Afrikan Klikies Faces

[BlackPearl2006]

Not to be so controversal, my apologies, but it's really been bothering me:

Am I the only one that feels a bit unsettled about the Afrikan klikies' faces?  I was customizing some of my pirates the other night....I have pirates of all sorts of different ethnic backgrounds.  I felt unsettled the more I looked at the Afrikan klikie faces.  To my knowlege, the Afrikan klikies are the only klikies with bigger eyes, with whites around the eyes, and with mouths that are white (teeth?) also a bit bigger.

To give the benefit of doubt, one might venture to say it is only because of the darker colour that the eyes and mouth(teeth) are highlighted with white so they can be seen against the darker colour.  However, the very same shirtless Afrikan kliky I have also has black chest hair which stands out just fine against the same dark brown plastic.  I'm sure that having black eyes/mouth without the white would have worked just fine on the face.

To me, the connatations of these aesthetic differences are disturbing.  Bugs me enough that I intend to repaint any Afrikan klikies I have.  Plus, aesthetically speaking, I don't really like the way it looks either.

[Wolf Knight]

Works fine for me! I see them as being special actually...and maybe you are right, they look bigger but they are not. Its due to the background brown colour!

[playmofire]

Works fine for me! I see them as being special actually...and maybe you are right, they look bigger but they are not. Its due to the background brown colour!

I think it's due to the white mouth and the whites of the eyes as white makes things look bigger.  Just look at a woman wearing white high-heeled shoes and you'll see what I mean - Minnie Mouse isn't in it!

[WarriorOfToys]

I believe it is indeed to contrast them from the rest of his face.
The reason they didn't do the the same with the chest hair is because they didn't need to.
It is a much larger design, across a more open surface thus it doesn't need as much contrast.
I find the faces fine though.

[skypurr]

I must admit that I don't really like them.   I think they look silly and a bit creepy.   
I would prefer to see them with black eyes and mouth like all the others.

Elaine

[Coyote]

I've always thought they looked a bit off.   

[flatcat]

I don't have a problem with them at all, although some do come out looking a bit 'scarier' than others, when the printing isn't precisely aligned

Damo

[Martin Milner]

I have no problem with it. When you look at a dark-skinned human face the whites of the eyes and teeth are more prominent due to the contrast, so why shouldn't they be on a klicky? That's all that Geobra are trying to achieve,

It would be nice to have matching eyes on the Caucasian faces with colored irises, but they white would look odd without a further outline to add definition. I hate the sneaky sideways eyes though, I hope they don't start putting those on the dark-skinned klickies, I like their open honest faces as they are.

[basilsdad]

I've always thought they looked a bit off.   

I agree.
Does anyone know when Playmobil first began producing klickies of color?  I remember writing to Playmobil in the early 80's asking if the made klickies in a variety of ethnicities.  I wanted to buy some to enhance the sets that I had bought for the classroom.  I wrote to them, because one of my students was coloring the face and hands of his favorite klicky with a brown magic marker.  I never heard back from Playmobil, bu I guess a true customizer was born!
Joe

[bonniebeth]

I have always HATED them! It drives me crazy, actually. if you look at the african american child klickys, they just have black (or brown? I can't remember) eyes and mouth and it looks fine! I wish they would do the same with the adults.

it also drives me crazy that they seem to always have them dressed in really loud clothes. I do realize that playmobil is made in germany, and any africans there are immigrants, and maybe they do dress differently. I don't know. But being here in the US, I would love to have african American looking klickys visiting my zoo. I only have one dark skinned family, and the way they are dressed, they look African, not American. I wish they were wearing normal clothes, just like anyone else. Sorry for the long rant, but been wanting to get that off my chest.