playmobil's new design trends?

[Gepetto]

Perhaps 'current'?


Gepetto

[Rasputin]

In this day and age it would be called "Recycled"

[Gepetto]

I never realized how much Megabloks was a mix of Lego and Playmobil, if their production values were better they could be a real player. They would always have to copy though and would lose it in the attention to detail that really anchors Playmobil.



Gepetto

[cachalote]

well gepetto, playmobil sold 430 million euros of toys in 2007.
the ugly megablocks represent a revenue of 525 million dollars in the same year.
they are a "real player" as you put it. 
like playmobil, they seem to be a "family" company but there are differences:
megabloks operates form montreal in canada
playmobil operates from zirndorf in germany.
megabloks makes poorly constructed (in my view, of course) toys that seem not to last for a very long time.
playmobil makes wonderfully engineered toys that last forever.

i too thought that megabloks had "to copy" but, looking at their release dates, i guess that if they copy, they are not copying from playmobil.
maybe, in their "current" (an excellent choice of word) design trend, playmobil is trying to follow mega bloks in their ""knowledge" of what north american kids like.
the result is that they are following an ugly and sad design trend. 

somehow, the word "greed" keeps coming into my mind when i think of some of the most recent playmobil themes (geisterpiraten and drachenritter).
if you look at the image with kids playing with these dragons, something looks so very much wrong. 
if you look at the same image for the firemen theme, with the same kids, everything look o.k. 

maybe, with the firemen, the klickies are smiling back... 

[Gepetto]

I fear you may be right cachalote, there is a dark edge to some of these newer designs, but things like the theater and Advent calendars give me hope.


Gepetto

[CountBogro]

oh, come on guys!
The towers in the new Dragon Theme are indeed horrible; allthough I might change my mind once I see them for real (that wouldn't be the first time it happened). But the figures look nice and so do the dragons.
That theme isn't a totall loss yet. Besides, even the best of the best makes a mistake once in a while  .

The fact that only one theme might be a bit ... er ... upsetting doesn't mean they've completely flipped.
After all - all the other themes look wonderfull and fantastic. ...
Give them a break, please ?

Bogro

[Martin Milner]

Is that red dragon in the fantasy theme different to the Chicken Wing-shedding dragon? He looks different, but I don't have a chicken dragon handy to compare.

I see a few more things I like there, like the wizard standing outside the right hand tower. Definitely elements of that theme I'd like to get, if not the towers and the bazookas. One great thing about Playmobil themes, you don't have to swallow them whole, and you can mix-and-match with your existing collection.


We've commented before on how Playmobil copy ideas from other companies and from recent films, and I think we should add LEGO into the research data, as they produce sets in similar themes. It's inevitable that some copying occurs, and if the market is there Playmobil are right to pursue it - I'd rather have Playmobil fantasy dragons than Megablocks ones.

We shouldn't overlook the fact them Playmobil also initiate new themes like Egyptians, Pony Ranch, Wedding, Fairyland and Harbour, that aren't copied from Megablocks or LEGO (afaik).

I can't help thinking that Megablocks outsells Playmobil because it's cheaper, not because children prefer it for its wonderful quality and attention to detail.

Parents here can advise us on the typical play-life of a toy, and how much they're willing to invest in something that might not still be played with in six months.

[cachalote]

you are right count bogro, most of the playmobil themes are great.  
and maybe that's the problem - when you sometimes see perfection, and get used to it, you tend to react badly when something "inferior" is offered to you.
i wished playmobil could be always perfect in what it does.
my original (un-posted) post had to do with good examples on past products.
but then, seeing that the beautiful lighthouse was preceded by the megabloks one made me mad.
i started doubting playmobil's ability to produce even some kind of original idea and the dragonknights "absurd" (i still don't like them) was "the last drop of water that made the glass spill".
maybe, what i am needing is to be re-assured that they can get back to their old smartness.
right now they are "hammering one in the nail and one in the horseshoe" (a translation from a portuguese expression "uma no cravo, outra na ferradura").
... but, if no-one complains, maybe they won't be able to do it alone.
... and the boxes will get bigger while the sets grow smaller,
... and there will be fewer and fewer parts in each set,
... and everything will be done with plastic, no string and no metal,
.. and everything will become mono-colour, so that the different families can be better identified.
but the theater, as gepetto very rightly puts it, still gives me hope that al least one of the designers doesn't come form the accounting department.  

[cachalote]

i had the idea, martin, that megabloks sets were within playmobil's price range, larger sets costing around 90 dollars or euros. 

[Martin Milner]

Within, but I think Mega Bloks gives the impression you get more stuff for your money



This castle set is currently priced at £70 for at Toys R Us UK website.

Maybe I'm wrong. I can't imagine why people would choose Mega Bloks over Playmobil except on price, it looks like it'd give you lead poisoning just by sniffing it.