Ladder Connector

[Raven]

Recently I bought a few construction pieces, which included a little toolbox table:



Well, actually I very much doubted that it was a toolbox table, and I wasn’t even sure that it was Playmobil – but it was quite cute, so I stored it away with the toolboxes.

Then today, I was looking at some adverts, and I saw that ‘toolbox table’ - converting two ladders into a stepladder, like this:



I’m thinking that this must be its true use; it’s perfect for it, and the colours match too, of course.  But I can’t find it in the pictures or inventories of old sets.  Does anyone know which set it is from?

[playmofire]

Playmobil did a connector, you can see it in set 3201, but it's quite different from the one in your photo.

Looking at the one in your photo, it looks like the connector is designed to have anything attached to it at right angles, but the ladder ends are in at a slight angle.

[Raven]

I haven't slanted the ladders into that top bit - they won't go in at right angles, but only like this.

[tahra]

Then today, I was looking at some adverts, and I saw that ‘toolbox table’ - converting two ladders into a stepladder, like this:



I’m thinking that this must be its true use; it’s perfect for it, and the colours match too, of course.  But I can’t find it in the pictures or inventories of old sets.  Does anyone know which set it is from?

That is AMAZING!

[GrahamB]

That's a nice piece, Raven! Like the ladder joiner cylinders you showed in another thread, they don't seem to appear in any of the pictures of early sets. Could they be from Playpeople (UK) or Shaper (US) sets?

[Raven]

It’s certainly possible that it’s Schaper, because this part came in the same lot as the Schaper ladder joiners.  I’ve had a brief look at Schaper on klickypedia without finding it – I may end up going through the Playmobil Collector book later!

I was looking again at the advert in case something else included gave a clue to where this might come from.  This is the advert:

https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/kinderen-en-baby-s/speelgoed-playmobil/m1216913132-playmobil-wegwerkers-oude-retro-versie.html

If you click on Grote foto’s and then go to photo 2 (which is the clearest one), you can see the ‘stepladder’ at the top left of the photograph.  (The photo can also be copied and pasted into a graphics program for a larger version.)  But there’s also something else interesting there.  Near the bottom left is a yellow sawhorse.  Is that Playmobil, and if so, where on earth is that from??

[GrahamB]

I don't think that yellow sawhorse is PM. There is also the possibility that some parts could be PlayBig.....

[Raven]

Yes, you are absolutely right- the yellow sawhorse is not Playmobil.  It is is actually made of very flimsy plastic! 

When Mr Raven saw the advertised ‘ladder connector’, he decided that we needed that one too, whether or not it is Playmobil.  (All searching for it has found nothing, so I’m now assuming it is not Playmobil either.)  So he bought that collection of roadworker/construction items.

A non-Playmobil figure also arrived.



It has PlayBig-type hands, but is otherwise nothing like PlayBig.  Does anyone know where it came from?  Its source might even lead to the solving of the mystery of the ladder connectors.  I don’t think they are PlayBig, because, as far as I remember, PlayBig ladders are white, not pale brown.

[tahra]

Ok, now I want ladder connectors too!   

[GrahamB]

A non-Playmobil figure also arrived.



It has PlayBig-type hands, but is otherwise nothing like PlayBig.  Does anyone know where it came from?  Its source might even lead to the solving of the mystery of the ladder connectors.  I don’t think they are PlayBig, because, as far as I remember, PlayBig ladders are white, not pale brown.

Looks like Play Well: http://www.claudia-schott.de/PlayWell/playwell.htm