Author Topic: 1977 Catalogue  (Read 3903 times)

Offline GrahamB

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1977 Catalogue
« on: November 21, 2020, 12:43:14 »
I have been trying to get hold of this catalogue (without breaking the bank) for a while and I was pleased to get one a few days ago for a reasonable price. The first surprise when I opened the envelope was how small it is- A5 size not A4 as I had assumed. But its packed with lovely pictures of sets from 1977.



This catalogue features 32 of the 49 sets first issued in 1977, all klickies having fixed wrists.

Most of the booklet is given over to ten Steck old buildings and castles, sets 3440 to 3448 and 3450. Each has a whole-page photo of the building and accessories alongside a picture of the set box. These pictures are great for confirming the set contents (for some reason, only 3447 features in the Datenbank-Setinhalt on Klickywelt, usually an excellent place to see pictures of the contents of sets in the 1974 to 1990 period .

On the facing page opposite each building is a ‘comic strip,’ a series of drawings depicting a story centred on the building in question. I found most of these stories quite hard to interpret (most have no words) and also unfunny. For example the story for 3450 involves a knight riding up to the castle on his horse, drawing water from the well and tipping it into the horse trough, then (in the final picture) the horse follows him up the steps into the castle and asks for a glass of wine (pictogram)! Maybe I am not attuned to the humour of the mid-70s German graphic designer?






















The final double-page spread illustrates 12 ‘single klicky’ sets, 3 sets with 5 klickies and 3 sets with 7 klickies and 4 accessories sets (no klickies); all 22 sets are on a ‘medieval town’ or ‘knights’ theme. The catalogue covers 32 out of the 49 sets released in 1977 in Germany (the other 17 sets being 5 car sets, 3 van sets, a truck, a plane, a helicopter, a caravan, a garden furniture set, a stagecoach and 3 western buildings).



The cover is a lovely diorama showing several of the buildings. (I removed some of the blemishes with Photoshop(R).)





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 tahra

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2020, 13:32:30 »
That is gorgeous...   :love:

Thank you for sharing

Offline Erik

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2020, 16:10:36 »
Fantastic!!!   :love:
The most valiant knights are made of German plastic!!!

Offline Tiermann

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2020, 18:00:21 »
Thanks for sharing those great pages. I think the comics are stories but not necessarily intended to be funny?

Offline Redmao

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2020, 23:44:01 »
Very cool indeed. Thank you so much.

Offline Birdie

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2020, 06:52:28 »
Beautiful!  :love:  Thank you for sharing  :wow:

I agree the comics aren't exactly funny, but somehow I think I'd have really liked them as a kid. They spark the imagination and bring the clickies to life.

That dio on the front page, genius!  :inlove:

Offline Macruran

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2020, 23:04:35 »
 :love: A beautiful journey into a vanished world.

I liked the strip in which the soldiers get drunk with the musician!  :lol:

Also interesting that they appear to have wanted to portray most of the parts of a functioning town/society. That spirit seems mostly gone from modern themes.
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Offline NICO

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2020, 09:17:59 »
It's a delicious catalogue. Thanks for sharing!!!

There's a Spanish saying: " No es que al perro le guste el hueso, es que la carne no se la dan" - "it's not that the dog likes bone, it's that he doesn't get meat". Also as the horse. The horse seems to prefer a good glass of Porto Wine, rather than fresh water from the well. He has refined tastes.

The predecessor of the current Roomba cleaning machine appears in 3441. What energic movements!!!

Definitively, short histories are a plus on the catalogue. Of course some are better than others, but in any case, they are beautiful drawings of the playmo world.


Offline Indianna

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2020, 15:00:55 »
Thank you, Graham, for these beautiful vintage images!  Those old Steck sets are largely responsible for my descent into the Playmobil rabbit hole.   8}   ;D
U.S.A.      Massachusetts

Offline playmofire

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Re: 1977 Catalogue
« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2020, 16:19:57 »
A great find, Graham.  There's hours of daydreaming there!
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”