-closed Stewart's Toys in Oklahoma City (mainly online retailer); a quick recap of what he/I rambled on:

... I inquired about the absence of PM stuff, the obvious issue of extending credit was one of the reasons - the interesting comment he made was than PM USA could not fulfill almost all of his last order (about $8K iirc, hence he dropped the order) as PM USA themselves did not have enough credit line to get stuff over here from EU!  I suppose I could just take it with a heap of salt ...

Looks like there's a lot more truth in that statement 

Another sign ... go to your local TRU and Target - Target here is EMPTY of any PM stuff, save for a couple of duo packs and 1 Pirate Island take-along.  TRU has not restocked any PM items for the past month+.  On the other hand, Lego items that get sold are re-stocked almost weekly, and they just got in 2010 items this week.

[Gepetto]

My local TRU is devoid of all but 1 Pirate Island and 5 Fireman carry alongs, but like you say Legos fall from the sky in all directions. 




Gepetto 

[Martin Milner]

I don't know how much Playmobil consider themselves a rival to Lego, but clearly that's where they are in the marketplace.

In every shop I've been to, Lego has more shelf space, more variety, and more kids drooling over them. Of the big retailers TRU has the most Playmobil, but still a very limited choice, Target has about 3 items, Fred Meyer the same, Wal*Mart nothing at all. The smaller retailers, which are necessarily more expensive with their greater overheads, do better regarding stock and variety, but also a much smaller stock-flow, as evidenced by ther two castles I bought this week which had been on the shelves for 16 years.

Not giving Playmobil US the credit they need to get the stock on the shelves, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, seems a sure-fire way to damage their market share, and reduce potential future sales.

That's fully in line with everything I've learnt to expect from Geobra as a business machine. Lack of vision, lack of cohesive drive, lack of a basic understanding of the marketplace.

It's sad, because I can envision a time when Playmobil is only available in the US either online, or from specialist toystores at inflated prices.

[Bill Blackhurst]

I don't know how much Playmobil consider themselves a rival to Lego, but clearly that's where they are in the marketplace.

In every shop I've been to, Lego has more shelf space, more variety, and more kids drooling over them. Of the big retailers TRU has the most Playmobil, but still a very limited choice, Target has about 3 items, Fred Meyer the same, Wal*Mart nothing at all. The smaller retailers, which are necessarily more expensive with their greater overheads, do better regarding stock and variety, but also a much smaller stock-flow, as evidenced by ther two castles I bought this week which had been on the shelves for 16 years.

Not giving Playmobil US the credit they need to get the stock on the shelves, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, seems a sure-fire way to damage their market share, and reduce potential future sales.

That's fully in line with everything I've learnt to expect from Geobra as a business machine. Lack of vision, lack of cohesive drive, lack of a basic understanding of the marketplace.

It's sad, because I can envision a time when Playmobil is only available in the US either online, or from specialist toystores at inflated prices.

You have learned very quickly from your limited observations, of what the problems & frustrations are in this country that we face regarding Playmobil! I think it has a lot to do with the USA main PM distributor here in NJ, & if someone with our vision took over that distributorship, there would be significant change for the good! Maybe if we all got together funding wise, we could buy them out as a conglomerate, of course we would have the option of our share of the toys as bonuses  !

[Rasputin]

You have learned very quickly from your limited observations, of what the problems & frustrations are in this country that we face regarding Playmobil! I think it has a lot to do with the USA main PM distributor here in NJ, & if someone with our vision took over that distributorship, there would be significant change for the good! Maybe if we all got together funding wise, we could buy them out as a conglomerate, of course we would have the option of our share of the toys as bonuses  !

Hi Bill 

An interesting idea but if the lot of us were to take over I can assure you not much would ever get done, as far as business is concerned 


Hi Martin 

Unfortunately you are now part of a Playmobil purchasing group that has been frustrated for a long time

I do not know how Geobra is run in other countries but as far as the US is concerned they need to seriously look into how they are doing or not doing things and address them as soon as possible. 

Lego seem to have a much broader group of buyers and this is quite different from Playmobil. I often see adults buying Lego's for them selfs and I rarely see this with Playmobil. It may have to do with Lego's licensing of movies such as Star Wars but this is also what helped get them into financial problems a while ago.

I am sure it is not easy to run a toy company in a "short attention span" society where you largest profits will be from the themes that last.

   Rasputin "The Mad Monk"