Author Topic: A Playmobil anomaly  (Read 1458 times)

Offline playmofire

  • Klicky Firemeister
  • Playmo Guru
  • ******
  • Posts: 10894
  • Gender: Male
    • Copt Hewick Volunteer Fire Brigade - probably the world's smallest fire brigade!
A Playmobil anomaly
« on: December 16, 2017, 01:25:13 »
My original interest in Playmobil was fire an rescue, but in the last seven years, my interest has increasingly centred on the train theme, although this obviously leaves room for fire and rescue, too.

Looking through Playmobil Collector (3rd edition) recently something odd struck me - some of the earliest figures and sets of Playmobil were train themed, but the first trains did not appear until 1981!

The items are as follows (dates in brackets are the production runs).  Lyra produced similar sets sometimes using the same number but the contents were not always the same.

3271 Traveller set (1974/75-1976)  (This is not to be confused with the later 3271 construction worker set)

http://www.playmobil.de/travaller---set/3271-A.html#imageMainZoom0

3206 Transport (1975-1976) (This is not to be confused with the later 3206 laundry room set)

http://www.playmobil.de/transport/3206-A.html#imageMainZoom0

Note the spares of blue hats and white collars/lapels so Playmobil figures (usually blue ones, I imagine) could be converted to "service men" (see 3323 below).

Although the set name is Transport and it obviously could be used with the Playmobil trucks of the time, it is, I think, very "railwayish", as is:

3323 Service man cart (1975-1978)  (This is not to be confused with the later 3323 taxi set)

http://www.playmobil.de/dienstmann-karre/3323-A.html#imageMainZoom0

Well, this is just to get things rolling and as it is now 01:23 I'll go back to bed.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2017, 16:50:10 by playmofire »
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline CountBogro

  • desperate poet
  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 1438
  • Gender: Male
Re: A Playmobil anomaly
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2017, 07:01:20 »
Hi Gordon,

in those days, though Playmobil did not make trains themselves, there were a number of brands that made them on Playmobil-scale.
Faller is the one that comes to my mind:
https://www.todocoleccion.net/playmobil/faller-play-train-3617-compatible-playmobil~x60547715#sobre_el_lote

With a name like "Playtrains" the market aimed at is VERY clear .

Mark
... and then dusk came and brought despair.

Offline playmofire

  • Klicky Firemeister
  • Playmo Guru
  • ******
  • Posts: 10894
  • Gender: Male
    • Copt Hewick Volunteer Fire Brigade - probably the world's smallest fire brigade!
Re: A Playmobil anomaly
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2017, 08:40:49 »
Hi Gordon,

in those days, though Playmobil did not make trains themselves, there were a number of brands that made them on Playmobil-scale.
Faller is the one that comes to my mind:
https://www.todocoleccion.net/playmobil/faller-play-train-3617-compatible-playmobil~x60547715#sobre_el_lote

With a name like "Playtrains" the market aimed at is VERY clear .

Mark

That is true, Mark, although Faller marketed their sets with their own weird Playmobl-type figure and was, I think, actually a smaller scale than Playmobil trains would be, O gauge rather than G scale.

And then, of course, LGB had appeared in 1968 and, I think, had included Playmobil figures in some early sets.

However, I think you do have a point here.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2017, 09:58:41 by playmofire »
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline GrahamB

  • Moderator
  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 3358
  • Gender: Male
    • Playmofanatic
Re: A Playmobil anomaly
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2017, 14:17:02 »
You are right, playmofire. Those early 'traveller' sets came long before the PM trains.
Those travellers had a long wait for the train to arrive!
At that moment the ship suddenly stopped rocking and swaying, the engine pitch settled down to a gentle hum. 'Hey Ford.' said Zaphod, 'that sounds good. Have you worked out the controls on this boat?' 'No,' said Ford, 'I just stopped fiddling with them.' (With thanks to Douglas Adams)

Offline playmofire

  • Klicky Firemeister
  • Playmo Guru
  • ******
  • Posts: 10894
  • Gender: Male
    • Copt Hewick Volunteer Fire Brigade - probably the world's smallest fire brigade!
Re: A Playmobil anomaly
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2017, 16:46:12 »
3206 Travel accessories (1976-1978)  See earlier note on second use of 3206 as a set number.

http://www.playmobil.de/reise-zubehoer/3206-B.html#imageMainZoom0

Although having the same set number as the original issue, the name is different and so are the contents, there being no hats or collars/stroke lapels in the set, fewer of each luggage/freight item, a different selection of hand luggage and the addition of two low benches.  It hardly seems worthwhile mentioning the changes in colours of items.

3271 Traveller set (1976-1978)   See earlier note on second use of 3271 as a set number.

http://www.playmobil.de/traveller-set/3271-B.html#imageMainZoom0

The contents of this set differ notably from the original set, with an extra passenger, no freight and no handcart. 

3402 Traveller Superset(1976-1980/81)   See earlier note on second use of 3402 as a set number.

http://www.playmobil.de/traveller-superset/3402-A.html#imageMainZoom0

An enhanced set with three "station" staff, four passengers, a mix if hand luggage and freight, two luggage trolleys and a handcart and two benches.  The box illustration suggests that there may also be something else, maybe platform pieces - see the left of the box picture.  However, I haven't been able to trace an image of the actual items out of the box with these pieces.  If any one knows what they are or if they were even part of the set, I'be happy to know more.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2017, 17:01:15 by playmofire »
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline playmofire

  • Klicky Firemeister
  • Playmo Guru
  • ******
  • Posts: 10894
  • Gender: Male
    • Copt Hewick Volunteer Fire Brigade - probably the world's smallest fire brigade!
Re: A Playmobil anomaly
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2017, 17:06:14 »
That's all for the moment, but I have noticed pre-train items in the Playmobil exclusive sets, which I will come to in the New Year, and so there may be others elsewhere to discover.  (I have noticed the Lyra issues, btw which replicate the German ones and I am looking for original non-German issues.)

“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline Marco_4124

  • Playmo Addict
  • ****
  • Posts: 752
  • Gender: Male
  • Playmo Flagmaster
Re: A Playmobil anomaly
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2017, 21:58:20 »
Hi Gordon,

in those days, though Playmobil did not make trains themselves, there were a number of brands that made them on Playmobil-scale.
Faller is the one that comes to my mind:

With a name like "Playtrains" the market aimed at is VERY clear .


Mark

See also this topic.

Offline playmofire

  • Klicky Firemeister
  • Playmo Guru
  • ******
  • Posts: 10894
  • Gender: Male
    • Copt Hewick Volunteer Fire Brigade - probably the world's smallest fire brigade!
Re: A Playmobil anomaly
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2017, 22:18:37 »
See also this topic.

Yes, a very interesting train series.  I keep an eye on Faller on eBay.
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”