New 2010 sets, some details

[Richard]

I guess I really liked the Stecks system, I can never quite move on and will always fault Mr Branstater for not keeping it going. I know its is not a "construction" toy but part of imagination is being able to create things for yourself. I kind of see it slightly like if Lego decided to change their bricks.   

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

Hello, Ras ...

My understanding is that the designers told Mr. Brandstätter that SystemX would be a much more versatile construction system than Steck. (Steck was never engineered like Lego. So, all the pieces of the Steck system were never able to fit together mathematically like Lego.) SystemX was supposed to remedy the Steck "engineering" problem and make Playmobil even more competitive with Lego. Unfortunately, the Playmobil designers seemed to be much better at marketing than they were at engineering. In fact they were so good at marketing that Fisher-Price actually used a SystemX like construction scheme for awhile. (They may have even bought the license from Geobra.) ...

In other words, Mr. Brandstätter may not be the one we should blame. He may have simply been misled just like many members of the Playmobil fan community who thought that SystemX was going to be wonderful ...

[Rasputin]

The foam airplanes will last about 3 days until they get stuck in a tree or chewed up by the dog! 
What is the deal with the transformer pickup truck that clips to the kid's belt?    

Hi Indianna

There are 3 sets of those folding sets. A boat, rocket plane and the truck

I was thinking the same thing about the plane, better use a expendable klicky  Though if it is cheep enough I want to put a rocket booster from a model rocket on the back , maybe a parachute for the klicky will be in order

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

[Indianna]

There are 3 sets of those folding sets. A boat, rocket plane and the truck

Yes, but what's the point?  Is this their way to cash in on the Transformers popularity?  Just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks???  Frankly, I think it is a bit lame.

I was thinking the same thing about the plane, better use a expendable klicky  Though if it is cheep enough I want to put a rocket booster from a model rocket on the back , maybe a parachute for the klicky will be in order

Excellent idea!

[Richard]

Looks like everyone will now be able to actually make their Playmobil planes "fly" ...   

[Rasputin]

Yes, but what's the point?  Is this their way to cash in on the Transformers popularity?  Just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks???  Frankly, I think it is a bit lame.

I think they are trying to keep the idea of Take along sets but in a smaller version. A kid could bring one to the restaurant or church and spin his wheels in the sand. Lame yes, just bring a car/truck - no folding necessary

Yes I forgot to thank everyone for all the pictures 

Richard, I wonder what kind of sales pitch the design team came up with to get the stecks phased out and replace with System X

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

[playmofire]

Gus ...

Please look at the attachments. The little square holes look a lot like SystemX.

However, wonder what are those "rectangular" holes used for?

I suspect that they are attachment points for extension pieces such as the castle gate on the right of the picture or for buttresses.

[Richard]

Richard, I wonder what kind of sales pitch the design team came up with to get the stecks phased out and replace with System X

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

I'm assuming that the design team's sales pitch probably was "designed" to convince everyone in Zirndorf that SystemX would make Playmobil more "competitive" with Lego ...  

Edit: corrected typo.

[Richard]

Yes, I forgot to thank everyone for all the pictures 

Rasputin "The Mad Monk"

Me too ... 
(Guess I got caught up in all the excitement.) ... 

A BIG thank you to Michael and Ken for all the really GREAT pictures.

Thanks again and all the best,
Richard

[Richard]

I suspect that they are attachment points for extension pieces such as the castle gate on the right of the picture or for buttresses.

Thanks, Gordon. That makes a lot of sense.

[SubaruWolf]

Yay!!  I finally get to see what's coming up!    Thank you for all the great pictures. 

Naturally, I'm most thrilled about the new animals in the zoo theme and the parts that could make good landscape pieces.  The other sets/themes that I like the look of are the Christmas and winter theme sets.  They are so cute and the angel and Father Christmas figures look great.  The vacation sets look like a lot of fun too.

However, I can't say that I'm even interested in those spy theme sets and even less so about the boxes they've packaged them in.  What happened to the beautiful blue of the classic Playmobil boxes?  Are they just too cheery for the spy theme?