Must have been quite something at the time, I don't believe lego had the minifigures with movable arms and legs yet at that point in time, they made those in 1979 I think. Explains why playmobil started with moving hands in the early eighties, likely as a direct answer to Lego.
Playmobil was also earlier with different faces than standard, by adding beards.
Is there some sort of timeline of playmobil somewhere by the way? that really shows when each significant improvement was made?