Author Topic: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration  (Read 5488 times)

Offline klickyklack

  • Playmo Lover
  • ***
  • Posts: 273
  • Gender: Female
    • klickyklack (IG)
I'm a fan of both the Series 15 Fi?ures grasshopper man & Bunny people & would like to see a wider "forest folk" world for them to sit in, with possibly more animal headed anthropomorphised klickies (sorry tahra!  8} )





It's been discussed here how the grasshoppers & bunnys could fit in with already existing items - with flower fairys, the Alpine/Tyrolean theme, animals, plants & flowers, gnomes, & elements from the older sets ( blacksmith, water girl ), & I can also see accessories from the Victorian sets fitting in (bonnets, etc). 

To me this kind of theme is still one that is timeless & still popular with younger children, & also very nostalgic for parents & older collectors (like myself).

More Fritz Baumgarten work can be seen here, Wiki link about Literature featuring anthropomorphic characters for more inspiration.

« Last Edit: March 03, 2020, 12:13:15 by klickyklack »

Offline Tiermann

  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 8952
  • Gender: Male
  • Playmosaurus friendus
    • Animobil
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2020, 18:49:02 »
I agree. See also LEGO's old Fabuland theme.
The Sylvanian families stuff is great and they and the knockoff companies make some wonderful accessories and buildings that fit Playmobil pretty well. There is clearly a market segment for this sort of thing.

Offline Oliver

  • Playmo Addict
  • ****
  • Posts: 723
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2020, 04:57:24 »
I'm not a fan of the animal-headed Playmobil, but as a child I did LOVE Brambly Hedge (and Barbar, and Wind in the Willows.....), so there could be a market for it

Offline Macruran

  • desperate but not serious
  • Moderator
  • Playmo Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 3634
  • Gender: Male
  • Hiya!
    • my incomplete collection spreadsheet
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2020, 07:01:14 »
I think this is a good idea.  :bunny:
"We like things in little." - G. Stein  
 :roman:

Offline klickyklack

  • Playmo Lover
  • ***
  • Posts: 273
  • Gender: Female
    • klickyklack (IG)
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2020, 15:59:09 »
I agree. See also LEGO's old Fabuland theme.
The Sylvanian families stuff is great and they and the knockoff companies make some wonderful accessories and buildings that fit Playmobil pretty well. There is clearly a market segment for this sort of thing.

I'm not a fan of the animal-headed Playmobil, but as a child I did LOVE Brambly Hedge (and Barbar, and Wind in the Willows.....), so there could be a market for it

To me this kind of vintage folky fairy tale aesthetic is always appealing & cute, I imagine it would go down really well with the Asian market (this aesthetic is very popular in Japan & South Korea).    I think there's an overlap between the fairy line & knights/medeival stuff, but that's not really my bag, whereas the more forest folk thing is.

Some things I'd love to see:

More insect people
butterfly people (grasshoppers in different colours with solid colour painted wings)
more grasshopper people inc. grasshopper kids

more gnomes & forest kids/fairys
more mushroom & flower hats
large (oversized) snail led cart or carriage
battery powered lanterns the klickies can hold
a maypole
a "lemonade" stand

I like the idea of the sets being seasonal (we already have that with the bunnies, so why not ones linked to midsummer, halloween, midwinter, the spring equinox) & have the sets be linked to the idea of the animals, gnomes, fairys, etc, as the custodians & carers of the forest & land.

Fritz Baumgarten Feesten in kabouterland, ed 1980, ill E by janwillemsen, on Flickr

Fritz Baumgarten Feesten in kabouterland, ed 1980, ill  P by janwillemsen, on Flickr

Fritz Baumgarten Feesten in kabouterland, ed 1980, ill  Z by janwillemsen, on Flickr

Offline klickyklack

  • Playmo Lover
  • ***
  • Posts: 273
  • Gender: Female
    • klickyklack (IG)
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2020, 17:08:21 »
Also maybe tie in more sets with classic fairy tale themes?

We've had a special set with red riding hood & her wolf are there others?

What about donkeyskin, Hansel & Gretl (witch & gingerbread house), Baba Yaga (with chicken/bird feet to go with a Victorian dress), Pinocchio, Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella (tricky because of Disney?), The Frog Prince, Jack & the bean stalk, the three billy goats gruff, the pied piper, Goldilocks, Thumbelina, etc.

Offline Oliver

  • Playmo Addict
  • ****
  • Posts: 723
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2020, 17:17:24 »
Also maybe tie in more sets with classic fairy tale themes?

We've had a special set with red riding hood & her wolf are there others?

What about donkeyskin, Hansel & Gretl (witch & gingerbread house), Baba Yaga (with chicken/bird feet to go with a Victorian dress), Pinocchio, Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella (tricky because of Disney?), The Frog Prince, Jack & the bean stalk, the three billy goats gruff, the pied piper, Goldilocks, Thumbelina, etc.

They did Fairy Tale sets (which annoyingly I didn't buy at the time)

4211 Snow White
4212 Hansel and Gretal
4213 Cinderella

I think their was also a Princess/peasant duo that I've assumed is sort-of meant to be Cinderalla

Offline klickyklack

  • Playmo Lover
  • ***
  • Posts: 273
  • Gender: Female
    • klickyklack (IG)
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2020, 18:46:44 »
They did Fairy Tale sets (which annoyingly I didn't buy at the time)

4211 Snow White
4212 Hansel and Gretal
4213 Cinderella

I think their was also a Princess/peasant duo that I've assumed is sort-of meant to be Cinderalla

Ahhh, thanks! I *thought* there was more, but hadn't had time to look for them yet! So, 4211, 4212 & 4213.   Er, I'm making another sub-collection rod for my own back here..  :lol: :lol:

Offline tahra

  • Playmo Guru
  • ******
  • Posts: 14759
  • Gender: Female
    • playkingdoms
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2020, 20:14:49 »
Some things I'd love to see:

More insect people
butterfly people (grasshoppers in different colours with solid colour painted wings)
more grasshopper people inc. grasshopper kids

more gnomes & forest kids/fairys
more mushroom & flower hats
large (oversized) snail led cart or carriage
battery powered lanterns the klickies can hold
a maypole
a "lemonade" stand


I would love all of those.. generelly we love odd critters... Just the bunnies rub us the wrong way..  Maybe they look too detailed next to the klickys? Don't know.

I do love some customs of them more like aliens than "county bunnies" ..

Offline Janilew

  • Playmo Lover
  • ***
  • Posts: 289
Re: "Forest Folk" sets drawing on vintage children's illustration
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2020, 07:22:25 »
ABSOLUTELY! While I like a lot of the fairies Playmobil already has, this is definitely more up my alley, I love this genre. Some of the fairies, particularly the children, match this. Also, some of the gnomes like those of the blind bags. A whole line would would destroy my savings.