PlaymoFriends
General => News => Topic started by: Bolingbroke on October 09, 2015, 07:18:50
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/08/playmobil-racist-toy-pirate-slave?CMP=fb_gu
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A friend just fowarded me the link...
They need to get a life. And/or a(nother) hobby.
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they'r a product of a particular culture. we're reaping what we sowed. it's gonna get worse.
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we cant change history.
and not hide them from our text books like some countries do.
its up to teachers and parents to point out it was wrong and we should not do it in today's world.
next thing she will be doing is suing for huge compensation....I heard USA has more lawyers per capita than most countries 8}
(if what i'm saying is not appropriate for the developed world, admin, please delete this)
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well the poor boy does look like he's been scarred for life, in the accompanying picture.
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well the poor boy does look like he's been scarred for life, in the accompanying picture.
Well, wouldn't you be, if your crazy mother wanted to steal your brand new pirate ship??
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LOL.
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Wonder what she really said to the poor boy to make him pull that expression.
Doesn't look like a natural reaction at all.
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Wonder what she really said to the poor boy to make him pull that expression.
Doesn't look like a natural reaction at all.
"Kid, this is an awful racist toy, we're giving it back" ?
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I hope Playmobil doesn't give in to these SJW idiots. A bigger share of the global market shouldn't come at ANY price.
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Um, this is nothing in the us. Last week a bunch rowdy inconsiderate book club women were booted off a elegant wine train for disrupting the other passangers. They are now in litigation for a sum in the millions. They were mostly black. Carma perhaps is coming home to roost. As the saying goes, payback is a b!¥€#
I bet geobra loves the facebook experience, keep rewarding them folks with better prizes than the club members.
I hope Playmobil doesn't give in to these SJW idiots. A bigger share of the global market shouldn't come at ANY price.
You better hope really hard, geobra scraped stecks and is phasing out system x line due to complaints.
Germany should sell to the east, thicker skinned people there
Better go and buy this set before its banned from TRU, it's a good looking klicky for a peasant in medival or roman times
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Seriously people? A slave collar is offensive. Period.
I am very surprised at the reaction here given how much outrage there has been in the past over anything Playmobil that involves implied animal cruelty such as the dancing bear in set 3632 or the possibility that there might be a bull fighter figure. As awful as animal cruelty is, cruelty to humans is still worse and does not belong in a toy for children.
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The crying kid (coached by mum) is all about getting paid out.
Two other klickies in the same set are the same colour as the "slave".
Retard mum also can't tell the difference between a dungeon (on a ship!) and a cargo hold.
A pity that such ignorant people can create so much mayhem.
I don't want to go off topic, but... the city of Baltimore now has around 300 murders this year, nearly all of them black on black. I can think of better things for the NAACP to be doing than chasing after this idiot parent's dreams of persecution and compensation.
Those colour klickies don't even represent black africans, it's so stupid.
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Seriously people? A slave collar is offensive. Period.
I am very surprised at the reaction here given how much outrage there has been in the past over anything Playmobil that involves implied animal cruelty such as the dancing bear in set 3632 or the possibility that there might be a bull fighter figure. As awful as animal cruelty is, cruelty to humans is still worse and does not belong in a toy for children.
Don't ever buy a castle set then. You'd get the vapours.
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I should also add that this is a pirate ship, what do pirates do again? Cruelty to people? You'd have to ban the knights, western, police, pirates and likely others if cruel themes were to be done away with.
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Seriously people? A slave collar is offensive. Period.
I am very surprised at the reaction here given how much outrage there has been in the past over anything Playmobil that involves implied animal cruelty such as the dancing bear in set 3632 or the possibility that there might be a bull fighter figure. As awful as animal cruelty is, cruelty to humans is still worse and does not belong in a toy for children.
Didn't you know animals are now more important than humans. Kick the homeless man down to save the homeless dog 8}
Hiding history is not educational
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Those colour klickies don't even represent black africans, it's so stupid.
That did cross my mind too...
Clearly you are right - she's after her 15 mikes of fame and a possible payout. May the Others take her.
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Wasn't the last slave on the same ship a Chinese klicky?
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This is SO silly that it got to the news papers here too :lol: :lol: :lol:
I too wonder what did this woman say or do for the kid to look like that in the pics.
Everyone is so paranoid about racism now that EVERYTHING is/might/could/will be considered racist. For goodness sake, CHILL! >:(
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Attention seekers, anyone???
Makes me sick.
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I should also add that this is a pirate ship, what do pirates do again? Cruelty to people? You'd have to ban the knights, western, police, pirates and likely others if cruel themes were to be done away with.
Exactly. Pirates pillaged, plundered, murdered etc. That's their thing. We've been letting our kids play with pirate toys for ages. Pirates of the Carribean is hugely successful.
But put in a clicky with a darker skin tone and what appears to be a silver neckpiece, and kids will be scarred for life...?
There's tons of prisoners in chains in the medieval sets. Is that okay because they are white, or...? But better not mention it, or they will demand all the historic themes to be taken from the shelves. :shhhh:
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Seriously people? A slave collar is offensive. Period.
I don't get this 'offensive' thing, to be honest. It's like these 'trigger warnings' they have nowadays in some schools and universities, where they give you a warning that the offensive content in, say, a book, might trigger some past trauma or something like that. If you're so easily offended, then don't buy it for your children. Buy them, I don't know ... what CAN you buy children nowadays?
I sometimes worry that this is a vicious circle ... the more we emphasize this kind of thing, the more 'sensitive' people will get. as to the collar, come on. Once the Ottomans came over to Malta and carried off half of the population of our sister island, women, children, slaves, all of them. Taken as slaves, all of them. Am I offended by slave collars? No, it's history. It's our history. It's imporrtant to learn about this kind of thing, through play, too.
African Americans would almost have you believe that they're the only people who suffered injustice in the past. ::) ::) ::)
It's history. Teach your children some, give them some context. We're turning them into idiots.
The dancing bear in the old sets, what, did it make us rush out in the street and bait animals? No it didn't. Cause we had context, and we had common sense, many of us at least. Something which unfortunately kids these days don't have much of. And all because of the way they're being raised.
And the others have a point too. Why did she buy him a pirate ship, anyway? Does she know anything about pirates, besides that Johnny Depp movie?
Now let's ban all medieval themes, all religious themes, the zoo stuff, the circus stuff ... hey, even the wildlife stuff, at least the sets that have humans in them.
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Oh no!!!!!!
In my dio there's a chained, red-haired man, and I've got red hair myself, and now this made me think about all these poor Scottish and Irish people who were under the English yoke in medieval times, and...and...what to do now ? 8}
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ok guys, let's give our opinions but keep it clean.
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This is SO silly that it got to the news papers here too :lol: :lol: :lol:
What, is there room in the papers alongside the dancing president stories?
I agree with what Indianna wrote and I actually thought this was a big goof by PM. And I thought their attempt to spin it as a 'freed slave' pretty lame (surely a freed slave would get rid of their collar, a bit of careful sawing/filing should do the trick!), perhaps they got advice from VW's PR dept.?
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What, is there room in the papers alongside the dancing president stories?
Don't get me started with that lady! >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
:P
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I think the slave collar is a great addition to the series. At that time slaves and prisoners wore these.
There are already balls and chains, chains attached to walls, handcuffs, so having a halter around the neck is adding to what's already there. I can imagine a prison party (chain gang) like this and play revolving around freeing one of the prisoners.
For the historic themes it's a very useful piece.
I'd like to a see the classic stock but due to the arms not bending, you can't have the hands up by the head.
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Our local news even carried this story. I suppose it was a poor choice on their part because someone was bound to be offended. But yeah, that is not even a black klicky! I have always thought of this skin color as being a Mediterranean or Native American skin tone. And besides there is only one klicky on this ship with light skin. If it was meant to depict slavery, wouldn't the ship be run by white pirates and all the darker skinned ones have slave collars? But people will get all up in arms without even bothering to take an honest look at the facts. ::)
And btw, I love animals but the dancing bear did not offend me. It was historically accurate.
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Insanely ridiculous. 8}
She forgot to cry racism about the big skull on the sail being black. ::)
Wasn't the last slave on the same ship a Chinese klicky?
The Asian-eyed "slave" came 14 years ago with "dungeon 3112". There was even a chain attached to that one´s collar, another klicky could walk him like a dog;
http://www.collectobil.com/catalogue/items/3112.htm
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The "slave" doesn't seem to mind - he is smiling! ;D
Her son on the other hand does look as if he is being tortured!
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....And I thought their attempt to spin it as a 'freed slave' pretty lame (surely a freed slave would get rid of their collar, a bit of careful sawing/filing should do the trick!), perhaps they got advice from VW's PR dept.?
exactly my thoughts (about Geobra's illogical explanation) ...but can anyone help Geobra out and offer a better reply to pre-empt any further thoughts of litigation by her?
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Insanely ridiculous. 8}
She forgot to cry racism about the big skull on the sail being black. ::)
Hey, it used to be white, like my sister pointed out. WE are insulted! OUTRAGE!
The "slave" doesn't seem to mind - he is smiling! ;D
Her son on the other hand does look as if he is being tortured!
Correct, on both accounts. Maybe she should get him a gun instead? Is he too young for machine gun instruction?
What is amazing is the amount of atention we give these idiots. Only encourages them, I think. :-\
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Its clear that this woman just wants a handout of sorts or likes attention.
That clicky is not black, the collar is clearly shown on the box yet she bought that ship anyways for her kid.
People like this trying to profit from white guilt seem to cause more prejudice than they claim to fight against.
It's pretty much the story of "the boy who cried wolf." If someone keeps looking for every possible excuse to cry "racism!" then people wont take them seriously anymore by the time they have a real case of racism.
As for how I interpret the clicky with the collar, I see him as a former prisoner or slave who the other pirates resqued.
I bet this woman would object to the black clicky with the western gold seekers too since I believe he is serving soup on the box, implying that he would be the slave of the three white gold seekers. (despite them all depicted working too.)
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If it was meant to depict slavery, wouldn't the ship be run by white pirates and all the darker skinned ones have slave collars?
And btw, I love animals but the dancing bear did not offend me. It was historically accurate.
But this has nothing to do with anything. White people never had a monopoly on slavery!
As I said earlier, Ottoman Turks (definitely non-whites!) enslaved Europeans throughout the middleages and later, and Arabs did the same in North Africa up till colonial times.
The problem, as usual, is with globalization. PM is a European thing, it's hard for Americans to understand where we come from.
But people getting offended over nothing, what a silly thing. Ooooh, Im scarred ... Im gonna sue! Tsk. They're ruining a great toy for the rest of us, people like this woman. If you're offended, then don't buy it. As simple as that.
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Amazon.com has this ship on sale for $62.99 this week... ;)
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But people getting offended over nothing, what a silly thing. Ooooh, Im scarred ... Im gonna sue!
She's not offended. She's an attention wh... who's looking to make a quick buck. Kind of like the kind folks (sarcasm, obviously) from the Westboro Baptist Church. This is not about racism and it's not about Playmobil. It would be best to not pay attention, imo.
No one complains, when a "white" figure is shown in handcuffs. Besides... it could be just as well a regular sun tan.
Amazon.com has this ship on sale for $62.99 this week... ;)
Not a fan of Amazon. I'd look, if I can find it elsewhere or ask other sellers, if they can match the price.
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Well... now I WANT THIS SET
:captain:
And BTW Sylvia... all the smileys are yellow. We'll sue Playmofriends! >:(
:P
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Thats still a thing that confuses me yes, that these people seem to think that the only slavery that ever existed is europeans selling black people from africa to America. And even then they choose to ignore the role of the african tribes in Africa who sold their prisoners to slavers.
No one is alive anymore who took part or was subjected to that particular account of slavery. If they are that concerned about slavery they should focus their efforts on fighting against slavery that actually still happens today instead of playing the victim of crimes that have not happened in a very long time.
If people had to keep grudges for their ancestors for eternity, that would mean us Dutch would have to still hold a grudge against Germany, England, Spain and France due to past wars. Both France and Germany occupied us after all, we fought for our independence against Spain and we had four wars with England.
Going even further back its quite likely that some of my ancestors would have been enslaved by the Roman Empire. Should I hold a grudge against Italians for that?
History happened and we should not forget it. Many horrible things happened. But we can't pretend it didnt. That way no one will learn from past mistakes.
Its just kind of backwards thinking like this that keeps surfacing.. I mean they seem eager to remove all references to implied slavery of black people to america, but at the same time they go out of their way to bring up that subject.
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it's like the roman arena. christians should have called for a ban on that because they were fed to the lions in there.
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And BTW Sylvia... all the smileys are yellow. We'll sue Playmofriends! >:(
:lmao:
it's like the roman arena. christians should have called for a ban on that because they were fed to the lions in there.
Please, don't give them ideas. They have enough on their own.
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If we ignore or forget our history, then we will repeat.
Moreover, slavery is not a thing of the past - it exists today, in the UK, in the USA, in pretty well every country. People who are offended by slavery, and we all should be, and want to fight it, should concentrate on that rather than historical slavery.
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Great topic and some very interesting points raised reading the Pirates Diary was very enlightening ;D the first thing which struck em was in the instructions it shows that you put the neck collar on the pirate so surely if you have such strong objections to the 'slaves neck collar' then just stick it in the box or the bin it's not even as though he has to wear it. The world is full of horrible things humans in particular do a lot of horrible things to other animals and humans pretending it didn't exist and wrapping kids up in cotton wool is not going to help in fact if anything it's probably better that the kids learn about slavery and such like so that they have respect and don't think those sorts of things are cool or acceptable or at least that was my feeling all be it at a more mature age with regard learning about the Holocaust.
I liked this over response (just noticed all the bad grammar) :lol:
I think this toy is disastrous. It is racist and also it also encourages violence, killing, raping, extorsion, smuggling, kidnapping and all other activities that pirates where involved. We should ban both the slave and the pirate boat. I think that this mother was irresponsable for buying this kind of disastrous and inmmoral toys. She´s a bad exapmple also an should be censored and punished like playmobil.
"I propouse to ban also romans, vikings, western and all historical toys. Can you imagine! a cowboy killing an indian Racist, A Roman with a slave outrageous, vikings genocidal. They should BAN all toys!"
The "slave" doesn't seem to mind - he is smiling! ;D
Her son on the other hand does look as if he is being tortured!
True I sympathise with the kid my Mum gave my Pirate Ship and Island away when I was still very young or at least that's the way it seemed to me anyway think it was because it took up too much space though.
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This idiotic piece of "news" made it here too. BY THE GODS, can't they even see the guy isn't black!!?
They all need freaking glasses. And a new hobby, of course :wall:
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Well if you look hard enough every single playmobil set could probably be identified as traumatic.
Cops theme comes with guns and clubs, encourages police brutality.
Hospital theme involves smiling clickies despite being sick or injured which could imply they are given drugs.
A mom with a child set without a father could imply all sorts of stuff. Did the father abandon his child? Did he leave the mother for another woman?
Roman sets encourage slavery, glorifies a pagan religion and lots of war and death.
A child with hamsters set might give children the idea they can take care of five hamsters on their own.
The western saloon set comes with a woman wearing lipstick, could be mistaken for a burlesque dancer or prostitute.
Santa's workshop implies forced child labour while Santa watches.
Pregnant clickies might encourage children to want to be pregnant too.
A wandering monk might be offensive to non christians.
A tanned clicky with a black beard could be mistaken for a muslim extremist, inciting children to become the same.
Yep, I'm pretty sure that every single set someone would mention, could be taken in a negative way if we look hard enough for it. ::)
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Yep, I'm pretty sure that every single set someone would mention, could be taken in a negative way if we look hard enough for it. ::)
Sounds like a good idea for a new humour thread. :lol:
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This idiotic piece of "news" made it here too. BY THE GODS, can't they even see the guy isn't black!!?
They all need freaking glasses. And a new hobby, of course :wall:
Being offended is a hobby for some people.
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Yep, I'm pretty sure that every single set someone would mention, could be taken in a negative way if we look hard enough for it. ::)
Hispanic maid for the summer fun theme - another good one for Americans to get wound up over and I saw one review which touched on that subject.
Belly dancer from the fi?ures range which is basically erotic dancing originating with sex slaves and the harem.
Grave robbers from the Egyptian theme.
Modern grave robbers - archeologists. ;D
Safe crackers.
Museum robbers.
I think every prison comes with break out bars.
Police dogs aren't exactly friendly either and there are a lot of them!
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Sounds like a good idea for a new humour thread. :lol:
Yes, it does!
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While this seems idiotic and risible to Europeans, it's a good illustration of how tense the atmosphere in the US is becoming. It might look like a joke to you, and the woman might be grandstanding to a degree, but there 1) is a lot of money at stake, due the insuring and liability-izing of everything here, and 2) are real political consequences. In the US you can lose your job if you say the wrong thing at the wrong time - even if you didn't mean any harm. I recently did a "workplace training" on harassment and they made it explicitly clear that intention is IRRELEVANT when determining if harassment has taken place.
Furthermore the old ideal of American assimilation has almost completely given way to a sort of ethnic balkanization, in which groups compete with each other for benefits and especially for the prized victim status. Groups are also physically pulling apart - mixed neighborhoods are rarer with each passing year.
And yes the media appear to be encouraging this at every turn.
It's funny from a distance but it's not a good situation.
Finally, at least one researcher has found that increased ethnic diversity causes a marked decrease in social trust, across the board, both between groups and within them. This merits some serious reflection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Putnam#Diversity_and_trust_within_communities
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Would she really be able to sue Playmobil over such an idtiotic issue which she created herself?! Just because SHE believes it is a racist toy?!
If yes then the USA is indeed really going 8} 8} 8}
Btw, besides an age-indication for the kids our beloved blue boxes maybe should also indicate the minimal required IQ of the parents.
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Would she really be able to sue Playmobil over such an idtiotic issue which she created herself?! Just because SHE believes it is a racist toy?!
If yes then the USA is indeed really going 8} 8} 8}
I don't know any specifics but I bet a creative lawyer has already given his attention to this. Also, remember that there are things you can go to jail for saying in Europe too.
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Here in the Netherlands there isnt really any punishment for crimes. The man who killed a popular politician about 10 years ago is already free. Was 100% certain he did it and showed no remorse. They even allow convicted pedophiles to live in a neighbourhood with many children once they are released. All kept anonymous and such, they care more about protecting the criminals instead of the victims.
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Here in the Netherlands there isnt really any punishment for crimes.
Same here. It's disgusting.
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In the US you can lose your job if you say the wrong thing at the wrong time - even if you didn't mean any harm.
Same happens over here in Germany. One of our supervisors was fired after telling an employee that "melden macht frei" ... or to "pass the buck". What he meant was that he wanted to be told whenever there's a problem with a customer so that he could help out. Problem was that a helpdesk employee thought she heard him say "Arbeit macht frei" which has a totally different meaning. And history. The guy was fired on the spot.
Also, hardly anyone dares to say the word "refugee" while at work.
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Problem was that a helpdesk employee thought she heard him say "Arbeit macht frei" which has a totally different meaning. And history. The guy was fired on the spot.
Also, hardly anyone dares to say the word "refugee" while at work.
That is soooooooooooo stupid. IMO.
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12 October 2015
In the news ... A Playmobil pirate has become the center of discussion.
Playmobil Pirate Ship 5135 seems to have a pirate with a "metal" collar as an accessory.
Ida Lockett thinks it's a "slave collar". And, this California mother doesn't want her 5 year old son playing with it.
The NAACP has demanded that all of these "racist" Playmobil sets should be removed immediately.
Too bad no one seems to know their history or even know the Playmobil product very well.
First, is the metal collar. During this period both leather and metal collars were worn as neck protection!
A deadly blow to the neck with a cutlass could certainly ruin a pirate's day.
Second, the color of the Playmobil pirate figure is not the color used for the typical African Playmobil figure.
Playmobil uses the light brown figure for beach goers with a tan, native Americans and ancient Egyptians.
Apparently, Ida needs to do her homework and find something else to complain about.e
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The collar isn't attached to anything (and his hands are free), so it isn't being used to hold him captive, but it has a hook, suggesting that at one time this guy was chained up.
He could plausibly be a recently escaped mulatto slave. He hasn't had time to find a trustworthy blacksmith or to file off the collar himself because he just got away.
In the Facebook post, that lady called it "a slave ship". One pale guy plus three darker skin guys (two of which are not wearing any restraints, and one with a collar that is not attached to anything) does not constitute a slave ship. Go read a history book lady.
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I bet she would have been perfectly fine with the set if it was the white clicky wearing the collar.
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Imagine if the ball and chain fi?ure from series two had had a darker complexion. That would have had them frothing at the mouth for sure. Especially with that sad face.
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One reason I like Playmobil is that they DO make odd things that no Anglophone company would ever make. Confederate soldiers, Egyptians, Romans, African tribesmen, Eskimos, crusaders, a conquistador...and that's just the history. Modern wackiness includes airport security among many, many others.
It's just a matter of time before some(American)one combs PM's entire product history and composes a giant list of offensive sets, and initiates legal action. Mark my words.
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The circus knife throwing set is another classic, and no, I can't see a modern anglophone company doing something like this. I like that kind of quirky.
Could playmobil today though produce such a set? I'm not sure, the reason they don't make metal parts is apparently due to safety laws.
They did get similar press when the bank set came out, complete with blonde bank robber.
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Well its a part of Playmobil that I would never change.
It is a very educational toy both about history and about real life with the modern themes.
Airport security set is actually a very good way to help kids understand it, teaching them about it through play.
Confederate soldiers may also help to explain history. I'd imagine many kids might just as well have them be friends with black clickies, or use them as the villains.
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it's up to the parents. i have a baby daughter now, and i know how im gonna raise her. thank god for all the old playmobil i have :p
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The NAACP has demanded that all of these "racist" Playmobil sets should be removed immediately.
It gets more ridiculous by the day. Soon they´ll be demanding a lunar eclipse (black moon) every other night, otherwise they´ll feel discriminated.
The 5135 ships will disappear soon enough, the set is already discontinued in Germany and the Benelux as it is being replaced by the new one without a cabin. I assume a future one will now also lack a slave dungeon ehrr cargo hold.