PlaymoFriends
General => What is this??? => Topic started by: racerx on October 03, 2010, 00:31:22
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So, my kids have been playing with our pirate sets the past few days, and pulled out some of their other toys to use with the Playmobil stuff. One of the things they brought out was a treasure chest that we'd bought in a box of odds and ends at a yard sale this summer. The more I looked at it, the more familiar it looked, and then it hit me. It looks just like the chest that came with the 3799:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/ghettocar/3799.jpg)
So even though I have that set put away for Christmas I had to pull the chest out:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/ghettocar/DSC_2364.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/ghettocar/DSC_2373.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/ghettocar/DSC_2368.jpg)
The thing that was throwing me up was the cheap plastic and the wording on the bottom:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/ghettocar/DSC_2370.jpg)
"c2006 DecoPac, Inc.
Made in China"
I was all set to ask everyone what kind of knock-off this was but a little internet investigation gave me the answer:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/ghettocar/chest.jpg)
DecoPac makes cake decorations. :lol:
Still, I figure they have to have tooled this off the Playmobil one, yes? I mean, the only real differences are the color, the cheap glossy plastic, and some lack of detail.
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DecoPac makes cake decorations. :lol:
Still, I figure they have to have tooled this off the Playmobil one, yes? I mean, the only real differences are the color, the cheap glossy plastic, and some lack of detail.
Certainly looks like a bit of reverse engineering. There's a court case in there for Playmobil if they're interested.
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:o :o :o I'll back up Martin here!
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I'm not sure, Martin and Panos. A chest's a chest and one chest is pretty much like another and the maker has made no attempt to suggest that it is Playmobil.
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I'm not sure, Martin and Panos. A chest's a chest and one chest is pretty much like another and the maker has made no attempt to suggest that it is Playmobil.
Thats also true Gordon!
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I'm not sure, Martin and Panos. A chest's a chest and one chest is pretty much like another and the maker has made no attempt to suggest that it is Playmobil.
That's like saying a car's a car.
In refer you to a google search for treasure chest images:
http://www.google.com/images?q=treasure+chest&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1509&bih=856
Playmobil themselves have come up with several different chest designs just within the pirate theme.
The DecoPac chest is too similar to the Playmobil chest to be anything except a direct copy IMO. The number of reinforcing bars, the dimensions, the locking mechanism, the handle size, dimension, placement and design. It all matches
To your second point, they're not trying to pass it off as Playmobil, they're trying to pass it off as NOT Playmobil. They've stolen Playmobil's design, which was copyright, and tried to pass it off as their own copyright design.
The difference is that the DecoPac chest appears to be moulded in three pieces (lock, lid, body) with the reinforcing iron bars painted over (and the paint is rubbing off, hope it's lead-free), while the Playmobil chest is moulded in five pieces, the two bar sections being separate from the lid and body, and a separate hinge. That difference may be enough to make it a separate copyrightable design in the eyes of copyright law.
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The point I was making is that the two designs are generic treasure chest designs.
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The point I was making is that the two designs are generic treasure chest designs.
The point I am making is that they aren't, there are just too many similarities for these designs to have evolved independently, so I guess we are at an impass and will have to agree to disagree.
Oddly enough, we found another "copy" of a Playmobil chest yesterday while Rona was inspecting my Playmoden. This one is made by Epoch Co. Ltd, made in China again, and has a curved lid, but the bottom half is remarkably similar to the Playmobil design, and the chest certainly fits Playmobil dimensions. I think this Epoch chest may have come in a Sylvanian families set.
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The point I am making is that they aren't, there are just too many similarities for these designs to have evolved independently, so I guess we are at an impass and will have to agree to disagree.
Oddly enough, we found another "copy" of a Playmobil chest yesterday while Rona was inspecting my Playmoden. This one is made by Epoch Co. Ltd, made in China again, and has a curved lid, but the bottom half is remarkably similar to the Playmobil design, and the chest certainly fits Playmobil dimensions. I think this Epoch chest may have come in a Sylvanian families set.
Don't forget Epoch produced Playmobil toys for Japan market and their Sylvanian toys are using nearly same scale furnitures as Playmobil ones. Inspired design is the word.
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I think the unusual shape makes it seem like a copy of playmobil. You normally think of a pirate's chest as having a curved lid. Seems strange for it to have a flat lid AND all the other similarities.
On the other hand, it really doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. i mean, a company that sells cake decorations isn't exactly direct competition.
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That's why I posted the pictures of the two chests on top of each other; it's fairly obvious the DecoPac was molded from the Playmobil one. The ribs on top aren't simply similar, they line up exactly. Furthermore, the DecoPac is very slightly larger, likely the result of basing the mold off the PM.
Add to that the identical sliding lock (which actually amazes me as it wasn't a feature cut for cost) and I think it's a closed case. As such, I'd think Playmobil could certainly go after DecoPac as a US-based company. Likely they don't feel it's worth the time, effort, and expense for such a small item though.
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I've seen this cake at the local store some years back (and can still find this cake in stores now). I too noticed it was a playmobil treasure chest from the get-go.
IMO, this is not simply a case of a similar-looking chest; it has the exact same shape, the only real difference being the wood grain detailing on the planks. In my book, it would qualify as a knock off of the original mould.
However, I doubt even if made aware of it, that it would be worth it for Playmobil to expend the time, money, and energy on a lawsuit for such a trifle accessory. Now, if it were a single Klicky, or perhaps several more parts, I can see a lawsuit being worthwhile.
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That's why I posted the pictures of the two chests on top of each other; it's fairly obvious the DecoPac was molded from the Playmobil one. The ribs on top aren't simply similar, they line up exactly. Furthermore, the DecoPac is very slightly larger, likely the result of basing the mold off the PM.
Add to that the identical sliding lock (which actually amazes me as it wasn't a feature cut for cost) and I think it's a closed case. As such, I'd think Playmobil could certainly go after DecoPac as a US-based company. Likely they don't feel it's worth the time, effort, and expense for such a small item though.
As far as other noticeable differences, from what I can tell, the deco chest's surrounding frame is moulded as part of the chest, whereas the playmobil chest frame is a seperate piece. I too am amazed they bothered to make the sliding lock a seperate piece on the knockoff, considering they already cheaped-out on the frame. Then again, chinese knock-off toys rarely make sense, lol. (I collect chinese knock-off toys as well; they come in odd colours that don't make sense, some of them are scaled up n size, and other times they are retooled with odd parts that don't match the rest of the toy.)