New 2010 sets, some details

[Indianna]

. . . 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 ... :

System X seems fabulous to me in comparison to some of the "systems" that are now in use by Playmobil.  I did not like anything System X when it first came out  - I thought the lavendar fairy tale castle was an abomination but then I saw what Danielle did with her beautiful Opera House, not to mention the many other beautiful scenes that people have been created using System X (Roman cities, Arabian scenes, modern city scenes, etc.)  While System X sets are time-consuming to put together at least the pieces are very interchangeable and tend to stay together pretty well.  I don't care at all for the new castle sets with the big chunky components that only seem to fit together one way. 

[Tiermann]

I believe they went that way for 2 reasons.
It takes less plastic to make one big wall than lots of independent pieces.
I suspect they would get some complaints about construction time from those parents who build everything for their kids instead of letting the kids do it. Plus there's the lost piece problem, and System X is ok but doesn't hold together anywhere near as well as Steck does.

[Elric]

Thanks for pics!  Knights look great.  Castles are ok.

[Martin Milner]

I'm quite excited by the St Nick figure, he'll make a great bishop to go with the medieval theme or the Church theme.

Like Justindo, I'll be getting the two new castles, I like the figures more than the castles but I'm becoming a bit of a castle collector these days, and soon I'll have room to keep them on display. The figures and new accessories are a great improvement on the last set.

One problem with System X is that many of the pieces are just too big, so if you try to move anything it falls apart. Combine that with all the annoying connectors you have to locate, and it's a frustrating system. Only the towers can hold themselves together because of the number of connections in a small structure.

Now we've had a closer look at the castles, I think more than ever that those long rectangular holes are for retaining clips like the lighthouse set. I'm looking at the base of the Egyptian Tomb set, and there are similar rectangular holes there. This could still be modular if the right pieces are present, but if the pieces are too large, and they look large, then it'll be tricky. At least the clip system gets rid of the annoying thousands of red and yellow connectors. They may still retain some System X components but use clips for the main structure.

[Robbie]

I really like the new Christmas sets, especially the St. Nick & Angel set. I'm more interested to see what this year's "Classic Edition" set will be, along with the other new Add-on releases. I think we could use the old Snowplow(3695) to go with the new Christmas releases 

[CountBogro]

... 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 ... ...

Actually, my understandig is that he's actually the one to blame.
Back in 2004, during the great Meet in Zirndorf, Val had a discussion with one of the designers (he might even have been de head designer). She had asked him why system-X as we thought the Steck to be superior. He told us that the designers were divided about system-X. However, Mr. Brandstätter pushed on regardlessly - making the decision to go for Sytem-X and to stop Steck.

So - no ... it wasn't the designers that pushed it through as they were divided themselves.

Bogro

[Gustavo]

The castles are pretty, however I was comparing with the latest castle (King's Castle), Collectobil.com Knights, and I realized that it doesn't satisfy the collector, only the children, they're toy castles only, and not miniature castles as the large castles used to be, since the first steck one.

I explain: The large castles used to have a house section, with roof and windows. This new large castle doesn't have a house: it has a roof, and a fake interior, which is perfectly useful for playing purposes, but it's the end (or a vacuum) in an era of truly interesting playmobil large castles because they were more than simple toys, they used to be miniature castles. I don't think this will be solved. They tried to deceive us, but it doesn't work.

I'm not bitter at it, I like the two new castles, and will have them if I may. But this is something I realize about them. Playmobil Rieter has definitely entered the universe of mere & vulgar toys.

Gus

[Gustavo]

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 was dreaming, actually ... The castle seems to be hexagonal -- one of the little virtues in comparison with steck system, which gave us only squarish possibilities ... -- it could never be common steck.

I wish however they found a way / ways of making a mixed system castle, because the steck timbered houses are so pretty, it's too bad that we can't have them attached to the new castles ...

These new castles have the looks of the Roman circus and of that Spanish lighthouse. They look interesting, and are visually appealing, with the only restriction -- to me -- of not having a real house, and the fake interior to make the castle too artificial for a respectable building.

What they have been doing opposite in the city houses, which quite look more and more real. (They didn't use to have stairs, the older ones ...) Maybe they think girls need details and boys live well without them ... They are possibly right

[Martin Milner]

I was dreaming, actually ... The castle seems to be hexagonal -- one of the little virtues in comparison with steck system, which gave us only squarish possibilities ... -- it could never be common steck.

It couldn't be Steck now, but there was nothing stopping them producing the necessary angled corners to create hexagonal castles, if they hadn't dropped Steck when they did.

In England at least, hexagonal castles are almost unheard of. The only one I could find was Old Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, which is a hexagon but with a massive rectangular keep extending from one side. Hexagons may be more defensible, but they're ultra-rare.

I think by the time the idea was thought of, all the good castle spots were taken, and you don't knock down an existing square castle to put a hexagonal castle in its place, unless it gets damaged during a siege. Old Wardour is in a not particularly strategic spot, and was built late in the castle building era (started arouns 1393) as a lightly fortified manor house, not really a proper castle.   

A great database about Castles in and around Wales can be found here: http://www.castlewales.com/home.html

[Rasputin]

HI

If you read the press release it just does not sound like the classic Playmobil but the hi-tech Playmobil Educational toy

"PLAYMOBIL brings the completely new gaming world Top Agents Agents exciting adventure into the nursery. Fast-paced chases, dangerous secret, and the victory of good that is the stuff of action-packed thriller agents.

The world is threatened by Dr. Devil and his robot-motion. Tell a spy camera shooting her dangerous virus satellite is monitored. Clear that this will prevent the agents of the spy-team, from their well-camouflaged and secure headquarters. If the spy-team defeated Dr. Devil and save the PLAYMOBIL universe?

The series of ten cool action set provides plenty of technical highlights, from the UV multifunction flashlight to the functional metal detector on the James Bond himself would be envious. The theme is aimed at boys aged seven more years, as agents in "real life", the technical tools, how to use the spy camera set with USB port and the electronic alarm.

The Spy Team Saves the World

Base all actions of the spy-team is the agent's headquarters with alarm (L51 x T40 x H21, 5 cm), which acts on the outside like a harmless holiday home. Activates the alarm, they reported burglar with a beep. Thus, not only the Secret Service headquarters safely monitored, but young agents can also secure their own children against "invaders". The spy team is equipped with every modern device. The LED-illuminated wall in a secret command room provides an overview of the various missions. In the workshop area, this cool multi-function vehicle for use on land, sea and in the air can be converted. This is where the super-weapon with LED and reconnaissance drone is hidden, the only effective against the virus counterweapon satellites by Dr. Devil. That is why Dr. Devil will necessarily come into possession of the CDs of the super-weapon system. With a lockable trap door into the prison to a secret rock arch and a buoyant jet for a flight last-second attempt, the team before the ruthless spy spies of the Robo-gear to protect.

But the danger is already lurking in the headquarters, for Dr. Devil has managed to smuggle a double agent (with the revolving change of face) and a robo-creatures in the secret rocky hideout agents to sabotage the station.

Supports the team in the spy-team headquarters, the Special Agent, the torpedo-dive and the super-agent racer who may be missing in any pursuit. In this car are many camouflage, shooting and Umrüstfunktionen for use on land, sea and air integrated. Particularly important in the fight against Dr. Swindler is the Devil and his agents Detektorjet with removable metal detector, which would allow the dangerous Robo-animals and intelligence can be traced CDs.

Dr. Devil and his Robo-course

The switching and research center of the evil agent is the Robo-lab gangsters with UV multifunction flashlight. In UV light, Dr. Devil decoded secret messages and symbols. The Dynamo Flashlight with extra functions feeds the power station for the android character Roboman. Blinks his red light heart, Roboman ready and with the Robo-Gangster Turbo combat ship is the next espionage action. A special addition to the Gag retractable cannons and retractable blades is removable cockpit flying over the ship's bridge. It is used for spying or air strikes as a rescue capsule. On land, the course uses the cool Robo-Gangster SUV as traveling headquarters. The vehicle is capable of RC and has a fold-satellite launch pad ready with excess virus capsule. Special feature will be the spy camera set! The camera is built into the SUV and the monitor on the RC-Module Set Plus attached. Thus equipped, young agents can perform not only in role-monitoring trips, but also spy on the domestic dwelling, whether the "coast is clear.""

4875 Agent Headquarters m. Alarm - RRP € 79,99
Agent 4876 Super-Racer - RRP € 19.99
4877 Agent-Detektorjet - RRP € 19.99
4878 Robo-Gangster SUV - RRP € 29.99
4879 spy camera set - RRP € 64.99
4880 Robo-lab gangsters with multifunction flashlight - RRP € 29.99
Special Agent 4881 - RRP € 2.99
4882 Robo-gangster fight Turbo Ship - RRP € 39,99
4883 Torpedo divers - RRP € 9.99
4856 RC Module Set Plus - RRP € 46.49

We are not in Kansas any more. I guess the Vila is not for the Bankers but goes with the one holding the universe for ransom with some deadly virus 
 
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"