The Wizard of Oz - Perfect for Playmobil?

[StJohn]

... the impetuous behind the historical figures have come from Tourist Boards/Museums rather than Playmobil themselves.

I believe that Oliver is correct: the initiative to launch historical figures lies with the commissioning bodies, who invest (and conceivably make a profit), not in Zirndorf. This is the business model of the Dürer figure and many others – The financial arrangement is conceivable somewhat different for those historical figures that are also distributed by Geobra itself (such as Mozart, Schiller, etc.).

I suspect that even the initiative for the Greek gods, if I may put them in the "historical" basket for convenience sake, came from a renegade Playmobil (Hellas?) unit, growing out of the local "Give & Play" initiative. What the Greek gods and the historical figures have in common is the complete lack of new moulds (as discussed in this thread), which shows that head office never put much capital into developing the mythological theme.

The fact that Zirndorf has now brought some best-selling historical figures as well as the Greek Gods into the main catalogue, and are selling them directly from their own web shops, is encouraging. Perhaps, who knows, they may start to develop a taste to grow in that direction. I wouldn't hold my breath, though: management seems determined to stick to – what they see as – marketable children's toys.

[Oliver]

My personal thought is that once the Luther figure, and the Rijksmuseum figures were successful other museums noticed and commissioned their own - which explains why they're rather erratic and very ('Gross/Big') German-centered

[GrahamB]

I have no idea of the process, but I suspect that the impetuous behind the historical figures have come from Tourist Boards/Museums rather than Playmobil themselves.

I agree. Maybe geobra need a financial commitment from those who commission figures before they will go ahead and produce them.

[GrahamB]

I have split some of the posts after this point into a separate topic 'Discussion of religious figures in Playmobil' in the Playmobil Common Room.

[GrahamB]

This post fits in both topics, and we couldn't miss out on the flying monkeys!

We have come rather far afield from where we started, though I don't really mind the diversion; everyone has added a lot of great points to the discussion, and it all relates back to how and why Playmobil develops, manufactures, and markets sets and figures, so it is tangentially related 

....

To bring the discussion back around, I would like to suggest that what we really need from Playmobil are creepy flying monkeys:

[tahra]

I have split some of the posts after this point into a separate topic 'Discussion of religious figures in Playmobil' in the Playmobil Common Room.

Thanks GrahamB

This post fits in both topics, and we couldn't miss out on the flying monkeys!

I am not familiar with the movie/story, but flying monkeys sounds like my sort of thing 

[Tiermann]

I've made my own flying monkeys using the chimpanzee and adapted vulture wings.

Halloween Castle 2016 no39 by Tim, on Flickr

Halloween Castle 2016 no40 by Tim, on Flickr

[Tiermann]

Related/unrelated I also have a flying cat made for me by MsOmega that uses the crow wings

Halloween Castle 2012 no11 by Tim, on Flickr

[Klicky_Ghost]

I have split some of the posts after this point into a separate topic 'Discussion of religious figures in Playmobil' in the Playmobil Common Room.

Thanks, GrahamB! I'm sure that is better for both discussions.

I am not familiar with the movie/story, but flying monkeys sounds like my sort of thing 

To give a short synopsis of the film: after committing murder, young Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland) teams up with three older men to kill again.  For a slightly longer synopsis: Dorothy is swept up in a Kansas cyclone and transported to the magical world of Oz, and the only way back home is to see the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City. Along the way, she meets a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Cowardly Lion, who help her defeat the Wicked Witch of the West and reveal the secret of the Wizard of Oz. The flying monkeys are minions of the Wicked Witch, and one iconic scene has her sending hoards of them to snatch up Dorothy and her friends.

In all seriousness, the movie is definitely worth viewing (or watching Youtube clips of), if for no other reason than for musing at the 1930s cinematography, set design, and style of acting. One of the reasons that I think The Wizard of Oz could work as a line of licensed Playmobil sets is because the movie sets themselves are very  imaginative, distinctive, and colorful (with a cool Art Deco influence). I think Munchkinland, the Emerald City, and the Witch's Castle (below) could all make really cool set concepts.

I've made my own flying monkeys using the chimpanzee and adapted vulture wings.

Those are wonderful, Tierman!  The appropriate amount of creepy. Were these cryptids inspired by the film, or are they your own creative vision?

Related/unrelated I also have a flying cat made for me by MsOmega that uses the crow wings

Oh my gosh, I love this!  I may have to experiment with one of my own black cats ...

[tahra]

I've made my own flying monkeys using the chimpanzee and adapted vulture wings.

Related/unrelated I also have a flying cat made for me by MsOmega that uses the crow wings

Awesome work   Love them all

To give a short synopsis of the film:

Thanks - I do know some of the characters (I'm not blind, they're mentioned about ), but nothing in depth. You are right, of course - would be nice sets. No idea how known they'd be for today's kids, but hey... that doesn't seem to stop them, so...

An army of flying monkeys seems quite interesting, actually    WANT.  (wallet is giving me funny looks)