PlaymoFriends
General => News => Topic started by: Macruran on February 05, 2017, 19:10:35
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I felt this needs to be recognized for the epochal change that it is.
Geobra's "no licensing" stand gave PM a special charm. It stood out from the common ruck of toys because it left more space for the imagination. PM also felt more "clean" somehow, more honest, in that they weren't just cashing in on a temporary media event but really building a long term brand and a playworld that could be extended without borders.
They gave in on other fronts over the years - no dinosaurs was pnce a rule, but it was broken - but on licensing they stood firm.
That's changed with Horst's death and I can't help but feel that something significant has changed forever. They've made a Faustian bargain and there's no going back.
It makes me sad.
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Well, no toy line licensing. They did license corporate brand names - Shell oil, Pirelli tires, Blaupunkt, obviously BMW and Porsche. Last couple years NHL. They just didn't do media properties. So that is a change, but lets not pretend they were some ethically pure entity standing athwart worldwide branding and yelling stop. They just had previously made the decision that media licenses cost more than they would bring in extra revenue. Obviously if media licensing didn't work LEGO would be out of business now, and instead they have become bigger than Playmobil especially on the world stage. Playmobil has always been unable to really get a foothold in the US market, as well as many other international ones. Going for media licenses is one way to try to reach into those markets in a new way. I was surprised that the US 2017 catalog doesn't have the licensed lines in it. I assume they are coming out here but maybe not, it may be that Playmobil only has a license for German release and not for international? We will know after US Toy Fair I guess. So if say Ghostbusters and Dreamworks Dragons aren't going to be sold internationally - how many of you collectors would go out of your way to buy some of those licensed sets? If you would do that for even one, then decrying the change is a bit hypocritical.
The one constant in life is change. If Playmobil didn't keep trying to find new ways to reach customers it could well eventually go away entirely. I don't think that's what any of us want. If you look at this year's new catalog there have been some clear shifts in focus, but the majority of it is still the same playworld lines of one sort or another and all of it still is in the same scale and can be used with every bit of Playmobil you already own. For me the far more significant shifts that are of concern are the speeding up of the release and discontinuation schedule and the fact that not all themes are now being released in all markets. As a collector that is a way bigger deal to me than if they add a few lines of media-centric licenses.
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They just didn't do media properties. So that is a change, but lets not pretend they were some ethically pure entity standing athwart worldwide branding and yelling stop.
Of course. And your other points are well taken - there are bigger sea changes afoot. But I have picked this change out as a signal, as it's plainer to see.
I'm not opposing the licensing (though I am not interested in any of the licensed sets), I am just expressing my sadness. Change is inevitable but so is the pain it causes.
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Lego was nearly broken by its licensing arrangements at one point, so success isn't guaranteed. But I also see this and events in the last few couple of years as marking a change, and not one for the better.
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There's nothing to fear.
Playmobil won't stop producing original sets because they got a few licenses.
Figures shown from Dragons and Ghostbusters are still sporting the original klicky face and not cartoony painted eyes. They still have the normal klicky construction as well.
It's not like they produced figures that didn't go with the rest of the Playmobil line.
The Dragon line will compliment the Knights line up while the Ghostbusters sets will be nice additions to the City Life and City Actions themes.
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Figures shown from Dragons and Ghostbusters are still sporting the original klicky face and not cartoony painted eyes. They still have the normal klicky construction as well.
Yeah.. those they left for the Super 4 line.. >:(
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Horst and Hans were also originally against aliens and ancient Romans.
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Horst and Hans were also originally against aliens and ancient Romans.
MADMEN
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So if say Ghostbusters and Dreamworks Dragons aren't going to be sold internationally - how many of you collectors would go out of your way to buy some of those licensed sets? If you would do that for even one, then decrying the change is a bit hypocritical.
I wouldn't. Does that mean I'm allowed to complain? :P
Ghostbusters aren't interesting at all. HTTYD is kind of cute. I might get Hiccup and Astrid with respective dragons for my niece, if they come here and I can use a coupon. Maybe. If I have to pay international shipping on top of the licensing fee, nope. Toothless isn't that cute. I definitely don't care for the NHL sets. It will be interesting to see how the licensing scheme works out. Will movie fans go for Playmobil sets or will they stick to the usual toy brands with licensed sets?
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Toothless isn't that cute.
Is TOO. :P
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Will movie fans go for Playmobil sets or will they stick to the usual toy brands with licensed sets?
I don't know, Playmobil offers a great cast of other medieval characters that would make cool villagers for the heroes of Dragons to interact with instead of just the basic core characters that action figure lines tend to offer.
The same goes for Ghostbusters. Instead of just the five heroes and some ghosts, Playmobil offers a whole bunch of characters and environments to play with. Citizens to hire the team or rescue.
There's a ghost in the flower shop? What about the bank? Quick! To the Ecto-1! Oh no! There's a traffic jam caused by all those Playmobil vehicles.
The fun never stops with Playmobil :love:
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Is TOO. :P
Of course you would say that. :lol: I'm already cringing at the 30+ price tag. If it goes into the 40's (with cross-Atlantic shipping), the small child will get a different dragon.
The fun never stops with Playmobil :love:
Yeah, there's a lot of flexibility and possibilities in Playmobil, though much of North America has been ignoring this. It would help if Playmobil were in more stores.
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Well, no toy line licensing. They did license corporate brand names - Shell oil, Pirelli tires, Blaupunkt, obviously BMW and Porsche. Last couple years NHL. They just didn't do media properties.
I thought about this and I think it's the fantasy element that bugs me. Porsche, NHL, Shell - to me these fit into the larger PM ethos, which I see as one based in reality. From the First Triumvirate of Indian, Construction Worker and Knight, through Arabs, Eskimos, Victorians, police, shopping, schools, und so weiter, PM has usually been connected to the real world in some way. You're simulating something that exists, or once existed, or might exist (Playmospace - okay the aliens are a bit of a stretch but bear with me). To me, NHL players stand shoulder to shoulder with Martin Luther or Henry the Lion or the Schwabacher Goldbeater.
Ghostbusters breaks with this. Ghostbusters is imaginary. It has no referent in the real world. It's just a Hollywood property.
I admit that the line is blurry - the sea serpent isn't real, nor are Zeus or Athena (well maybe). But even there, the myths they represent are real myths. People once believed in such things. No one will ever believe in proton packs.
And yes, the laser rockets on the new Arctic base bother me for a similar reason. Top Agents would have heavy weapons, but scientists wouldn't.
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A number of good points, well made.
It's interesting what you say about Zeus and Athena. As a youngster, well before secondary/senior school (i.e. 11 upwards) I was reading these stories, obviously in a simplified form. I can still picture some of the illustrations from a version of Jason and the Golden Fleece that I had.
When you look at a lot of the fantasy stories, they are (consciously or otherwise) reworkings of the ancient myths, but not to my mind as good as them.
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You know, the licensing is not the thing that bugs me as a collector. There are (and always have been) a number of themes that don't interest me, and that I rarely buy from. As long as they keep investing in existing themes that I like, it doesn't stand in my way.
The thing that worries me is the trend of designing sets (in all themes) that are aimed at younger children: Fisher-price looks (even Fisher Price rip-offs, remember the last middle ages troll and castle), Fisher Price 'sturdiness' (less detailed buildings with stickers for windows and a bare minimum of walls, carry-along boxes, more and more pinkness everywhere...). Those items are useless for me as a collector, because they don't fit in with original Playmobil and they are impossible to fit into a proper diorama.
Actually that ties in with the 'realism' Macruran was talking about, but in a different way.
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The thing that worries me is the trend of designing sets (in all themes) that are aimed at younger children: Fisher-price looks (even Fisher Price rip-offs, remember the last middle ages troll and castle), Fisher Price 'sturdiness' (less detailed buildings with stickers for windows and a bare minimum of walls, carry-along boxes, more and more pinkness everywhere...). Those items are useless for me as a collector, because they don't fit in with original Playmobil and they are impossible to fit into a proper diorama.
Actually that ties in with the 'realism' Macruran was talking about, but in a different way.
That worries me too. Along the same lines, the move towards one-piece buildings. They can't be customized, and they're less educational.
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Birdie and Ismene have summed things up very accurately.
Too many new items are bland, lacking in detail and just not Playmobil-like any more.
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Yes, I think that sums it up... Though I have NO problem with all the fantasy and unbelievable stuff - except the obvious non playmo (my-not-so-little-hairy-ponies) and the religious propaganda ones. Not that I don't have those :-[ , but still.
The buildings tendency is especially worrisome.
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The buildings tendency is especially worrisome.
And the ships as well. The latest pirates´ ship has minimal rigging, only 1 true topmast, stick-on fake cannon-mouths, no interior cabin anymore and stickers are used as windows.
Here too it starts to look like crappy Fischerprice. I have multiples of every one of the previous twomasters, but just 1 of this latest variant and I won´t buy an additional.
I´m already looking forward to whatever replacement they might come up with next, good chance it wil have dragonwings instead of masts & sails... ::)
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...good chance it wil have dragonwings instead of masts & sails... ::)
Don't give them any ideas :uhoh:
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Don't give them any ideas :uhoh:
What she said. :0
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Ive been saying this kind of thing for years, but of course back then people would accuse me of negativity ...
It didn't start with the stupid trolls, and the unicorns. The rot started setting in ages ago, and not just product-wise.
Kind of glad it is so obvious now, and playmobil is so in the doldrums, that everyone here can see it.
Meanwhile, if you need cheering up, there's the fantastic Lego Batman movie out (and the assorted FUN merch to go with it ;D ;D ;D)
(actually, I don't even mind the trolls and fantasy stuff ... what i always resented was the way PM totally ignored the adult collector market, where there is so much potential and potential £££ to be made. 300-400 euro sets aimed at adults, and - would you believe it - people actually buy them!)
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I'm always interested in this topic, and can handle negativity. BRING IT ON
(actually, I don't even mind the trolls and fantasy stuff ... what i always resented was the way PM totally ignored the adult collector market, where there is so much potential and potential £££ to be made. 300-400 euro sets aimed at adults, and - would you believe it - people actually buy them!)
They're breaking so many other old "principles" that they HAVE to break this one eventually. There are signs...
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Well I think the Ghostbusters line is marketed to adults really. Kids aren't going o be fans of that movie are they? I do think they should offer a marshmallow man that is XXL size - properly big for the size of the structure. Yes it would be expensive, but may well sell anyway.
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Good point - that is a positive sign from the Ghostbusters experiment. Now we just need to get them to market to the Napoleonic collectors...
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MADMEN
Aliens I guess are a bit iffy, but Romans? No way, they wouldn't have renewed the theme if there wasn't a good market.
Maybe with aliens they should have gone with a Men in Black type theme.
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It didn't start with the stupid trolls, and the unicorns. The rot started setting in ages ago, and not just product-wise.
For me it started with the Vikings. Great idea, popular theme, but then purple. Endless shades of purple. Followed up with generic barbarians in purple, endless shades of purple.
Now finding good stuff within the sword themes is like dumpster diving. Occasionally you come across a sealed sandwich or even a partially wrapped one that just needs some minor work to make it edible, most of the time though you get a loose sandwich with slightly slimy lettuce and dried out processed meat; there might be some nice tomato left in there but the rest is a write off.
I wish they'd sell non-removable armour parts separately for instance, otherwise the good stuff gets buried under layers of dodgy sandwich.
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I think that, with the historical themes, it started slightly before that, with the yellow and blue knights and their castle. I think that's when it was clear that 'the golden age' had ended. The Romans were a high of sorts, but still.
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For me it started with the Vikings. Great idea, popular theme, but then purple. Endless shades of purple. Followed up with generic barbarians in purple, endless shades of purple.
Now finding good stuff within the sword themes is like dumpster diving. Occasionally you come across a sealed sandwich or even a partially wrapped one that just needs some minor work to make it edible, most of the time though you get a loose sandwich with slightly slimy lettuce and dried out processed meat; there might be some nice tomato left in there but the rest is a write off.
I wish they'd sell non-removable armour parts separately for instance, otherwise the good stuff gets buried under layers of dodgy sandwich.
:lol:
What a great analogy. Have you had a lot of experience in this area?