Author Topic: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022  (Read 23744 times)

Offline Macruran

  • desperate but not serious
  • Moderator
  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 3634
  • Gender: Male
  • Hiya!
    • my incomplete collection spreadsheet
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #20 on: December 05, 2021, 07:52:55 »
In my 18 years in the company i once in a while made suggestions for such re-releases, arguing it would be great for the "brand" and was looked at by a room of rolling eyes.

This absolutely boggles my mind. How can a company be so out of touch with their own product and market?  ???
"We like things in little." - G. Stein  
 :roman:

Offline collectobart

  • Playmo Enthusiast
  • *
  • Posts: 79
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #21 on: December 05, 2021, 13:30:39 »
This absolutely boggles my mind. How can a company be so out of touch with their own product and market?  ???

Imagine, if for decades you can achieve growth by just sticking to the core formula, you start to confuse the luxury you have to stay away from trends, licenses, digital innovation  and niche markets as the reason for your success.

And that can go on for a long time, until it doesn't. Regarding digital innovation and projects like Novelmore, those where always considered as unnecessary distractions from the toy. Now the opposite trend arises, where they are chasing buzzwords and agile strategies without really understanding them, much less having any idea of how to integrate them into the brand consistently. Duck On Call is a symptom of that, if you want to innovate the junior range but eventually end up with a disguised copy of paw patrol, you are not doing it right.

Offline Birdie

  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 3802
  • Gender: Female
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #22 on: December 05, 2021, 16:23:04 »
Imagine, if for decades you can achieve growth by just sticking to the core formula, you start to confuse the luxury you have to stay away from trends, licenses, digital innovation  and niche markets as the reason for your success.

And that can go on for a long time, until it doesn't. Regarding digital innovation and projects like Novelmore, those where always considered as unnecessary distractions from the toy. Now the opposite trend arises, where they are chasing buzzwords and agile strategies without really understanding them, much less having any idea of how to integrate them into the brand consistently. Duck On Call is a symptom of that, if you want to innovate the junior range but eventually end up with a disguised copy of paw patrol, you are not doing it right.

Wow, this analysis is spot on. I've been shaking my head at so many of their decisions in the past two decades, it's like they're blind to the actual appeal of their own product.

Offline GrahamB

  • Moderator
  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 3358
  • Gender: Male
    • Playmofanatic
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #23 on: December 05, 2021, 17:46:54 »
Very helpful, playmobart. Another example of the Duck-on-Call (which hasn't actually flopped yet!) chasing the success of Paw Patrol would be Playmobil The Movie chasing The Lego Movie. IMO!
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 collectobart

  • Playmo Enthusiast
  • *
  • Posts: 79
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #24 on: December 05, 2021, 20:27:26 »
Very helpful, playmobart. Another example of the Duck-on-Call (which hasn't actually flopped yet!) chasing the success of Paw Patrol would be Playmobil The Movie chasing The Lego Movie. IMO!

Although it may look like that, there was no chasing anything with the PLAYMOBIL movie, for a long time it wasn't discussed except at the very highest level, there wasn't any ambition with the movie and unlike LEGO which set up an 12 head strong internal team to oversee and support the production early on, with monthly visits to the studio etc, most employees at Geobra only learned that there would be a movie when they read in the press that the project would continue with Lino Di Salvo after the first director had jumped ship :-) The entertainment dept i worked at included, no one was involved there except our team leader who managed it in the shades like a covert operation.

Of course this complacency abruptly changed when a year before the planned release, we finally were allowed to watch an already half finished movie, and a sweaty panic ensued. It was horrible, from a brand perspective. Every design rule got broken ;-)

Still i am going to defend the production studio, they created what they thought would be a great PLAYMOBIL movie... But without any hands on feedback or guidance from Geobra for the first 3-4 years, it was only normal it shifted off track. Such productions are like oil tankers, if the boat leaves the port with a slightly wrong heading, it ends up on a totally wrong end of the world if no one touches the steering wheel. And then its really hard to make it do a 180 degree turn.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2021, 20:32:32 by collectobart »

Offline bml87

  • Mayor of Deadwood
  • Playmo Addict
  • ****
  • Posts: 774
  • Gender: Male
  • Collecting Western and animal themes.
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #25 on: December 05, 2021, 21:22:37 »
A very clear scan of the Western sets can be found on Playmo Info!

First picture
Second picture

- There seems to be a new cowgirl in the Saloon set as well!
- Roof of the farm appears to be blue and the that of the Store brown as Tiermann pointed out before.

Definitely check out that page, I assume they will upload more pictures of the new catalogue since it's already available in France!
Boris from Belgium - My collection - My dioramas:  Western Town II & North American forest

Offline Bolingbroke

  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 1191
  • Gender: Male
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #26 on: December 05, 2021, 22:52:30 »
Thanks for the link. I see that the Union soldiers have new uniforms, don’t they. And also, almost none of the klickies any neckwear? Much as I like many printing choices, I feel that contemporary klicky designs are too dependant on it unfortunately. But that’s an easy fix at least.
"Company, villanous company, hath been the spoil of me."

Offline Joshua D

  • Playmo Fanatic
  • **
  • Posts: 167
  • Gender: Male
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #27 on: December 06, 2021, 21:48:54 »
I like the water tower but I can’t see myself buying sets that I already have just for a few “new” figures and a few different colored parts.

Offline Joshua D

  • Playmo Fanatic
  • **
  • Posts: 167
  • Gender: Male
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #28 on: December 13, 2021, 09:53:47 »
Although....my train station does need some new floors, some of the tabs have broken off. I also need to replace a door, Darnit playmobil! You’ve done it to me again  :lol:

Offline Klickteryx

  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 1591
Re: Playmobil PLUS catalogue 2022
« Reply #29 on: December 14, 2021, 02:11:36 »
Is that blonde soldier that comes with the fort female?
I have to ask, who comes up with a name like Fort Rocks? :eh?: