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News / Re: Playmobil in the News
« Last post by JLMatterer on Today at 17:50:28 »
The fun forum for Playmobil® fans of all ages!
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News / Re: Korean exclusive - King Sejong the Great
« Last post by Janilew on Today at 12:45:05 »$35 + $10shippingOnce again. All the cool stuff is overseas and/or overpriced. 🥲
No way
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Dioramas & Buildings / Re: Lightning Bolt spaceship
« Last post by JPSA on Today at 10:43:35 »The 3-decker version ( Lightning Bolt - Phase 2B ):
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Notes:
The hangar bay was initially intended to hold a crane ( PM 5254 ), as a gantry, but the wide unobstructed space caused outward bowing of the walls, in the original — Phase 1 — version of the ship. Phase 2B added a horizontal tension truss across the hangar bay ( seen above the captured Dark Invaders' spaceship ), to prevent it from collapsing under the weight.
Interestingly, and somewhat disappointedly, my young nephew never fully embraced the Lightning Bolt as a playset, much preferring the allure of... Spy Team! While he did play with it, some, it never captured his imagination like it did mine. I chalk that up to the fact that his generation — Gen Z — didn't grow up in what I deem the "golden age" of sci-fi shows and toys, like I did, in the late 1970s and early 80s. Back then, Star Wars was a juggernaut, and spawned TV shows like Buck Rogers, and Battlestar Galactica. We also had reruns of Space 1999, Logan's Run, and, of course, Star Trek, along with seminal movies like Alien and Blade Runner, to turn to — to name a few ( remember The Last Starfighter? Enemy Mine? Outland? ). Space, and sci-fi, was all the rage in those days. Lego, for instance, released its original space theme — which I mostly owned ( those moon plates! ) — in 1978, while the Playmospace theme was introduced in 1981. Boys play, back then, was all about swooshing ships, firing lasers, and landing on bases ( remember MB's Starbird, with its Command Base? ). Of all the dioramas and sets in my nephew's playroom, I did notice, however, males of my generation ( Gen X ), heading straight for The Lightning Bolt, as if to a lure — kind of awestruck: taking it in, getting it. It may also be that, in my nephew's specific case, he was definitely more interested in narrative play, whereas I enjoyed the construction and design aspects more ( as I always did ), reveling in projecting myself, visually, and in the idea of the thing, drawing on established notions such as: a ship's bridge, hangar bay, engine room, docking platform, antenna array, reactors, imposing landing gear,... An entire sci-fi design vocabulary, acquired over many (formative) years of media exposure, both filmed and in print. Oh well...
Here the original ( aka. Phase 1 ):
Notice the misaligned decks, due to needing a lot of room to fit the PM 5254 crane, while not having enough plates to fit a fourth deck. Without the tensioning truss, the hangar bay had a tendency to bow outward and collapse, especially if applying too much pressure on the hovercar's landing pad, above.
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Notes:
The hangar bay was initially intended to hold a crane ( PM 5254 ), as a gantry, but the wide unobstructed space caused outward bowing of the walls, in the original — Phase 1 — version of the ship. Phase 2B added a horizontal tension truss across the hangar bay ( seen above the captured Dark Invaders' spaceship ), to prevent it from collapsing under the weight.
Interestingly, and somewhat disappointedly, my young nephew never fully embraced the Lightning Bolt as a playset, much preferring the allure of... Spy Team! While he did play with it, some, it never captured his imagination like it did mine. I chalk that up to the fact that his generation — Gen Z — didn't grow up in what I deem the "golden age" of sci-fi shows and toys, like I did, in the late 1970s and early 80s. Back then, Star Wars was a juggernaut, and spawned TV shows like Buck Rogers, and Battlestar Galactica. We also had reruns of Space 1999, Logan's Run, and, of course, Star Trek, along with seminal movies like Alien and Blade Runner, to turn to — to name a few ( remember The Last Starfighter? Enemy Mine? Outland? ). Space, and sci-fi, was all the rage in those days. Lego, for instance, released its original space theme — which I mostly owned ( those moon plates! ) — in 1978, while the Playmospace theme was introduced in 1981. Boys play, back then, was all about swooshing ships, firing lasers, and landing on bases ( remember MB's Starbird, with its Command Base? ). Of all the dioramas and sets in my nephew's playroom, I did notice, however, males of my generation ( Gen X ), heading straight for The Lightning Bolt, as if to a lure — kind of awestruck: taking it in, getting it. It may also be that, in my nephew's specific case, he was definitely more interested in narrative play, whereas I enjoyed the construction and design aspects more ( as I always did ), reveling in projecting myself, visually, and in the idea of the thing, drawing on established notions such as: a ship's bridge, hangar bay, engine room, docking platform, antenna array, reactors, imposing landing gear,... An entire sci-fi design vocabulary, acquired over many (formative) years of media exposure, both filmed and in print. Oh well...
Here the original ( aka. Phase 1 ):
Notice the misaligned decks, due to needing a lot of room to fit the PM 5254 crane, while not having enough plates to fit a fourth deck. Without the tensioning truss, the hangar bay had a tendency to bow outward and collapse, especially if applying too much pressure on the hovercar's landing pad, above.
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Dioramas & Buildings / Lightning Bolt spaceship
« Last post by JPSA on Today at 10:02:03 »While I am dredging my hard drive, here is a system-x project I built for my young nephew, a few years back. It is a spaceship he christened "The Lightning Bolt", and is the ship featured in the Space Patrol HQ illustration I made during the "corona confinement" [ shudder ]. I am listing it here because it is a bit too big to be considered a ship or vehicle ( although it is a spaceship ), and is closer to a building / fortress diorama.
The ship was designed in a 3D program, first, to figure out the design, as well as which pieces to buy ( plates, in particular ). Obviously, steck was out of the question, here.
Though, in my opinion, I believe steck could be extended to create futuristic bases with conventional walls ( imagine wall-sections with greebles and panel lines, instead of stone masonry ). In fact, a mix of steck and system-x might work for that use case — think: a futuristic base, as opposed to this ship's structural framework. I often wondered what The Lightning Bolt would look like with the skin on. Anyhow...
The Lightning Bolt comes in two configuration: four-decker ( aka. "Phase 2" ), which was never built, and a 3-decker version ( aka. Phase 2B ). Note: Phase 1 was the original: a 3-decker with some structural issues, along with misaligned decks, which was built, as well.
4-decker version:
3-decker version ( Phase 2B )
The ship was designed in a 3D program, first, to figure out the design, as well as which pieces to buy ( plates, in particular ). Obviously, steck was out of the question, here.
Though, in my opinion, I believe steck could be extended to create futuristic bases with conventional walls ( imagine wall-sections with greebles and panel lines, instead of stone masonry ). In fact, a mix of steck and system-x might work for that use case — think: a futuristic base, as opposed to this ship's structural framework. I often wondered what The Lightning Bolt would look like with the skin on. Anyhow...The Lightning Bolt comes in two configuration: four-decker ( aka. "Phase 2" ), which was never built, and a 3-decker version ( aka. Phase 2B ). Note: Phase 1 was the original: a 3-decker with some structural issues, along with misaligned decks, which was built, as well.
4-decker version:
3-decker version ( Phase 2B )
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Dioramas & Buildings / Re: Cutaway Castle diorama
« Last post by Klickteryx on Today at 09:16:37 »Amazing work, it definitely has an early-mid 20th century feel to it - the style, not the subject matter. It's not common to see such extensive hoardings either so the creator(s) must have done more than basic research.
Nice use of a door as a window shutter, haven't seen that before.
Nice use of a door as a window shutter, haven't seen that before.
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News / Re: Müller Black Knight exclusive
« Last post by tahra on Today at 08:53:35 »I want one too. I will try to find one of those stores and get my 50th knight there, since I didn't yet, anyways. But ... just a fool's hope.
I believe we better hope it's released later, and we can nag the usual german playmofriends for them..
I believe we better hope it's released later, and we can nag the usual german playmofriends for them..
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Dioramas & Buildings / Re: Cutaway Castle diorama
« Last post by JPSA on Today at 03:42:42 »It is gorgeous. I love that they took the chance, and went through the trouble, of painting exterior walls. The warm tones enhance the appeal of the façade, and are a welcome departure from the usual gray. I also love that they built hourds around the battlements. Very realistic — a feature I wish PM would add to steck ( along with 2x-radius towers! ). Also, did you notice that thought was put into aligning the fireplaces, on each floor — on both sides — with built-in custom chimney shafts and outlets? 
Design. It's also interesting that the rooms are cut in half, longitudinally: we're literally immersed in the middle of them; something you don't usually see. ...What this castle proves, to me, is that a little more emphasis on steck build-ability, with a few more pieces, could bring PM to yet another level, at the glorious intersection of construction and narrative-play. It needn't be limited to medieval themes, either.
Design. It's also interesting that the rooms are cut in half, longitudinally: we're literally immersed in the middle of them; something you don't usually see. ...What this castle proves, to me, is that a little more emphasis on steck build-ability, with a few more pieces, could bring PM to yet another level, at the glorious intersection of construction and narrative-play. It needn't be limited to medieval themes, either.8
Brainstorming For Playmobil / Re: What's wrong with Playmobil? 2
« Last post by JPSA on Today at 03:20:09 ». . . but I also suspect there's a belief that the box forms part of the advertising, and a nice, big box with a big image looks better on the shelf in a shop.
Maybe they could have a 24inch (3:2 aspect) TV on the shelves, displaying a slideshow of box art, surrounded by stacks of volume-minimized, 'flatpack' sets.
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News / Re: Müller Black Knight exclusive
« Last post by StJohn on Today at 02:05:31 »So in 100 box’s there are both ?
No, that would be too easy to guess because of the considerable extra weight.
Oliver is right: the voucher gets you to the golden knight, the FunPark and the €50 store credit. I can only dream of getting one (but notice with surprise that already 2 have been found and reported at Klickywelt. How did they do it?)
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Brainstorming For Playmobil / Re: What's wrong with Playmobil? 2
« Last post by Oliver on Today at 01:59:53 »There's probably lots of considerations with the box sizes. They need to be a standard range, obviously, but I also suspect there's a belief that the box forms part of the advertising, and a nice, big box with a big image looks better on the shelf in a shop.