PREVIEW: 2016/2017 Novelties & Assortment Catalogue

[tahra]

In a way they're inching towards that, with Direct Service sort-of becoming explicitly for collectors. I do wonder how big the adult market really is though - the fact that much-sought after re-issues have been sitting in the sale section of the German site for 2 years raises alarm bells in my mind as to the viability of sets aimed exclusively at adults.

There is another question.. The prices of the latest steck buildings to be released on ds have been crazy. AND sometimes the set lacks the point - like the Bell-less bell tower. It costs a fortune, and doesn't bring the parts that are truly unique. So... kinda misses the point.

I was all eager to buy me a couple (though I believe I have all of it from lots and such), but when I saw the price tag AND the missing bell+support I changed my mind.

The western farm and Colorado are just plain too expensive - at least for me (and again, I have them already)...

And the tiny school is also missing the bell.. so..

I am afraid this kinda leads to "proving" we collectors are not really an important market - cause the sets "we approved" don't sell that well in the end.

[Tiermann]

They have sort of clued in on that and asked specifically about with or without accessories on the potters house, and it does come with the accessories. So there is some progress. Their decision making is very opaque form our point of view and does miss the point at times. The PCC at least allows us opportunity to give feedback that they sometimes hear.

[Macruran]

gnomes.txt

[Macruran]

I think the random historical figures are a slightly different market, since I suspect there are adults who played with Playmobil who might buy one figure, like Luther or the Greek Gods, who would never buy bigger sets (in much the same way you see random Lego figures in people's houses)

I'd wager it's more of a continuum than discrete market segments. On the one end those who just get their Luther and their Goethe, or a couple Harry Potter L*gos, all the way up to the tahra-level mass hoarders/1:10 scale L*go Death Star recreators, with every level of commitment in between. And the one can lead to the other. My adult Playmobilin' started with "well just that one Special figure...(week passes) okay that one too...(months later) I NEED EVERY ROMAN SET EVER MADE". It could be a broad church.

[tahra]

They have sort of clued in on that and asked specifically about with or without accessories on the potters house, and it does come with the accessories. So there is some progress. Their decision making is very opaque form our point of view and does miss the point at times. The PCC at least allows us opportunity to give feedback that they sometimes hear.

I didn't mean to put the pcc down. Like I said (probably too often, I blab), it is a huge step on the right direction, though it seems they are not a part of decision making, and communication in the company seems... off.

It is AWESOME that we are asked at all. But especially with the bell-less bell tower it completely missed the point. If they asked - "would you be interested in a reedition without the bell and bell support?"...  Well, response would be slightly different from the "HADES, YES!" they got... (and then there's the price of the thing)

I suppose they MUST have some reasoning for their decisions.

[Ismene]

As in most things, it's the smaller price points that are going to be the "bread and butter" of the business, and it can lead to larger sets being purchased. Plus small sets fit better into the average adult lifestyle. We can all make space for collectible historical figures. It's much harder to make space for (and justify) a whole castle. So, I don't expect buildings to become top selling items.
Like the male fairies. I want them, but they come in larger sets, and I don't have the space/desire/money to collect fairies as a theme. I just want a couple male fairies to hang out with my existing fairies. I don't want a bunch of pink and purple accessories.

But, again it would be helpful if people other than established collectors *knew* about these DS sets. Even if I google something super specific like "medieval tailor shop toy", the Playmobil website doesn't come up. The Amazon and Ebay listings do. Playmobil comes up when I google "medieval tailor shop" but not when I add "toy." That's absurd. Their website is basically reaching only people who already know about Playmobil.
(Dear Playmobil, please let me fix your SEO. You need set descriptions and metadata.) 

[Bolingbroke]

Maybe if they opened more brick and mortar Playmobil Stores modelled on the excellent Lego Stores, maybe casual shoppers would learn about the DS stuff eh?

[Robbie]

Maybe if they opened more brick and mortar Playmobil Stores modelled on the excellent Lego Stores, maybe casual shoppers would learn about the DS stuff eh?

This hasn't worked too well for Playmobil in the USA. There was a second Funpark in an Orlando mall that closed down. I think at least twice there has been a Funstore in New Jersey but those haven't lasted long either.

[Tiermann]

I think they only have maybe three or four shops in Germany of their own other than the Funpark and factory shops. They are heading in that direction but slowly.

[Macruran]

PM unfortunately doesn't have the brand footprint that L*go does. A toy store in town here (Child's Play on 23rd and Kearney in PDX for you Oregonians) recently stopped carrying PM because "it wasn't moving fast enough". That leaves only two stores that carry PM that I know of (apart from TRU), plus one west of town.

While looking them up, I found that the large klicky outside Let's Play has had his face obscured by the Google Street View algorithm! link