New DS-catalogue 2011/2012: 1st (small) picture

[bonniebeth]

All of these things you listed would also be nice, Claire! Especially the igloo. And the lamp post would be great!

Still, as has been stated before, they asked what collectors want, not what a broader audience wants. 99% of what they produce is for the broader audience, why not have a handful of items that though they don't appeal to as many people, do keep the collectors happy?

[playmofire]

That's an interesting and comprehensive list, Claire, which has elements which would appeal to collectors and a wider, general pattern of Playmobil buyers.

[WarriorOfToys]

As Tim says, the pilot group was caught rather off guard by the question,
and in the hysteria of, "Oh, we have a Collectors Club," and "Cool, we can decide what items could go on DS?!"
We were fairly unprepared to deal properly with it.
During the aftermath of choosing what items we wanted, we discussed a few ways of making sure we did a better gob next go round.

One of the biggest concerns was that there seemed to be mostly Medieval collectors...
Which is why there is somewhat of a lack of other themes, or of very different themes.
Part of our discussions was on this subject, and how we would correct it in future.

[surfergirl]

Thank you Gordon,

And Bonniebeth....As I have stated before, I am a collector, so our ultimate agenda is the same. But I just don't see why we can only have sets that appeal only to collectors. Appealling to a broader audience aswell can surely only be a good thing.

Claire

[tonguello]

The thing is DS is not directed to kids or general public IMO, those buy at toy stores.
Only collectors or adult adience buys spare parts from DS, I think it was Damo who posted this earlier and I agree completly.
So when the pilot gruop was asked for itmes the collectors would want, why would they have to think about a more general public? Geabre was aiming to collectors/adults.
Im happy with the results, though I totally agree (and I said this before in another thread) that the victorian lampost would have been a great succes in the community and a MUST item for next year catalog.
 

[flatcat]

The Victorian lampost was suggested, but was rejected due to current health and safety regarding the electronics it used

Damo

[Wesley Myers]

They know what kids and parents want; they're a successful toy company, no problems there.

I have to disagree with you on this one.  In the past few years how many themes have Playmobil introduced only to have sold very few to none and the theme gets dropped in a year or two. 

If they really did know what kids want they wouldn't have had so many flops.

[playmofire]

The thing is DS is not directed to kids or general public IMO, those buy at toy stores.
Only collectors or adult adience buys spare parts from DS, I think it was Damo who posted this earlier and I agree completly.

There is a DS catalogue in every Playmobil catalogue, Gaston.

[bonniebeth]

And Bonniebeth....As I have stated before, I am a collector, so our ultimate agenda is the same. But I just don't see why we can only have sets that appeal only to collectors. Appealling to a broader audience aswell can surely only be a good thing.

Claire

I'm not saying we can only choose those items which appeal only to collectors, but there are a few items that are very much sought after for many years now by a lot of collectors, and just because they don't appeal to a broader audience shouldn't be a reason we can't ask for them, too. Evidently, Geobra is willing to give them to us, so why should we question it?

[playmofire]

I have to disagree with you on this one.  In the past few years how many themes have Playmobil introduced only to have sold very few to none and the theme gets dropped in a year or two. 

If they really did know what kids want they wouldn't have had so many flops.

I think this shows more a change in Playmobil's marketing policy, introducing short-lived themes alongside the long lasting "standards".