General > Brainstorming For Playmobil
The Wizard of Oz - Perfect for Playmobil?
Klicky_Ghost:
--- Quote from: Macruran on May 14, 2021, 04:24:00 ---I oppose this on my principle that I don't like fictional licenses in PM, but apart from that I agree that it would make for a rich and interesting theme, with many potentially good looking klickies. However I wonder what the status of the license is - is it in the public domain?
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To be honest, I was disappointed when I first found out that Playmobil was producing licensed sets. To me, the strength of Playmobil had always been creating original content or using "open source" inspiration to create blank canvases with which children could imagine their own worlds. But I guess I see it as: if Playmobil is going to continue to create licensed sets (and I imagine they will), then I would rather imagine sets that I would like to see and think others would enjoy as well. The only licensed sets I've really enjoyed so far are the Heidi sets, mainly because there are so many pieces that work wonderfully into my Victorian/1900 world.
--- Quote from: Ismene on May 14, 2021, 05:18:27 ---It's an interesting idea, although thus far Playmobil hasn't created a large theme for the American market, and the Wizard of Oz is very American.
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This may be my Yankee ignorance showing, but I would have assumed that Scooby Doo, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future had all been created with special consideration for the American market if not told otherwise. All of them play off of mainstream American media nostalgia, and Scooby Doo especially seems like such a quintessential piece of Americana. I can't really speak to Spirit or HTTYD, as those are far newer properties and outside of my demographic knowledge. As GrahamB alluded to, I would have thought that The Wizard of Oz would be just as recognizable as those previously-mentioned licensed sets even in Europe, if not more so. Perhaps the reasoning in general could be that Playmobil already sees the American market as saturated with such products, and so does not place as much emphasis on that market?
--- Quote from: GrahamB on May 14, 2021, 08:46:27 ---I like this idea! I would guess the 1939 film is probably better known than Heidi, Spirit, HTTYD, Ghostbusters, BTTF and Scooby Doo.
The sequel 'Return to Oz' has many further PM possibilities; Tik-Tok, the Wheelers, Mombi (interchangeable heads!), Jack Pumpkinhead (already done as a Scooby Doo 'ghost'), even The Gump.
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Why oh why did you have to remind me of "Return to Oz"? Mombi's closet full of spare heads pretty much scarred me as a child. But what a fun concept for a Playmobil set! :lol:
Macruran:
--- Quote from: Klicky_Ghost on May 15, 2021, 16:00:48 ---To be honest, I was disappointed when I first found out that Playmobil was producing licensed sets. To me, the strength of Playmobil had always been creating original content or using "open source" inspiration to create blank canvases with which children could imagine their own worlds. But I guess I see it as: if Playmobil is going to continue to create licensed sets (and I imagine they will), then I would rather imagine sets that I would like to see and think others would enjoy as well. The only licensed sets I've really enjoyed so far are the Heidi sets, mainly because there are so many pieces that work wonderfully into my Victorian/1900 world.
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I agree with both of these points. If we must have licenses, let's at least try to get some really good ones. And the Heidi sets looked really nice, I was sad that they were never released in the US! :'(
Klicky_Ghost:
--- Quote from: Macruran on May 15, 2021, 16:27:10 ---I agree with both of these points. If we must have licenses, let's at least try to get some really good ones. And the Heidi sets looked really nice, I was sad that they were never released in the US! :'(
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The Heidi sets are great on their own, and contain a variety of pieces and figures that can easily work into many other Playmobil set themes, including the Western, Medieval, 1900, and "nature" sets. One could probably work them into the farm and modern city themes as well. I would definitely recommend. I got mine new and reasonably priced off of eBay (not sure if others have better sources for their sets), with reasonable shipping costs. One took a month to get here from France, but that was fine by me. Interestingly, the "happy birthday" paper from the Clara/Rottenmeier set came blank -- but I was actually thrilled because it has much better use to me as a blank sheet of paper sitting on a desk. :lol:
Ismene:
--- Quote from: Klicky_Ghost on May 15, 2021, 16:00:48 ---
This may be my Yankee ignorance showing, but I would have assumed that Scooby Doo, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future had all been created with special consideration for the American market if not told otherwise. All of them play off of mainstream American media nostalgia, and Scooby Doo especially seems like such a quintessential piece of Americana. I can't really speak to Spirit or HTTYD, as those are far newer properties and outside of my demographic knowledge. As GrahamB alluded to, I would have thought that The Wizard of Oz would be just as recognizable as those previously-mentioned licensed sets even in Europe, if not more so. Perhaps the reasoning in general could be that Playmobil already sees the American market as saturated with such products, and so does not place as much emphasis on that market?
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Europe consumes a lot of American media; and Scooby-Doo, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future themes were released in Europe also (as opposed to some of the Halloween sets). So PM must have anticipated a European market for those themes.
I'm sure The Wizard of Oz is known in Europe. But it's very much a tale of the American experience, and I don't know if PM wants to go that route. However, PM doesn't seem to know where it's going these days anyway. 8}
I also wish they had released the Heidi theme in the US. There were some good parts in there for historical themes, and the US knows Heidi, even if the cartoon is less known here. They tend to be slow to realize that people want "cultural" sets depicting cultures outside their own.
Oliver:
I'd assume that most people in Europe would at least know the rough story of the first book. I'd guess that later books are almost unknown - I read the first two as a child, but I think that is extremely unusual. But it's a bit like Heidi or Oliver Twist - I suspect very few people have read the original novel, but at least when I was a kid there were lots of 'childrens' versions of it about.
Unfortunately, both the Ruby Slippers and the Green skin of the Wicked Witch of the West were created for the film and are probably the most recognisable features in people's minds.
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