PlaymoFriends
General => Direct Service/Parts Queries => Topic started by: Klickteryx on May 02, 2016, 12:38:51
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I was looking at the UK DS and noticed that 30 07 6400 which is a dark grey old style halberd was shown as being a new style halberd.
Would this be a problem in ordering as in would the correct one be sent?
It says it appears in one set (6006) which has the correct older version (at least updated older version as original didn't have a ridge at the bottom of the pole) but is the image or number more important at the other end?
Playmodb also has the new version showing alongside the old version under the listing by the way.
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I think the official photos of sets, while not always a perfect rendition of what's in the box, are a pretty good indication of what comes with it, and therefore what's in the warehouse as spares. I'm looking at the pictures at 6006 at co.uk (http://www.playmobil.co.uk/royal-lion-knights/6006.html) and it looks to me as if there's a ridge at the bottom. What are the other differences?
Another clue for the serious parts-nerd is that the German name for this part is "Hellebarde II" which means it's likely the mold has been updated but it's using the same number. (To Playmobil: STOP THAT. There are some German names with "V" and even "VI" at the end. Sigh.)
I post on the parts page, all the pictures of all versions that I can find, with the most recent official picture (if available) showing in inventories. Best I can do.
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The new ones are probably those silly soft ones, no?
This is getting ridiculous... Wait.. GETTING? No.. it's way past... Did anyone try to put a flag on those new flagpoles?!? :wall:
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I have commented in the past (e.g. here) (http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=14054.msg258923#msg258923) on parts which have been updated without giving them a new part number. I dont think Geobra always rename the parts with a Roman Numeral do they (certainly not for the swords I mentioned in that earlier topic, listed with the right picture and the wrong description on playmobil.co.uk) ?
And then again, quite often parts issued with a new number appear to be identical to existing parts. Logic? Consistency? Not really.
Then there are the images which are just simply pictures of the wrong part...
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I have commented in the past (e.g. here) (http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=14054.msg258923#msg258923) on parts which have been updated without giving them a new part number. I dont think Geobra always rename the parts with a Roman Numeral do they (certainly not for the swords I mentioned in that earlier topic, listed with the right picture and the wrong description on playmobil.co.uk) ?
No, not always renamed with a Roman number, but a renaming is a good clue that something has changed. I keep my English names consistent across German names regardless of Roman numeral ending.
And then again, quite often parts issued with a new number appear to be identical to existing parts. Logic? Consistency? Not really.
Then there are the images which are just simply pictures of the wrong part...
Don't get me started! If there is actually anyone in the company whose job it is to take care of part numbers, they should talk to me, I'd clean it all up.
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Don't get me started! If there is actually anyone in the company whose job it is to take care of part numbers, they should talk to me, I'd clean it all up.
Now that would be something worth lobbying for at the PCC!
Someone at Geobra must have a record of the part numbers used in the past, unless they look them up on PlaymoDB like the DS staff do (allegedly) :lol: :lol: :lol:
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I think the official photos of sets, while not always a perfect rendition of what's in the box, are a pretty good indication of what comes with it, and therefore what's in the warehouse as spares. I'm looking at the pictures at 6006 at co.uk (http://www.playmobil.co.uk/royal-lion-knights/6006.html) and it looks to me as if there's a ridge at the bottom. What are the other differences?
None, it's the same mold but the updated version has a ridge. It appears in 6006.
What my concern is, is that the image they use is not of the updated version with the ridge but the new style halberd which is quite different (more realistic looking).
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There is a long history of PM showing parts in their promotional images and box pictures which are not actually in the box. To be fair, this may happen less in 'modern' times (in the past, for example, fixed-wrist klickies were shown on the box but free-wrist klickies were inside, but that is a long time ago!).
Nowadays, it seems that if stock of one part runs out, they may substitute a similar (but not necessarily identical) one. They obviously don't change the box picture or reprint the instruction sheets. There are many examples on PlaymoDB of set inventories containing duplicate part numbers (Heather lists the alternative part numbers and descriptions but does not give a quantity in the text set inventories), perhaps where the precise contents of a set have changed over the set's lifetime. (Have I got that right, Heather?).
It's frustrating that sets and parts vary, but no doubt Geobra think that the variations are not incompatible with the fact that these are toys, not precision surgical implants or whatever. It doesn't affect the play value, folks!
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Another clue for the serious parts-nerd is that the German name for this part is "Hellebarde II" which means it's likely the mold has been updated but it's using the same number. (To Playmobil: STOP THAT. There are some German names with "V" and even "VI" at the end. Sigh.)
:lol:
They should give you the job AND pay you for all the work you've done already. Seriously.
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Nowadays, it seems that if stock of one part runs out, they may substitute a similar (but not necessarily identical) one.
Recently (well, it's recently to me) there was the replacement of the romans - the arms, I mean, printed roman sleeves (on female arms, too!) instead of the proper molded ones..
Also, I believe the same happened with cops' rolled sleeves - plain tshirt sleeves were used instead (I got this, and so did DrDalek, maybe?).
And horses. Happened to me in a western wagon, and I think someone else here too - old new horses instead of the more recent ones shown..
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It doesn't affect the play value, folks!
Yes it does dammit! Next you'll be saying we can substitute needed parts with lego!!! The world's going to hell. :rock: :rock: :rock: >:D
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Yes it does dammit! Next you'll be saying we can substitute needed parts with lego!!! The world's going to hell. :rock: :rock: :rock: >:D
Calm down, Klickteryx, no need to panic. Or for that language and the frantic gesticulations. I suppose that GrahamB was just trying to express what he believes to be the mindset of Geobra packers (correct me if I am wrong). Should you be so unlucky to catch a substituted part, just write in to claim a replacement. I understand that always works effectively.
Cutting corners at assembly but lavishing on customer services may be a strange business model and perhaps not ideal for customer satisfaction, but such is what we almost have come to expect from our favourite toy manufacturer.
Best wishes
StJohn
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Cutting corners at assembly but lavishing on customer services may be a strange business model
Clearly you are not using iberia "customer service"...
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Yes it does dammit! Next you'll be saying we can substitute needed parts with lego!!! The world's going to hell. :rock: :rock: :rock: >:D
That phrase 'It doesn't affect the play value, folks' is one I have seen several times (or phrases like it) in eBay listings where someone is trying to palm off a load of junk, like a PM house with half the roof missing or a horse with three legs. "My kids have played with it for hours and don't seem to mind that none of the figures has hair". That's because either (a) the parent really thinks letting a child play with c**p encourages their imagination ('When I were a lad, we used to play with an empty beer bottle. By 'eck, didn't we 'ave fun?") or (b) the parent allows their children to be destructive with wonderful but expensive toys and thinks that is an acceptable part of a child's development.
I think it DOES affect the play value if you don't get what is shown on the box (depending on how discerning you are...) or if it is in some other way substandard. My comment was ironic, but irony doesn't always work in text, sorry to have misled you!
And StJohn is right, I think most of Geobra's thinking never gets beyond the idea "It's a toy for children and children won't notice/ don't mind if it is different from what we might have led them to expect and even if they do and their parents take the trouble to complain (which most won't) we can offer them something to replace it..."
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My comment was ironic, but irony doesn't always work in text, sorry to have misled you!
That's okay, my over-the-top response was meant to be humorous but as you say, text based language lacks the life of the spoken word.
DS is an excellent service and I'm just dipping my toe in at the moment.
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Clearly you are not using iberia "customer service"...
No, I'm not. But what is it like? They still replace wrong parts, right? Duty of care, and so forth ...
DS is an excellent service and I'm just dipping my toe in at the moment.
I'm glad to hear this!
Best wishes
StJohn
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Thought I should say that the parts arrived and the correct halberd was included.
I find it interesting that a couple of old weapons were updated by having their shafts made longer and a ridge added near the end of the shaft. The halberd and boar spear are two that I've noticed.
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I find it interesting that a couple of old weapons were updated by having their shafts made longer and a ridge added near the end of the shaft. The halberd and boar spear are two that I've noticed.
And aren't they ridiculously soft? The new flagpoles are even hard to use ::)
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And aren't they ridiculously soft? The new flagpoles are even hard to use ::)
Ah yes, the flagpole is another one with that ring ridge.
Yes, they're horribly soft. I got my first one with the steck musuem re-release and didn't like the way it didn't sit straight.
Like the longer spears they have a tendency to warp if put away with any kind of pressure on them though they're softer than the spears and therefore worse.
I hope they don't end up like some toy accessories that are more rubber than plastic.
How many kids have actually been stabbed with the flagpoles anyway? ::)