PlaymoFriends
General => News => Topic started by: GrahamB on August 19, 2017, 20:43:25
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I tried a link from PlaymoDB to a Collectobil page (using Safari) and got diverted to a Career Management website. I also tried www.collectobil.com using Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer, all to no avail. Firefox warned me it was a potentially malicious site and the owner had configured the website improperly. Never had a problem before. Anyone else found this?
PS Nothing mentioned on Klickywelt so far....
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I accessed the site via playmoDB in the last few days with no problems using Firefox. A search on Google shows Norton having no problems with Collectobil but when I try to go to the site from Google Firefox warns that the site certificate has a problem, and as you describe.
I think Richard who now owns Collectobil was/is in career guidance/management in some way so maybe he has tried to bring Collectobil under that banner.
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I use Google Chrome and when typing www.collectobil.com, I also got a warning not to proceed with going on the website because it is unsafe, so I stayed off...
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I noticed that too, on Safari and Firefox. Hopefully it isn't gone for good! A great resource.
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Looks like it's gone. I got the warning, proceeded anyway. Something about Career Management came up and that the page requested was not there.
I specifically went to the single klicky page.
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I wonder if Richard knows what has happened?
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Anyone else found this?
Yep, same experience here.
Best wishes
StJohn
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I wonder if Richard knows what has happened?
Is that 'our' Richard? I could PM him.
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Sounds like expired hosting to me..
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Is that 'our' Richard? I could PM him.
Yes, that is our Richard. :)
Besides the option of PMing him, there is some contact info for him here: Collectobil on Whois website] (https://www.whois.com/whois/collectobil.com)
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Thanks, Indiana. I have sent Richard a polite PM.
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I followed through to the new site today and noticed that it was the first all woman Career Management website.
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Thanks, Indiana. I have sent Richard a polite PM.
...and had a reply! It looks as though the answer to my question in the title of this topic is yes!
Richard created Garden Wargaming about the same time as Bart deSmet created Collectobil, 20 years ago. Career Management International hosted both websites.
According to Richard, Bart has apparently just let Collectobil go. Garden Wargaming may well follow before long.
So that's unfortunately the answer.
RIP Collectobil, Photobucket free hosting, PCC, what next?
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That's bad news, a great store of Playmobil knowledge has gone. But one thing puzzles me - I understood that Richard had taken over Collectobil?
Is there any way of resurrecting the site temporarily so that material might be downloaded somewhere?
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Bad news indeed :(
But one thing puzzles me - I understood that Richard had taken over Collectobil?
That is what I heard/read as well, some time before the PCC was created... probably here on the forum, it was superactive back then.
If I remember correctly from that period, it was then that Richard took over Collectobil with the intention of using the site for an official Collectors´Club. But then things went a different direction... So I have always thought/assumed Richard was since then the new owner of Collectobil.
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RIP Collectobil, Photobucket free hosting, PCC, what next?
You're right! Between the loss of many photos on the forum and the complete disappearance of Collectobil, a huge wealth of Playmobil-related info has been lost recently. :(
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I wonder how this affects Playmodb? Heather had a lot of photos from collectobil linked to her set information. It is truly sad that so much wonderful information is lost due to all of these recent developments. I remember how we old-timers felt when Playmoboard went away, taking a lot of great photos and links with it, as well. :sorrow:
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I wonder how this affects Playmodb? Heather had a lot of photos from collectobil linked to her set information.
The answer is "Badly". If you click on the thumbnail you simply get the warning message abut an insecure connection.
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It is possible to revive an expired domain/admin name if it is done within a given time after it expires.
Could this be done with Collectobil, and if it is, does it also "revive" the website?
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I have sent Heather an email. You are right, Playmofire, many Collectobil images were linked on PlaymoDB and Heather said a while ago that she had a lot of help from Collectobil when she set up the DB.
Although I didn't quote Richard's PM to me verbatim, the essential facts are those in my previous post in this topic. My understanding is that the CMI management website is owned by Richard and he hosted Collectobil there (starting 20 years ago) but took no part in its administration.
I know little of website administration, hosting etc., but those are the right questions to be asking, Playmofire.
Here's another one, for Sylvia: could PF host the Collectobil pages as well as offering hosting for larger images, such as those now squashed by Photobucket? I am sure the answer is complicated and would need additional finance, but I for one would be willing to help pay for it.
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If it's just the domain itself that is gone, as long as Richard still has the site hosted there, it would be a matter to create a subdomain and point it to the site dir.
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Maybe as GrahamB has contacted him already he could ask exactly what the situation is.
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. . . Here's another one, for Sylvia: could PF host the Collectobil pages as well as offering hosting for larger images, such as those now squashed by Photobucket? I am sure the answer is complicated and would need additional finance, but I for one would be willing to help pay for it.
So would I! Would it be possible to host PlaymoFriends (with enhanced photo capabilities,) Playmodb, Collectobil, and, possibly, other valued resources in a single protected location? I would happily make a financial contribution to such an endeavour! :yup:
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I, too, would be willing to chip in to support a wider reaching PF.
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Count me in.
kaethe
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Me too.
If the PM collector world, especially in the Anglosphere, is shrinking or at least marking time, we need to pull back and consolidate. HOLD THE LINE :knight:
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I will also contribute if we come to that.
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I think that a more expansive PlaymoFriends community is a great idea! Tying the forum and Collectobil together could help to attract new members as well since Collectobil is/was such a popular website.
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I wonder how this affects Playmodb? Heather had a lot of photos from collectobil linked to her set information.
I had a reply to my email to Heather. She has plans to continue using the Collectobil images as well as links to Produkt-Arkiv at playmobil.de, but is very busy at the moment, so it may be a while yet...
Apart from the images at Collectobil (especially box back images), I found the release dates and discontinued dates useful, as well as the German names. But I think most of the data is no longer available. :(
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I had a reply to my email to Heather. She has plans to continue using the Collectobil images as well as links to Produkt-Arkiv at playmobil.de, but is very busy at the moment, so it may be a while yet...
Apart from the images at Collectobil (especially box back images), I found the release dates and discontinued dates useful, as well as the German names. But I think most of the data is no longer available. :(
The links to Collectobil from playmoDB have gone. Clicking on the images only take you to the warning message.
There seems no reason why the data should have disappeared, it's possibly archived somewhere.
What disappoints me is that this source was allowed to go and that no attempt seems to be being made to retrieve. I have a small website of my own where I would be happy to host it temporarily if I can do so, but there may be restrictions on the amount of data I can hold.
Alternatively, if the data can be accessed, it ought to be possible to download a copy onto someone's computer and store it there while something is sorted out.
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okay i'm just reading it all now.
I'm pretty ex[erienced with hosting and have a good hosting company, which hosts all my sites.
I am willing to continue the collectobil website, if someone can get me into contact with the previous owners.
IF all the data is still there, i will gladly transfer it all and get it up and running again.
I will pay for the hosting and the domainname, and will put a sponsorship button on the site for donations ;)
As i am free for the next couple of days, this could be a fast and easy fix, if the contents are still there and the previous owner is willing to work with me?
I would gladly get it back upto date aswell, such a usefull site!
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I got this:
Collectobil.com Whois Information
Date Registered December 13, 2000
Owner Name Watzinger, Walter
Owner Location Houston, TX, US
This information comes from the domain registration and shows date registered, owner name and location. Some domain registrations are private and protected from the public.
Collectobil.com Hosting Information
IP Address 216.157.34.96 (United States)
Server Platform Apache/2.2.3 (Red Hat)
from here:
http://www.trafficestimate.com/collectobil.com
I don't know whether that helps?
And then there's this:
Domain Name: COLLECTOBIL.COM
Registry Domain ID: 48071507_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Registrar URL: http://networksolutions.com
Updated Date: 2017-03-05T14:47:10Z
Creation Date: 2000-12-13T23:08:35Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-12-13T05:00:00Z
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Registrar IANA ID: 2
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@web.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.8003337680
Reseller:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Silvano, Richard
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: 235 W 18TH ST
Registrant City: HOUSTON
Registrant State/Province: TX
Registrant Postal Code: 77008-4005
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.7136238780
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +1.7136234569
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: cmi-lmi@att.net
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Silvano, Richard
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: 235 W 18TH ST
Admin City: HOUSTON
Admin State/Province: TX
Admin Postal Code: 77008-4005
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.7136238780
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax: +1.7136234569
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: cmi-lmi@att.net
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Silvano, Richard
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: 235 W 18TH ST
Tech City: HOUSTON
Tech State/Province: TX
Tech Postal Code: 77008-4005
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.7136238780
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +1.7136234569
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: cmi-lmi@att.net
Name Server: NS1.CAREERMANAGEMENT.COM
Name Server: NS2.CAREERMANAGEMENT.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2017-08-16T07:59:09Z <<<
For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.
here:
http://website.informer.com/collectobil.com#stats
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Woot! Some of the info is still there using the wayback machine! I don't think the full size pictures are available, but it's better than nothing if the whole site is actually gone?
Here's a link to a catalogue page: example (https://web.archive.org/web/20170613180512/http://www.collectobil.com/catalogue/catalogue.html)
Go here (https://web.archive.org/web/*/collectobil.com), click on any of the blue circles on dates to get taken to a stored version. (Though really, you can navigate just using that previous link. That one is the last saved version, from July 2017, but you can look at other years using the calendar.)
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He's in Houston, maybe he's a little underwater at the moment.
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Searching is a bit slow, but the pictures seem t be there:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170613180512/http://www.collectobil.com/catalogue/catalogue.html
Maybe if some of us agreed an allocation of saving the images or pages, then we could recreate the site elsewhere. I've started on Fire and Rescue.
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As I understand it, Collectobil is still owned by Bart deSmet, but I have no contact details for him.
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Unfortunately, Bart deSmet is a very common name and although a search on Bart deSmet and Playmobil bring up a lot of results around Playmobil animated trailers, I can find nothing on these results referring to him.
Is he still working for Playmobil? If he is, maybe he could be contacted there? Would one of the PCC administrators contact him for us?
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I believe he is still working for Playmobil, certainly worth a try contacting him through the PCC!
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Smet is apparently the Dutch equivalent of Smith, hence the large number of them.
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Smet is apparently the Dutch equivalent of Smith, hence the large number of them.
And his firstname "Bart" is also very common in Belgium (Flanders) and The Netherlands...
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And his firstname "Bart" is also very common in Belgium (Flanders) and The Netherlands...
That, Erwin, I had also found out! 8}
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I miss Collectobil a lot. Playmodb and Klickypedia are of course much more comprehensive, but their wealth makes these sites also harder to navigate: they are meant for the professionals. Collectobil was instantly accessible, showing the highlights of the classic years at a glance. It also looked great in that Playmobil blue. :)9 I wish we could get it back. It would be a great way to kindle the fire in the next generations for the glories of 80s/90s/00s Playmobil.
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I'll have a look if i can find the old datas one of of my backup drives! :-)
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I'll have a look if i can find the old datas one of of my backup drives! :-)
Awesome!!
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I'll have a look if i can find the old datas one of of my backup drives! :-)
Wow! As I said: very exciting. Thanks, collectobart!
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Hello Bart - very glad to see you emerge from the shadows! Collectobil was of course the spark that set off the initial idea of PlaymoDB. If you or someone is undertaking to bring it to life again, I'm happy to help - I use a lot of the old images and may have downloads of some of the pages, tucked away. I used to link to Collectobil from my set-pages and would certainly do so again... the sites serve different purposes and can happily coexist, I'm sure.
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... Collectobil was of course the spark that set off the initial idea of PlaymoDB. ...
For me, Collectobil rekindled my love for Playmobil and PlaymoDB is keeping it ablaze :D.
Would be great if Collectobil could be ressurected.
All the best,
Mark
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I think some other member has also mentioned this, but you can find the "old" collectobil page in the internet archive
https://web.archive.org/web/20090216085214/http://collectobil.com/
I was too using collectobil at the time, and would loved to see this page up and running once more!
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Didn't Richard take over Collectobil?
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Didn't Richard take over Collectobil?
That´s how I remember it as well...
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That´s how I remember it as well...
Actually, the site was hosted at Richard's company server from the start. I think he intended to continue updating it, but then he convinced HOB to set up the PCC, in the hope that it would fill that void.
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Actually, the site was hosted at Richard's company server from the start.
Ah, okay, I thought he had "acquired" Collectobil some way from you, he mentioned things about it here but I don´t remember his exact words/writings.
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Ah, okay, I thought he had "acquired" Collectobil some way from you, he mentioned things about it here but I don´t remember his exact words/writings.
Richard was from the very start so kind and supportive to sponsor Collectobil by carrying the hosting and domain name costs through his company. The content was all on me though, as Richard had his own gardenwargaming to tend to.
When i got hired by Geobra, it became a bit tricky to continue with updates, sitting with one foot in company NDA's and with another foot in a collectors information hunting and spreading mindset was a potential conflict of interest. That and also lack of time where the main reasons the site stopped being updated. So when Richard asked if he could take the collectobil editorial, i passed it on to him, so he could build the site further.
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Richard asked if he could take the collectobil editorial, i passed it on to him, so he could build the site further.
And then Richard got hired by Geobra as well? ;D
:-X
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No, he was not hired, but i think he was totally re-assured that the PCC would fill the many voids, including a Geobra operated collectobil-like platform. If i recall correctly he even had a meeting in Zirndorf regarding the PCC with HOB and/or Mrs Schauer, and it involved a rare helicopter landing on the HQ lawn :-)
But i think the PCC finally ended up as a public relations service rather than a community service, for all kinds of reasons.
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If i recall correctly he even had a meeting in Zirndorf regarding the PCC with HOB and/or Mrs Schauer
I heard about that. Macgayver (Michael) went too, iirc.. And didn´t Tiermann go as well? Or were those different meetings to set up the collectors´club?
it involved a rare helicopter landing on the HQ lawn :-)
That I didn´t know. 8-)
Now I wonder what it´s call sign might have been... Maybe 'Marine Mobil' ? :D
the PCC finally ended up as a public relations service rather than a community service
And as a stillborn baby. Wait, I´m mistaking, it was 'alive & kicking' for 4,5 years ::)
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Richard wasnt at the PCC set up meeting. That was Macgayver, Socrates, Rosebud, Gis and me. We had a big meeting with people from a nu mher of departments, and of course met HOB. I don't think anyone who was at the meeting is still with the company. The one big positive result from that meeting and the club set up that still is going is the online spare parts ordering in Europe.
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I don't think anyone who was at the meeting is still with the company.
10 years later and everyone who was there is gone, that tells a lot about the direction they´re taking...
The one big positive result from that meeting and the club set up that still is going is the online spare parts ordering in Europe.
Yes, the online spare parts ordering is great. I guess the addition of exclusive sets (like the Greek Gods, Goethe, Bach, Mozart, Schiller, etc.) to the webshops (of some countries) is also a positive remainder of the PCC?
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Richard wasnt at the PCC set up meeting.
Well, then he had an earlier meeting in that PCC process, to convince HOB. Anyway it's a long time ago, i just know a colleague called me that day to tell Richard was in the house.
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The one big positive result from that meeting and the club set up that still is going is the online spare parts ordering in Europe.
Wow, that is a BIG gain from that meeting. I have been enjoying the service a lot, before 2015 when I was still in the UK, and now in DE. Many thanks for the achievement, guys!
:-[ I'm sorry to pry, but I'm clearly missing something, probably because I wasn't around prior to 2012 – please illuminate me. I know "Richard" is a senior member of this forum, but what is the back story? His posts don't tell. Is he the guy flying the helicopter that collectobart has mentioned? Was he big in the PM community? (perhaps Richard himself can tell)
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:-[ I'm sorry to pry, but I'm clearly missing something ...
I can answer my own question, thanks to the power of a search engine: https://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=2210.0 [Reply #8]. Thank you, Richard, for being at the cradle of all this.
Still curious to know who was flying whose helicopter to Zirndorf ... :yup:
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Thanks for sharing that, Frans. I started a new topic (https://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=17442.0) to show Richards work for Playmobil Collectors to a wider audience.
I also loved this idea of 'camouflage' from Timotheos talking about collectors who seem to have 'disappeared';
"Where are they now? .... Do people get bored, move on? Do their kids grow up and they lose the passion / camouflage? "