PlaymoFriends
General => Report & Review => Topic started by: GrahamB on July 22, 2014, 17:05:31
-
In February 1994, Geobra began the release of their Specials series. Six small sets were released, each containing a single Klicky (one was actually a Vulture) and each set contained several accessories.
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/IMG_8787_resize_zps1fe682a6.jpg)
The first six…
These were the first of 218 Specials issued in groups of six every six months (with some minor variations) until 2012, 18 years later.
The sets, numbered consecutively from 4501 to 4757 (omitting numbers 4699 to 4739), plus 4900 and 4902, contain a wide variety of klickies, most of them unique to the series, many of them now ‘classics’. Each set came in a small box, priced to make them attractive as ‘pocket money toys’ for children and parents. Judging by second-hand PM lots I have bought, few children’s Playmobil collections from the 1990s and 2000s were without several Specials.
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/IMG_8782_resize_zpscddf0996.jpg)
Our collection!
In 2012-2013, the Special Series was extended with four further sets of 6 figures (4758 to 4763, 4764 to 4769, 5291 to 5296 and 5408 to 5413) known as ‘Special Plus’ sets; these contained more accessories, but were again mostly single-klicky sets.
After this, Geobra started releasing the ‘Mystery Figures’ series, 24 per series (12 ‘boys’ and 12 ‘girls figures in each).
This review focusses on the 218 Specials issued between 1994 and 2011. I have not covered the Special Plus or Mystery figures. Before 1994, there were a number of single-klicky sets which were not officially called Specials (though they are sometimes referred to as ‘Specials’). Some of these are classics in their own right, but they are not included in this review either.
I haven’t included pictures of all 218 sets, but if you want them they are here:
http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/sets.pl?theme=Special;sortby=setnum;focus=all;pics=on;page=1 (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/sets.pl?theme=Special;sortby=setnum;focus=all;pics=on;page=1)
-
Reason for this review
When I started collecting Specials I realised many of the set inventories on PlaymoDB were incomplete. This is not surprising given that only three Specials (4658, 4698 and 4756) were ever issued with building instruction sheets.
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/IMG_8789_resize_zps0414542c.jpg)
“Specials don’t need building instructions” – a Geobra manager
I also noticed that, although all the klickies have a number in PlaymoDB (30 nn nnnn or knnnna) and at least a basic description, many klicky details are missing.
I decided to set about filling in the gaps, gathering information from set box pictures, e.g. Collectobil -which has pictures of 145 sets (4901 to 4644, plus 4900), and pictures elsewhere on the Internet. I verified the information by reference to actual sets, especially the 49 I have MISB. The result is, I hope, a complete inventory of all 218 sets with full descriptions of all the klickies. The data is available in various formats, in the following links.
• All Specials data on Excel 2010 spreadsheet(colour coded to show information not in PlaymoDB) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61286767/Specials%20Data%20GrahamB.xlsx)
• Adobe pdf. showing tabulated Specials data, colour coded to show data not in PlaymoDB (35 pages) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61286767/Specials%20Data%20GrahamB.pdf)
• Word 2010 document listing contents of each set and full description of each klicky (57 pages) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61286767/Specials%20set%20lists%20and%20klicky%20details.docx)
• Adobe pdf. document listing contents of each set and full description of each klicky (57 pages) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61286767/Specials%20set%20lists%20and%20klicky%20details.pdf)
• Other formats (e.g. compatible with earlier versions of Word or Excel, CSV file, etc.) available on request!
-
Parts
I established there are 1420 parts, including 223 klickies, in the 218 sets, an average of 6.52 parts per set. (I counted a set of 5 daggers (for example) as one part).
Two sets had 14 different parts (4597 Flower Maiden and 4751 Little Flower Fairy),
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/IMG_8792_resize_zps2085adaa.jpg)
Many parts!
while 5 sets had only 3 parts (4574 Purple Spirit, 4635 Football Player, 4637 Surfer, 4750 Vet with Dog and 4757 Zookeeper with Baby Gorilla).
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/IMG_8793_resize_zpsb216adf0.jpg)
Not many parts!
Of the 1420 parts I listed,
o 911 parts are listed in PlaymoDB Text List inventories for the Special sets,
o 509 parts I have added to the set inventories
351 are identical with other parts already in the database
109 I have given the same name as an existing part (because they differ from that part in colour only) and invented a pnnnnx part number
49 parts I have invented names for (as nothing similar is in the DB) and invented a pnnnnx part number
Some Special sets could be considered special by virtue of the accessories they came with. To date, many accessories have only been released with Specials, but some have been re-used in more recent sets and this is likely to continue.
Not including klickies, I found 378 parts unique to the Specials series (not found in any other sets) and a further 160 parts found in a Special set and one other set only.
• 34 sets have no unique parts,
• 78 sets have one unique part,
• 57 have two,
• 26 have three,
• 13 have four,
• 2 have five,
• 4 have 6,
• 3 have 8 unique parts
o 4521 Arab Warrior,
o 4553 Astronaut,
o 4747 Yellow Astronaut
• one set has 9 unique parts: 4698 Motorcross Boy, making it perhaps the most ’Special’ of the Specials, by virtue of having the most unique parts.
This all ignores the possibility that parts have been used in more recent sets which weren’t in PlaymoDB when I researched this.
The following four sets have only unique parts (including the klickies):
4521 Arab Warrior (8 unique parts)
4530 Evil Witch (6 unique parts)
4553 Astronaut (7 unique parts)
4668 Mother and Baby (4 unique parts)
For me, the Arab Warrior is the nicest Special because those parts are so wonderful, as well as being unique!
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/IMG_8773_resize_zps0e44ee84.jpg)
My favourite Special!
-
Klickies
In the 218 sets there are 223 klickies:
• 209 sets have single klickies,
• 7 sets have two klickies
o 6 with a klicky baby and an adult female,
o one (4686) with two child klickies
• 2 sets have no klickies:
o 4503 Vulture and Skeleton
o 4563 Dog, Cat and Mouse
The 223 klickies are:
• 142 adult male,
• 36 adult female,
• 19 male children,
• 17 female children,
• 4 male babies,
• 2 female babies,
• 2 robots
• 1 alien
158 klickies are unique, found only in the Special set they came in, which perhaps makes them more Special than other Specials.
43 other klickies were issued as a Special and in one other set.
Two Specials really aren’t very special at all: 4540 (Norse Warrior) and 4580 (Police Officer) are each to be found in seven other sets (not the same seven sets, Norse Police haven’t been created yet!).
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/IMG_8791_resize_zps04d4f9a7.jpg)
Is he calling us boring?
I made 691 corrections to Klicky descriptions: 528 gaps filled, 84 partial changes, 79 complete changes.
Many of the klickies have special printing or non-detachable clothes.
Of 223 klickies
• 184 have torso printing of some sort,
• 39 have plain (unprinted) torsos, but 26 of these have clothes such as vests, jackets, armour, etc.
• 125 klickies have clothes (19 of these have only a belt, 3 only glasses, 2 only earrings, 1 only a clown-nose, 1 only a necklace).
• 104 have face printing,
• 79 have leg printing,
• 30 have arm printing and
• one (4652) has printing on the feet.
• There are 30 hair styles in 17 colours
o 63 have classic male hair, in 10 different colours
o only 8 have classic female hair (in 4 colours)
• 31 klickies have beards (in 11 styles).
• There are 9 face colours:
o 185 are light skintone
o 21 are red-brown,
o 7 are glow-in-the dark
o 3 are brown
o 3 are silver
o 1 each of white, gold, light green and red
• There are 17 hand colours
• 28 have bare feet.
-
Questions
I am sure there are probably errors in my inventories of the Specials. If you find any, let me know and I will update the inventory files.
For the three sets mentioned below, I have some questions about what parts were included, so if you have these (perhaps as MISB sets) perhaps you could help?
• 4507 Cat burglar. What is the string like (colour, length, thickness)? Is there a hook or a handhold on the string?
• 4542 Ruffian Redcoat. What sort of white feather is in his hat (length, width or identical part known in another set)?
• 4554 Ninja. Does the diagonal red strap have two pegs or just one on the back? Some set-box pictures seem to show one, some two, so different versions of this part may have been included at different times.
Variations
As with most PM sets, variations exist, where parts have been changed in later editions. Several of the Specials have been issued in other guises (give-aways, keychains, etc.) and some were on sale for several years, so variations have crept in. Here are a few I have noticed. In all cases, except 4600, any changes to the contents of a set were NOT reflected in the pictures on the front or back of the box.
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a621/GrahamB2013/4600versions1and2_resize_zps7f27b71c.jpg)
• 4514 Pierrot. Cuffs may be pleated (as on the box picture) or plain.
• 4600 Child with Tipping Tractor. The rear wheels of the tractor were large in some versions (possibly earlier ones, as well as in the similar US exclusive set 4930) but in other versions they were small, the same size as the front wheels. This is the only Special I have found where the box picture has been changed to reflect a change in contents.
• 4603 Halloween Costume. Collector 3rd edition shows two versions. Version 1 has white printing (I think) and version 2 has glow-in-the-dark printing. Or perhaps it is just that the boxes differ: version 2 has an inset picture on the front showing the ‘glow-in-the-dark’ effect.
• 4622 Confederate Soldier. Collector 3rd edition shows two versions Version 1 has insignia printed on the hat and version 2 has no insignia.
• 4633 Dragon Warrior, 4646 Knight with Double Axe and 4689 Swan Knight. For each of these, there are two versions of the klicky’s armour; with or without pointed shoulders. See http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=13963.0 (http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=13963.0)
• 4633 Dragon Warrior, 4689 Swan Knight, 4694 Hooded Ghost, 4696 Dragon Prince and probably others with the part ‘Sword, guard curves away from handle’. Later versions have the sword with guards perpendicular to the blade; see http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=14054.0 (http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=14054.0)
• 4650 Scary Ghost. The ball and loop for the chain may be metal in some versions.
-
:love: :love: :love: :love: :love:
I'm only mising 18 o:(
I have 2 of the ones you have questions for.
But I'll be home in like 6 hours. I could answer them then. :(
-
This is a great project. Thank you for putting it all together.
-
well...
Ninja has one peck at the front and one at the back , up, near the shoulder.
The cat burglar I have was not MISB and the rope mine has is not the original :(, I remember I provided it. But as far as I know, it's just rope and there is no hook nor holder with it for it was sold to me as complete (except for the rope) and at the time I made a little research and never found evidence of a hook or holder anywhere.
That's all I can help with :-[
-
Such dedication and devotion, GrahamB!
and thanks for sharing your findings :love:
(do you happen to know the part number for the African special 7459's white belt?)
-
Thanks for sharing all this information. I love the picture of your collection!
-
Thanks, Tonguello, especially for such a quick response to my questions! I will add the information into the inventories.
And thanks for the appreciative comments, everyone.
(do you happen to know the part number for the African special 7459's white belt?)
Sorry, cheng, the only part numbers I can find are these two, for black "belt, tied loosely".
http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/textsearch.pl?sortby=partnum&page=1&text=belt%5C%2C+tied+loosely&pics=on (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/textsearch.pl?sortby=partnum&page=1&text=belt%5C%2C+tied+loosely&pics=on)
I had to invent part numbers for quite a few parts (e.g. p4521c) and obviously these won't be recognised by DS. If only Geobra were more generous with their part numbers, we wouldn't be forced to hunt around for them, scraping websites, buying parts to find out what they look like, enlarging photos of DS storage bins, scrutinising DS invoices to find ETNs of parts sent in error, etc, etc. Although, to be fair, Geobra are generous in providing PDFs of building instructions on their website and this is a good source of part numbers, though not numbers for sub-parts of klickies, like that belt!
-
:wow: Wow, Graham - what a fantastic project! I may be able to answer a few of your questions as I do have a bunch of MIB specials and pals - as soon as I find the right box in my attic 8} I will let you know if I have any pertinent info.
I wasn't able to download any of your lists, though. I kept getting the error message "HTTP 404 Not Found." Is it just me?
-
Not just you, when I tried yesterday none of the links worked for me.
Great project with lots of really useful and interesting info! Thanks! :)
-
BIG applause for Graham! Instead of just putting up with PlaymoDB's failings, he's seeing where the gaps are and filling them in with projects of his own within his own capabilities. (Also see the <a href="http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=10517.msg194849#msg194849" rel="nofollow">Visual guide to hair types</a> for another example.) BRAVO! Graham, you need your own website.
There's GOT to be a way to incorporate all this into PlaymoDB without a lot of labour. I'll be looking through all this carefully as time allows, and I'm sure Graham and I will be talking!
One more useful resource at PlaymoDB: Klickies by Theme. Klickies that are part of Specials are here: http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/klicky_theme.pl?theme=Special (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/klicky_theme.pl?theme=Special). (Special Plus sets are included. Mystery figures are not: they're here, up to series 5: http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/klicky_theme.pl?theme=Fi%3Fures .) There are quite a lot of "numbered" klickies - some sourced from detective work, but many are from the official site. I know there are duplicates here: that's what happens when I create a temporary number for a part and then find out the real number later! Right now merging two existing parts is tricky and time-consuming, but a utility for that is underway, which will reduce the current number of 276 to Graham's count of 223 + the couple of dozen Plus's. Slow but steady progress.
cheng, I'm willing to bet that as soon as the belt you're looking for shows up on a Mystery Figure, we'll find out its number. Seems to be a pretty strong trend - almost all of these Wearable/Accessories (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/category.pl?sortby=partnum;page=1;category=Wearable-Accessories;pics=on) seem to be mystery parts.
-
Excellent work Graham! You are aware of the Playmobil Pals line that was carried at US Target stores some years back? They had packaging variation but were often reissues of older or current Specials. There were a couple that were specific to the line though. There is a thread at Klickywelt at http://www.klickywelt.de/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20035 (http://www.klickywelt.de/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20035)
-
...cheng, I'm willing to bet that as soon as the belt you're looking for shows up on a Mystery Figure, we'll find out its number. Seems to be a pretty strong trend - almost all of these Wearable/Accessories (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/category.pl?sortby=partnum;page=1;category=Wearable-Accessories;pics=on) seem to be mystery parts.
Heather, there's so much info on this thread....my waiting for new Fi?ures is for these accesories only...you're most correct....but how do you find their part numbers without asking DS individually? Do you have the 30239142 ETN (for the white Alpine tuft which goes on his hat) already? (I waited for years for the brown tuft to be reissued and I'm happier that its even in white) thanks for sharing and teaching me more!
-
..Sorry, cheng, the only part numbers I can find are these two, for black "belt, tied loosely".
....buying parts to find out what they look like,
...... ETNs of parts sent in error,
thanks Graham! I will wait for those white 'cotton' belts or my Samurai soldiers will need one hand to hold up their pants ;D
sometimes I buy parts to find out if they are dark red or brown or dark grey and not black or silver etc (the colours in the 3D plans are sometimes not very clear...I still prefer the old drawings)
-
Heather, there's so much info on this thread....my waiting for new Fi?ures is for these accesories only...you're most correct....but how do you find their part numbers without asking DS individually? Do you have the 30239142 ETN (for the white Alpine tuft which goes on his hat) already? (I waited for years for the brown tuft to be reissued and I'm happier that its even in white) thanks for sharing and teaching me more!
I don't actually ask DS directly, but I put in numbers, one after the other, into the Ersatzteile Finden form at playmobil.de and record what I get. (Actually I wrote a program to do it automatically. Much faster.) I do have that little feather - actually the one in 6395 is different from the one in 5157, and I have both numbers. Do a text search for "alpine hat", you'll see all three there.
-
...Ersatzteile Finden(Actually I wrote a program to do it automatically......- actually the one in 6395 is different from the one in 5157...
Thank you Heather! Such a tiny part and they made 2 different moulds within such a short time?! (or just that its grey in 6395)....I ordered those from Fi?ures(5157) but I would have ordered those from the Alpine family(6395) just to learn the difference.
-
I wasn't able to download any of your lists, though. I kept getting the error message "HTTP 404 Not Found." Is it just me?
Not just you, when I tried yesterday none of the links worked for me.
Sorry! I copied the files to another folder, turned out I had moved them out of my Dropbox folder. They are back now!
Instead of just putting up with PlaymoDB's failings
I'm glad you see it that way, Heather. As you know, I am big fan of the DB, use it incessantly and want to give something back... I am more than happy to supply the additions/ corrections I discovered in any format which helps you, when you are ready. I don't think my colour-coding (in the Excel file and its pdf copy) is particularly easy to use, but I can extract the information into separate lists if you want.
Excellent work Graham! You are aware of the Playmobil Pals line that was carried at US Target stores some years back? They had packaging variation but were often reissues of older or current Specials. There were a couple that were specific to the line though. There is a thread at Klickywelt at http://www.klickywelt.de/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20035 (http://www.klickywelt.de/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20035)
Thanks, Tiermann. I will look into that. I think Geobra do quite often repackage and reissue sets to different markets. They still do!
sometimes I buy parts to find out if they are dark red or brown or dark grey and not black or silver etc (the colours in the 3D plans are sometimes not very clear...I still prefer the old drawings)
I agree, cheng. Sometimes its hard to see the colour. But some of the parts on Ersatzteile-Finden have neither colour in the description, nor a picture to help. I know they will probably get round to putting them up there, I'm just impatient. And Geobra really are not generous with information, IMO.
-
Thank you Heather! Such a tiny part and they made 2 different moulds within such a short time?! (or just that its grey in 6395)....I ordered those from Fi?ures(5157) but I would have ordered those from the Alpine family(6395) just to learn the difference.
Same German name, therefore same mould - according to the "rules" I've learned. I'd be interested in being sure about the colour of each.
-
Excellent work Graham! You are aware of the Playmobil Pals line that was carried at US Target stores some years back? They had packaging variation but were often reissues of older or current Specials. There were a couple that were specific to the line though. There is a thread at Klickywelt at http://www.klickywelt.de/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20035 (http://www.klickywelt.de/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20035)
The thread to which Tiermann refers mentions two versions of each of the following: 4517, 4548, 4637, 4616. Does anyone know what was different about the two versions in each case (was it just a difference in package details, or differences in the actual klicky or accessories?).
When I finished collecting all the Specials, I made a list of 'non-Specials' but my wallet told me to stop thinking about any more collecting for a while! Non-specials (in my definition) were any single-klicky sets which could have been Specials, but weren't officially (many of these did have counterparts among the Specials, like Boy on Go-Cart and Go-Kart Special (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/your_set_list.pl?setlist=3358,4510;title=Your%20Set%20List)). There were 192 sets, not even counting sets with one klicky plus an animal/ bicycle/ other small vehicle etc. So That's why I decided to limit the revue to 'official' Specials!
The Wandering Monk (http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/your_set_list.pl?setlist=3631;title=Your%20Set%20List) is my favorite non-Special.
-
Very impressive collection, what a nice assortment! :)
-
To answer your question regarding the Cat Burglar 4507, the rope doesn't come with any hooks. I had one brand new and it comes with rope with a piece of tape around it. You could put it around his shoulder like in the box pic or you could remove the tape but the rope wouldn't stay put without help.
-
From what I remember (and I could be wrong as it's been years since I had a MISB Ninja 4554), I thought the original set had two red pouches for holding the sword (one in front and one in back) but the later re-release in the blister 5849 only had one pouch (in the back). I'm 90% sure. :-[
-
Thanks Robbie. What you said about the string in 4507 confirms what Tonguello said. I would still like to allocate a part number to the string, so colour, length and thickness would be helpful.
I think you are right about the 4554 Ninja too (and again, Tonguello agreed) having two pegs. I noticed the one in 5849 had only one 'peg' on the belt/sash and wondered if some versions of 4554 also had the single-peg belt (its impossible to tell from the box pics, though some pictures on Google show no front peg, these may be from 5849 too).