playmobil vs. lego - growing up

[Macruran]

I know right! Imagine how awesome a historical-styled medieval theme would be, like they used to do it. French knights in their finery, German Landsknechts with those huge swords, English archers...

[Rhalius]

Exactly, it could be so beautifull with the possibilities they have today.

[cachalote]

apparently, other people are also interested in this subjectt:

http://playmobilvslego.tumblr.com/archive

the study is made in france but there are a lot of things that have no borders.
and there are a lot of things being said that we have also being saying.
enjoy.

[cachalote]

here's what these guys say.

facts
1/3 of the buys comes from parents
1/3 of the buys comes from grandparents
1,6% from children

conclusions
targeting adults is a basic move.

lego
already targests parents directly, including an independent on-line section.

playmobil
is doing something else (god knows what);

[tahra]

playmobil
is doing something else (god knows what);

I don't think even the gods have a clue 

[cachalote]

facts
parents are bored of video games
parents try to have their children playing with the same games thay had when they wer kids (second generation effect)

conclusions
adults should like and recognize toys easily

playmobil could understand this and market for parents as well as for children.
it has a very good 2"lever": it exists for 2 generations.
maybe each set should be tested so that it could please both the child and the parent.
this could mean that the importance of a "noveltie" look is not that big and the "vintage" look could also be targeted.

[SKlick]

I always felt that Playmobil was a lot better at listening to what their customers and fans wanted. I actually collect both toylines and used to be very upset about the fact that LEGO did not seem to listen. It took them a very long time to get their pick-a-brick shop online and it still doesn't seem to offer nearly as much as the DS.

I only wish there was a site like BrickLink for Playmobil parts.

And I too am against licensed and often short lived themes. LEGO tried to sell Prince of Persia and The Lone Ranger themed sets and no one wanted to buy them. Especially since them paying for the licenses made those sets way too expensive.

I myself am not interested in the newer sets. I prefer steck houses, the old trains and the pink sets. I wish they would re-release more of those. I'd even buy a 4052 if it didn't come with a motor.

[Klickteryx]

One of the best sets they released was 3660. It was a color set that featured a wagon and a bunch of civilian type klickies.
Similar in content to this picture.

[tahra]

I wish they did a new version of that...
(well, me and everyone else )

[Macruran]

They seem to have re-used the number for a newer set. I didn't know they did that.