I'm kind of in 2 minds about this. I don't think that Playmobil is ever going to successfully be a 'building' toy - anymore than I think that Lego ever successfully works as a narrative/dolls house toy. . . . As a child, I owned more Playmobil (by a long way) than anyone I knew. Was there much I could do to build interesting, varied buildings? Not really.
I think it depends on the child. Some kids are narrative-play oriented — in which case, it's all about the figures and accessories, as you said, with environments being secondary to optional. And, for other kids, it's all about construction-play and environment design: world-building ( which
includes construction, but not only ). The latter typically transition to building dioramas, and have a greater chance of sticking with the brand into their teens ( and a few into adulthood, though there is often a pattern of rediscovering the toyline, when getting kids, same as AFOLs ). ...That was me. Growing up in the 1970s and early 80s, I still have fond memories of configuring my steck castle. I had sets 3450 and 3449, and eventually combined them into one big castle, at one point ( I built and rebuild the castle several times ). I guess one might say that, to me, the environment
was a character, serving the storytelling dimension.
The question isn't wether Playmobil should be a narrative or a building toy. It is clearly, primarily, the former ( opposite of Lego ), but there is — or rather
was — a construction aspect, without which, you likely wouldn't see many of those gorgeous dioramas at conventions, today. I think the construction aspect has been neglected in recent years, and should be revalorized, and
enhanced to some extent. ...Even the 'new' building system — let's call it 'tabs' — could be designed to allow
some combining and reuse, so one isn't stuck with the one form the toy came with. Ex: Being able to add floors to the Violet Vale tower, or to link two such towers. Stuff like that. Other example: Let's say I want to build a seaport with my son. I could get a used set 5139 ( Pirates Soldiers Fort with Dungeon ), for not too much money, but what if I want another dock — or a bridge that connects to another structure? Where do I attach that? As a Dad, given a choice, I'd much prefer combining several 7376s ( Pirate Prison Fortress ) and make one long System-X port, so as to have room for several boats to dock to. Or better yet: several 7400s! The problem, is neither sets are made anymore, and cost a lot of $$$,
used ( ...because they are versatile and
add value ).
Then some paper pusher , sharp pencil numb nut decided to go for (as Tahra calls it “system y”) the modular, un-expandable hunk of junk that seemed to appease some lazy parents who were too concerned with no wanting to spend 30 minutes with their child and build a set.
I think it's fair to say that Playmobil has a "hunk of junk" problem, which is all the more striking when compared to the steck re-releases. It's like night and day. The re-releases are beautiful, substantial toys. Quality. Toys you could stand on! ☺ ...You definitely get your money's worth. And, they are extendable! However, the cheapo new stuff — hum,
'cost-optimized' — well, it's just going to end up partly disassembled, clogging the toy bin, never to be played with again once the singular, unmodifiable, design grows stale ( which is pretty quickly! ).
The build-ability issue isn't going away, and the reason it is still a subject of ( passionate ) debate is simply because
it matters, and makes the Playmobil experience
better. Being able to build stuff, and make dioramas in and around those creations, is one of the things I, and many others,
like about Playmobil. You're not limited to a singular kind of play — at any age — or at least, shouldn't be.
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...That's what you want: a kid with ambition!
Yes, they're small, but they reproduce very quickly ( ending up costing an arm and a leg, before you know it ).
