What theme(s) or set(s) do you like the least?

[Wolf Knight]

By the way I've been meaning to ask for quite some time, what is IMHO? I see that and IMO all the time on here and don't understand.

IMO : in my opinion
IMHO: in my humble opinion

 

[bonniebeth]

Oh, thanks! That makes sense.

I enjoyed the ride on your fire engine!   Though it was a little scary at times!  

[Luis]

Well they are bulky only because the RC module needs to be placed properly in them...

http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=5603.0

I'm reading the thread, thanks for the review Panos

To me, if it has batteries, it misses the point of playmobil.

True, although there's some sets that require batteries that do not loose the original point, like the victorian lamp posts and the xmas tree, in my opinion

I think we all may eventually change our minds regarding the sets/themes we don't like - trust me, it happened to me with the sets to furnish the cheezy/arabian looking palace (I ended up buying all of them to use them for victorian customs!)

[BlackPearl2006]

I think I like all the themes!

What I dislike though is the more recent playmobil trend of making the themes (even classic ones) less realistic looking and more preschool-ish.

For example:

Pirates are cool.
Ghost pirates with rainbow coloured clothes are not (IMO).

Victorian theme is cool.
Newer Victorian home and even modern house themes are way too colourful like preschool colours: yellow house with red and blue trim? yuk!

Animal/farm/zoo themes are cool.  But the more recent farms, again, suffer from the preschool colours syndrome.  Why can't it be realistic like the classic ones?

And back to pirates.  Even using the same mold as the original 3750 pirate ship; the newer ships (and even the corsairs/schooners) use bright outlandish and unrealistic colours!  WHY, playmobil, why?!?!?!?!

And why do the new Knights have lazer-powered-chainsaws?   

[tonguello]

oops I doubled posted w/ my own quote, please mods delete this post b/c I can't

Panos have to do it 

[bonniebeth]

Yes i agree. As I've said before, I sometimes notice people seem to think the toys are for preschoolers, even though they on closer inspection are clearly made for older children, with all the small parts. I think all the bright primary colors are what give it this appearance. They don't look so sophisticated these days.

Maybe they are trying to appeal to young kids because with videogames being so popular, older kids are a lost cause? 

[BlackPearl2006]

Yes i agree. As I've said before, I sometimes notice people seem to think the toys are for preschoolers, even though they on closer inspection are clearly made for older children, with all the small parts. I think all the bright primary colors are what give it this appearance. They don't look so sophisticated these days.

Maybe they are trying to appeal to young kids because with videogames being so popular, older kids are a lost cause? 

aha, you may be on to something there.  Kids today compared to their counterparts of the same age in a decade or two or three back are far less "innocent" at the same age today than kids were back in the day.  I remember as a 12 year old I was still playing with toys, whilst 12 year olds nowadays are already dating and texting and updating their myspace and facebook pages while watching pg-13 movies that would have most certainly been considered rated "R" when I was a kid.

In other words, perhaps playmobil did lose its older kid audience, and now has to market primarily to, well, primary-aged kids.  The older kids could care less (in general) about the reverting to primary colours.  So that leaves us adult collectors scratching our heads on what to do with the new themes/colours without resorting to ebay to buy the classic and more realistic-looking lines now retired.

[bonniebeth]

aha, you may be on to something there.  Kids today compared to their counterparts of the same age in a decade or two or three back are far less "innocent" at the same age today than kids were back in the day.  I remember as a 12 year old I was still playing with toys, whilst 12 year olds nowadays are already dating and texting and updating their myspace and facebook pages while watching pg-13 movies that would have most certainly been considered rated "R" when I was a kid.

Exactly. Sometimes I feel like it's a different world from when I was growing up, and that wasn't very long ago. I'm only 25! At the age I was still playing with barbies, girls nowadays are dressing like barbies. And their parents let them.

Oh, well. I guess spray paint is the only answer. To the primary colors I mean. Not to girls dressing like barbies. 

[Wesley Myers]

And their parents let them.

Therein is a key part of the problem.

Parents do not parent anymore - they want to be their child's "friend".  Thank you, Dr. Spock (and mass media).

[bonniebeth]

Yep. They don't want to stifle their kids' spirit. They want to let them be themselves. We have parents for a reason.