Treasure chest

[racerx]

So, my kids have been playing with our pirate sets the past few days, and pulled out some of their other toys to use with the Playmobil stuff.  One of the things they brought out was a treasure chest that we'd bought in a box of odds and ends at a yard sale this summer.  The more I looked at it, the more familiar it looked, and then it hit me.  It looks just like the chest that came with the 3799:



So even though I have that set put away for Christmas I had to pull the chest out:







The thing that was throwing me up was the cheap plastic and the wording on the bottom:



"c2006 DecoPac, Inc.
Made in China"

I was all set to ask everyone what kind of knock-off this was but a little internet investigation gave me the answer:



DecoPac makes cake decorations.   

Still, I figure they have to have tooled this off the Playmobil one, yes?  I mean, the only real differences are the color, the cheap glossy plastic, and some lack of detail.

[Martin Milner]

DecoPac makes cake decorations.   

Still, I figure they have to have tooled this off the Playmobil one, yes?  I mean, the only real differences are the color, the cheap glossy plastic, and some lack of detail.

Certainly looks like a bit of reverse engineering. There's a court case in there for Playmobil if they're interested.

[Wolf Knight]

  I'll back up Martin here!

[playmofire]

I'm not sure, Martin and Panos.  A chest's a chest and one chest is pretty much like another and the maker has made no attempt to suggest that it is Playmobil.

[Wolf Knight]

I'm not sure, Martin and Panos.  A chest's a chest and one chest is pretty much like another and the maker has made no attempt to suggest that it is Playmobil.

Thats also true Gordon!

[Martin Milner]

I'm not sure, Martin and Panos.  A chest's a chest and one chest is pretty much like another and the maker has made no attempt to suggest that it is Playmobil.

That's like saying a car's a car.

In refer you to a google search for treasure chest images:

http://www.google.com/images?q=treasure+chest&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1509&bih=856

Playmobil themselves have come up with several different chest designs just within the pirate theme.

The DecoPac chest is too similar to the Playmobil chest to be anything except a direct copy IMO. The number of reinforcing bars, the dimensions, the locking mechanism, the handle size, dimension, placement and design. It all matches

To your second point, they're not trying to pass it off as Playmobil, they're trying to pass it off as NOT Playmobil. They've stolen Playmobil's design, which was copyright, and tried to pass it off as their own copyright design.

The difference is that the DecoPac chest appears to be moulded in three pieces (lock, lid, body) with the reinforcing iron bars painted over (and the paint is rubbing off, hope it's lead-free), while the Playmobil chest is moulded in five pieces, the two bar sections being separate from the lid and body, and a separate hinge. That difference may be enough to make it a separate copyrightable design in the eyes of copyright law.

[playmofire]

The point I was making is that the two designs are generic treasure chest designs.

[Martin Milner]

The point I was making is that the two designs are generic treasure chest designs.

The point I am making is that they aren't, there are just too many similarities for these designs to have evolved independently, so I guess we are at an impass and will have to agree to disagree.

Oddly enough, we found another "copy" of a Playmobil chest yesterday while Rona was inspecting my Playmoden. This one is made by Epoch Co. Ltd, made in China again, and has a curved lid, but the bottom half is remarkably similar to the Playmobil design, and the chest certainly fits Playmobil dimensions. I think this Epoch chest may have come in a Sylvanian families set.

[sweetking]

The point I am making is that they aren't, there are just too many similarities for these designs to have evolved independently, so I guess we are at an impass and will have to agree to disagree.

Oddly enough, we found another "copy" of a Playmobil chest yesterday while Rona was inspecting my Playmoden. This one is made by Epoch Co. Ltd, made in China again, and has a curved lid, but the bottom half is remarkably similar to the Playmobil design, and the chest certainly fits Playmobil dimensions. I think this Epoch chest may have come in a Sylvanian families set.

Don't forget Epoch produced Playmobil toys for Japan market and their Sylvanian toys are using nearly same scale furnitures as Playmobil ones. Inspired design is the word.

[bonniebeth]

I think the unusual shape makes it seem like a copy of playmobil. You normally think of a pirate's chest as having a curved lid. Seems strange for it to have a flat lid AND all the other similarities.

On the other hand, it really doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. i mean, a company that sells cake decorations isn't exactly direct competition.