PlaymoFriends
General => Brainstorming For Playmobil => Topic started by: Amd on February 02, 2012, 17:09:12
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Not sure about dates, but late 90's and eraly 2000, lego company went almost bankruncy, they sold not sure if all lego parks, but most of them, and the y way ahead only seems to be dark...
Luckily for legos the collectors save the company, but to do this lego open themself to them, creating a new market... a market that only gets bigger, because doesn matter if a new lego series fails, the clasic stuff rules!!! or saves them... and with new ideas the integrate new stuff with the old lego fans, like the star wars series on tv... only gets better...
Eveybody knows this. Even Geobra.
fortunately Geobra its opening themselves to us the collectors, in a very reluctant way i must say, but its a beginig and seems only will get better if Geobra does the right thing. the first big steph, will be to create a -Classic Playmobil- line, not in Ds way, but retailer desing, with a retro format, will increase parent kids conection, is not just buy playmobil to your kids, but buy the same ones you love...
Then my other idea, storm Geobra to lauch under approval of fan member board base of those Playmobil sets never release for mix reasons... lets say the stem boat, or the medieval sets, etc...
I dont like the idea of delay the PCC, i like the facebook page, but is not the same, is more general, they don't want to invest... the want to give us what they want, is kinda sae :-\
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I agree with retail vs DS. I've said it time and time again. DS is next to useless as far as I'm concerned ... and I'm a collector. It's even more useless for occasional buyers. What's the use of things being on the DS catalogue if people don't know about it? It took me a long time, for eg, to realise I could order DS stuff from PM (and they still haven't got back to me with a quote by the way ...) ... because such a service wasn't advertised.
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It seems more troublesome to order stuff through DS than through Ebay or other second hand sellers. Aside from some rare items with extreme prices, the online second hand market is very tough competition for DS.
I'd suggest them to have less DS items, focus it more on expansions and sell all of it in stores so it can be bought right along with what its supposed to be an expansion for.
They could give it a name and distinct packaging to show its not a regular set. They could call it Playmobil Extra or something like that.
To further draw attention to it, they could encourage shopkeepers to do promotional stunts that combine these DS items with something suitable from the regular sets and give a package deal for the two items when bought together.
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And licensing!
;D ;D ;D
(though I can't think of a licence that PM could get that isn't already being done by LEGO ... LEGO seems to have all the cool stuff covered already)
And then, dedicated PM stores in various capital cities, of course. Not everyone can go to Zirndorf after all.
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i'm not sure if i understand this well :-[
you guys request a special line / theme for collectors using retro or vintage looking klickies? :D :eh?:
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i'm not sure if i understand this well :-[
you guys request a special line / theme for collectors using retro or vintage looking klickies? :D :eh?:
Nope, we request a classic line for retail sale, not just collectors... So clasic set are on store again, it can make parents buy the same Sets they have when they were kids...
And a new line of set made under collector board desition, kinda the reissue of the bakery thing, but a bigger scale, like the board may ask for never release sets, but that everybody knows about, like the steam boat or the torture room...
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Classic sets reissued is a good thing, although I wouldnt mind the clickies being slightly updated though.
With a group of nuremberg guards for example they could have the rotating wrists but also shoes and maybe the occasional classic beard.
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I find UK DS gives a very good service. As for local retailers stocking these items, they will only do so if they have the space to stock them and the sales to make it profitable.
Licensing? Well, it was a mixed blessing for Lego. It was when some big licensed lines bombed that Lego almost hit the buffers!
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I didn't know that. Which licenses were they?
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I didn't know that. Which licenses were they?
It was a Harry Potter one or a late Star Wars one from what I remember.
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Well, they seem to have bounced back well enough, and both licences are still going strong. Star Wars sets fly off the shelves, at my local Bart Smit. This morning they only had one TIE fighter left, for eg. Even if it costs 57 euro.
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It works for star wars yes, but all the other licenses arent exactly an improvement over the usual themes.
Pirates of the carribean theme is pathedic compared to the classic lego pirates. I still can't believe they dropped that theme.
Lego does seem to have trouble substaining historic themes.. I believe they had none during their troubled years, aside from power ranger knights that cant even be called medieval anymore.
Why did they only have one batch of cowboys for example? as far as I know it was succesfull. Pirates was very popular too, same for knights and lego's own space themes yet they seem to trade everything in for licenses.
While Playmobil definatly seems to have been far more succesfull with historic themes than lego, they could still learn a lot from the Lego space themes before they started with licenses. Playmobil space was never really a bit hit, and while the newest batch has potential it's still rather limited compared to the monorails, huge space ships, prisons and most things Lego has done with it.
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Well, they seem to have bounced back well enough,
They boinced back at a cost by selling Legoland, for example. In addition, since they lost a court case over whether the brick system could be patented, a number of other firms have started using the system.
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oh, no licencing please! :prays: :loco:
playmobil has done a great job being original :love:
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oh, no licencing please! :prays: :loco:
playmobil has done a great job being original :love:
I know! That's one of the reasons I buy Playmobil instead of Lego.
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Oh really? So it's ideological, is it?
It's absurd. Lego has many unlicensed themes.
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I'd recommend getting old sets through bricklink any day though instead of buying new lego from the stores.
While for playmobil I'd say some themes have seen better days, they have some very strong themes at any time still, even now. For lego all the best stuff is long gone, but that might just be my opinion. Sure there is star wars, but thats a license.
Lego peaked in the late eighties, early ninetees.
Great pirates that inspired adventure with its many treasure islands, many beautifull ships, forts of various sizes and even a large trade post.
Plenty of great castles, decorated knights, army builder sets, forestmen and even some medieval civilian sets.
Harbour theme was also strong, with a large and smaller cargo harbour at the same time and the only speedboat harbour ever released.
Space was one great faction after another, always with another focus for each faction. Blacktron where the bad guys with their cool black spacesuits, M-tron had all kinds of ground transports and used lots of magnets, Iceplanet focused on an ice theme, Exploriens focused on finding and examening fosils, UFO had its aliens and robots combined with saucer shaped space ships.
Plenty of city building as well, with buildings other than a police station and firestation. There where also hospitals, a pizzeria, a cafe, various houses, stables, a bank, forrest homes, etc.
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LEGO started going down hill when their sets were produced with too many specialty pieces. The best part of LEGO is taking the sets apart and using these elements and making MOCS (my own creation).
LEGO is also probably the only major company to attend conventions and mingle with consumers. The main thing they heard was "Go back to the brick". That is not so many specialty pieces and more elements, and their sales went up. At one time, I believe 2000 was the first LEGO con. Now there are 4 or5 cons per year across the US.
In LEGO, I believe, the minifigs are to enhance their construction sets. In Playmobil, the main feature is the Klicky with scenery to enhanse it.
Playmobil, in my opinion, needs to be more present in the USA, a lot of workers in Target, Walmart, and ToysRUs have not even heard of Playmobil. ToysRUs carries some Playmobil, but only carries the box sets and what they think will sell. The have a wide range of modern era sets, the Dino range and the Western sets. The clercks there knew they carried Playmobil but were not aware of the many other sets Playmobil has.
-- Donmobil
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I'd imagine the western sets would be more popular in the USA than other parts of the world, its popular everywhere but surely its more interesting to the nation whose history its portraying? Theres even northern and southern soldiers.
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I'd imagine the western sets would be more popular in the USA than other parts of the world, its popular everywhere but surely its more interesting to the nation whose history its portraying? Theres even northern and southern soldiers.
One would think that -but the 'Myth of the West' seems to have been just as much of if not more so, attractive in Europe. Look at all of the Western movies and books produced in Europe - not just today, but also during the historical time period (ie Karl May).
I think Wild West Playmobil sets are more popular in Europe than they are here.
The Cowboy culture is still very predominant here (in Western Canada) and while all stores do sell Western items for kids (toy guns, etc) it is something that is prevalent and not something that people need to recreate artificially.
The VAST majority if Wild West items aimed at children I have ever seen have been from Europe or the Orient.
The greatest popularity here was in the 1950's and early 1960's inspired by television.
The ideals of the Wild West are those that capture the imagination of all people - but it seems more so those who are removed from the reality of it. While those who are immersed in the reality of it, often look elsewhere for their imaginations.
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oh, no licencing please! :prays: :loco:
playmobil has done a great job being original :love:
:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :)9
indeed, i'm a real lego fan and have been for years, but the way things are going at TLC, i have backed off and feel let down.
Repeats of the same, prices are getting higher again (come on you've seen that prices?????? around €90 for a freightplane???? Get serious)
Nope, sets are getting interesting though finally again real playsets, but prices are soaring and so are the themes.
That Chima is horrendous and so are all those other themes. BLEH :hehe:
The only interesting theme is the Lone Ranger with it's western sets.
well, maybe i'm just becoming and old and grumpy man :wall: :0
anyhow, please no licensing for PM. They do a good job as it is, staying with their roots ;)
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That Chima is horrendous and so are all those other themes. BLEH :hehe:
The only interesting theme is the Lone Ranger with it's western sets.
Licensed themes such as the Lone Ranger and Pirates of the Caribbean are definitely an improvement from themes such as Chima and Ninjago, although, even then, they limit the creativity of the child by giving them characters and settings that are confined to the movie's plot. :-\
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that lone ranger lego still has nothing on the western sets they released in the 90's. What are kids supposed to do with a lone ranger in each set? Makes it more of a ranger squad than a lone ranger.
Same for pirates of the carribean lego and the pirate sets they had earlier. Not just set pieces to replay the movie, but treasure islands, pirate coves, cannon towers and other imaginative sets that instilled a true sense of adventure!
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When it comes to Lego, all I really want is a big bucket of bricks - no themes, no named characters, just good ole' bricks. My niece is just getting to an age where she can play with toys with small parts. Thankfully, we still have our Lego set from the 90's because many of the new sets are referencing movies that she is not old enough to see.
I'd imagine the western sets would be more popular in the USA than other parts of the world, its popular everywhere but surely its more interesting to the nation whose history its portraying? Theres even northern and southern soldiers.
On the contrary, I live in the southwest USA, and I only care about western sets in that some parts can be worked into the Victorian theme. I work in a multicultural department (locals, other Americans, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, etc.). Guess who is most likely to wear cowboy boots? -------------- The Germans. ;)
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Maybe it will sell big in texas? ;)