PlaymoFriends
General => News => Topic started by: playmofire on February 12, 2009, 17:21:49
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Here's the article from The Independent I mentioned earlier. There was also an obituary in today's edition which I'll try and scan. In it, it mentioned a law suite between Hans Beck and Playmobil over remuneration with Hans Beck sueing Playmobil.
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Thank you for posting that article, Gordon. The writer really captured the simple genius of Hans Beck's designs as well as the essence of the Playmobil experience - including trodding on the stuff! :)
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could this be the article you are referring to playmofrire? ???
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hans-beck-inventor-of-playmobil-childrens-toys-1607199.html
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I think that was a very well written article and seemed to sum up the situation nicely, if unfortunately for Hans Beck.
Gepetto
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Thanks for both articles. Especially the second one tells me some new facts I didn't know before (although I was a little bit wondering why an article about the person Hans Beck tells about 1/3 up to 1/2 of it's length about WW II and what was about historical Zirndorf ...)
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(although I was a little bit wondering why an article about the person Hans Beck tells about 1/3 up to 1/2 of it's length about WW II and what was about historical Zirndorf ...)
Yes, I thought the same - almost more a history of Zirndorf and the toy industry there in the 20th century and, oh! almost forgot, hans Beck.
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So many typos in the article, I though I was reading the Guardian!
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much "worse" than the independent article playmofire discovered is this old one.
it was discovered and posted on klickywelt on november 08.
the hans beck picture it contains is the same that i thave posted before - one of the last we have of him, i think, taken last year.
it comes from a german news site called "szon" but i only read it a few days ago.
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underneath there is a (free) english translation (i can't understand a word of german) of what it's said in the article.
i hesitated in posting this article here.
when i called it "worse" before i meant to say that this is not a nice article in 2 ways:
- it is written in a rather "sensationalistic" tone (there's an angel and a devil)
- and its content is not a pleasant one to read.
maybe it only deepens the depression that hans beck's death caused in many of us.
but it also can help us to see things as they really are.
i confess that, after reading the article, it was very difficult to send my condolence to hans beck's family using the geobra/playmobil.de site.
after reading it i decided to "visit" my pirate klickies and kind of recovered my smile again.
"From our editor Michael Heschler
Controversy around the money
Playmobil brings little luck to its inventor
MARKDORF - Hans Beck, Playmobil’s inventor, actually wanted to enjoy his old age at Lake Constance but he can´t find peace.
The 79 years old is looking for recognition on his work but his ex-company and ex-boss refuse to do so.
Up untill now this is as far as Playmobil goes: they send its inventor a bouquet on his birthday and on Christmas.
Nowadays nothing else connects Hans Beck and the toy giant.
Disturbed, the inventor retired himself from the company in 1998.
He lives in an ordinary house in Markdorf’s Gehrenberg montain, a city nobody notices.
Horst Brandstätter, Playmobil’s sole owner, wintered in a mansion in worldly Florida, that has - it is said - a fancy swivelling living room surrounded by windows, with Golf-pro Tiger Woods as a close by neighbour.
On Hans Beck house the rusty pipes demand replacement and the Playmobil inventor is forced to do a lot of math not to stretch his budget.
Arthrosis weakens is right leg making the 79 years walk in pain, his health diminished.
It is difficult for him to witness the little appreciation Brandstätter company gives him, despite its world success.
Horst Brandstätter, the current Mister Playmobil, is unaware of this feeling.
At the Zirndorf headquartes, where they unroll the red carpet for him, he has a highly-decorated office with the Order of Merit granted by the municipality in recognition for his services.
The fact that Brandstätter has to owe fame and wealth to its inventor is increasingly disappearing.
The history of Playmobil goes like this: before going away in a business trip that lasted for several weeks, in 1971, toy maker Brandstätter left an order to his “Sample Maker”, as it was called then.
“You have to make something looking just like Lego, and I promise you an extra 500 marks” he said to his product developer.
Beck did not want to copy their components and, instead, he presented a him human figure “not very changeable, but lookin friendly and capable of being produced in large numbers”.
How did the boss react when the prototypes were finished?
“He didn’t show a lot of enthusiasm. But, at least, he didn’t forbid me to continue”.
Beck made another, and continued to do some different ones.
From an yellowed cardboard box he takes out a king.
A silver crown, red and white vests and a friendly face.
One of the first Playmobil figures.
The body was made of plastic, the beatles-bowlcut-style hair was made from poured synthetyc resin.
The face, as we know it - friendly, likeable.
“It still looks well made”, Beck concludes.
At this point the old Mr. Beck gets lost in his work.
In his development room the same happened.
That was its realm.
In there Beck was the king.
In there he forgot his boss’s humiliations .
At first Brandstätter wanted Beck to cut on the design content, because the process was lost against a competitor.
Afterwards the Boss decided to reinforce his management, imposing a supervisor on his developer, something Beck regarded as a breach of trust.
As the years went by, both had hardly nothing to say to each other.
The lawyers, on the other hand, had a lot to say.
The company does not want to comment any further than this. “It was a 40 years cooperation always based on trust and always thouhtful” Playmobil declares in a short statement.
Adenauer, Beck and Beethoven
Naturally it has to do with money.
Beck could not afford the assintance of lawyers that would keep this fight going.
Brandstätter paid only what he had to pay.
Up untill the expiring of the patents a legally prescribed sum.
This amounted, according to firm sources, to several million German Marks.
Beck contradicts this: “I had a very low salary. No company cars. No extras”.
Nothing compared with what Brandstätter earned with his invention, says Beck.
The man lives in modest conditions.
According to his own information he just receives a small pension.
Money does not concern him any longer, this fight it lost.
What concerns him is his pride.
“And that Mr. Brandstätter can’t take away from me” - the 79 years old says with satisfaction.
He speaks with admiration of an exhibition about the most famous Germans in Hanover’s EXPO.
His bust was presented between Adenauer’s and Beeethoven’s “In alphabetic order” he adds modestly.
We have to admire this meticulous man and understand his indignation.
If lies are written about him, the “Sample Maker” resents it.
Recently the Foreign Office Ministry felt this.
On its homepage the Ministry publishes news bulletin about Germany.
On The 75. Birthday of Playmobil’s owner a message was published by the editors.
Beck decided to intervene with a correction.
It was untrue that the idea of the plastic figure was devised together by Mr. Brandstätter and the chief designer Hans Beck.
“The truth is that the “Sample Maker”, in 1971, devised the design alone”, he wrote to a group of frightened journalists.
On his last working, in 1998, the inventor got an envelope with 2000 German Marks.
“That could be a way to get rid of a gardener but not the way do deal with someone that has mede you rich”, grumble Beck’s wife.
Since then there was only silence the manufacturer and the man who made him rich.
Up untill the bouquet for Christmas and for his birthday.
In a glance
The Company is today an empire
What began with a knight, an indian and a construction worker grew to an empire.
The company “Geobra Brandstätter” sold more than two billion figures.
In 2007 the Playmobil’s turnover rised to 427 million euros and the company has been for many year the leading German toys’ manufactures by far.
Playmobil world-wide employs around 3000 workers.
The plastic figures are all made in Malta, and developed at the company’s headquarters in Franconia, in Zirndörf, near the city of Fürth."
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a sad story ...
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If the account is true, then it is what often happens, the artist loses out to the businessman.
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If the account is true, then it is what often happens, the artist loses out to the businessman.
Now i would not say he necessarily lost here . Yes he lost if it was up to Hans's business practices against Horsts's . Just the same Horst would loose to a competition when it comes to designing . Hans had his vision capitalized on in the greatest sense of the word . Hans is now famous and if it were not for the cunning business mind the item could have been lost in his closet .
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Now i would not say he necessarily lost here . Yes he lost if it was up to Hans's business practices against Horsts's . Just the same Horst would loose to a competition when it comes to designing . Hans had his vision capitalized on in the greatest sense of the word . Hans is now famous and if it were not for the cunning business mind the item could have been lost in his closet .
In some ways you confirm what I meant. Time and again great artists have ended their lives famous but in poverty or relative poverty while those they worked or who managed them have gained increased wealth from that work. Hans Beck has fame, which he wouldn't have had if Brandstatter hadn't developed Beck's idea, but fame doesn't repair the rusty guttering.
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Designers rarely make good businessmen, and vice versa. Anyone who has used Microsoft products knows that Bill Gates is a better businessman than a designer.
If Hans Beck had had the entrepreneur's vision, he would have quit his job and taken his idea to a bank, got a loan, and started producing his own figures. He didn't, he made the figures on company time and got paid a company salary.
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Designers rarely make good businessmen, and vice versa. Anyone who has used Microsoft products knows that Bill Gates is a better businessman than a designer.
If Hans Beck had had the entrepreneur's vision, he would have quit his job and taken his idea to a bank, got a loan, and started producing his own figures. He didn't, he made the figures on company time and got paid a company salary.
Hm, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. Both Brandstatter and Beck contributed to Playmobil in their different ways and so both should have their contribution appropriately recognised financially. By that, I don't mean be paid equally. Maybe Horst Brandstatter is getting too proud and failing to recognise (or maybe preferring to ignore) the contribution of Hans Beck. And when that happens, the artist suffers both ways - they do not receive their appropriate financial reward and the ignoring of their artistic contribution also robs them of their self-esteem. It's not about businessmen not making good designers or good designers not making good businessmen - it's about ethics and fair treatment.
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I think it is true that ethics plays a great role in situations like this, I do not know the company culture in Germany. But even in the US you do not have to look far to see the same thing. The woman who designed Nike's swoosh logo was paid $75 and never mentioned again, in the film industry many actor's were paid salaries and received no royalties when their work went into syndication or DVD (Gilligan's Island and Abbott & Costello come to mind), this is a major cause of the current strike situation in Hollywood.
But there is also the fact that people are always wanting to share the success, but if the design had flopped would they reimburse the company or take a cut in wage to offset the costs? It is true that "When you win, the world wins with you, but when you lose, you lose alone.".
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i guess there are no members in this forum who know, really and fully, what was the problem opposing hans beck and geobra.
we all recognize hans as the father of playmobil klickies. :yup:
but we should also recognize horst brandstater as the guy that "payed for the education" of the klickies. :yup:
maybe one of them couldn't exist without the other and vice versa. 8}
we can all pretend that this a typical story of the employer abusing the employee. :(
but we can also pretend that this is a typical story of the control-freak designer who thinks that he should run everything. :(
fortunately the mixing of the two has left us with one of the most marvelous toys ever produced and everything we can say about their disagreement is little more than pure speculation.
if geobra has indeed treated hans unkindly and is now accepting condolence for his death, horst should be regarded as an hypocrit.
i guess we will never know (or maybe one day in the future we will know).
horst has, nevertheless, one big task to accomplish - he has to nurse future klickies with extreme competence.
if he isn't able to do this, he will only be remembered as the guy who failed to hold-on to one of the 20th century biggest successes. :hmm:
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There is nothing fair in love, war and business . As the old saying goes "It is nothing personal just business"
I do not think Hans would have been able to sell his idea . Was it not Horst who tricked the toy fair patrons to even buy the first order ;)
Do not get me wrong i do feel sorry for Hans's situation . It is sad that in so many culture the humanities gets little to no credit while the business people get so much envy . I partially feel that they are able to create out of that frustration, like the other saying something to the effect of Blues music not coming from privileged neighborhoods
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Hm, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. Both Brandstatter and Beck contributed to Playmobil in their different ways and so both should have their contribution appropriately recognised financially. By that, I don't mean be paid equally. Maybe Horst Brandstatter is getting too proud and failing to recognise (or maybe preferring to ignore) the contribution of Hans Beck. And when that happens, the artist suffers both ways - they do not receive their appropriate financial reward and the ignoring of their artistic contribution also robs them of their self-esteem. It's not about businessmen not making good designers or good designers not making good businessmen - it's about ethics and fair treatment.
My apologies Gordon, I wasn't commenting directly on your post, but on the Beck-Brandstatter situation generally.
It's true that artists often if not usually get a raw deal on the fruits of their labours, and the money men get the lion's share, but as Ras points out Beck took no risk here, it was all with Brandstatter. Had Playmo failed to take off, as it very nearly did, Beck goes back to designing plastic toy telephones while Brandstatter has a big hole in his financial accounts.
The "appropriate financial reward" is what's in the contract. If Hans had focussed more on the money side of his life when he was designing, he would have got his appropriate reward. He didn't, and then when Playmo was a massive success, thought he should be rewarded in retro. Brandstatter didn't.
An excellent example of an artist getting his "just reward" is Sir John Gielgud. Until he played Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars he was just going along nicely as a respected, but not especially financially rewarded actor. For Star Wars, he took a risk and signed a contract for a %age of the royalties instead of a flat fee (these fees albeit usually in their millions) , and if I recall aright, the royalties also encompassed any merchanising royalties and not just box office receipts.
Star Wars grew into a huge multi-billion dollar franchise, and Gielgud' %age (which might have been only a couple of %) made him a multi-millionaire. Since then film companies are much more careful how they draw up their contracts...
If Hans had taken a risk and signed a contract for a %age of the profits (or losses!) from Playmobil sales, or better still taken his idea away and developed it himself, then he would have had the big mansion in Florida with the rotating room, and no doubt have left an estate to support his family in perpetuity.
I can feel sorry for Hans for not realising the massive success his figures would be, but I won't villify Brandstatter for taking the financial risk of developing it and enjoying his rewards.
(moderators, you might think of splitting this discussion to a new thread as we're getting a bit off topic now)
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Very difficult topic ... But you said exactly what I tought, Martin. Sad, but very difficult to decide who is right and who is wrong (I think as usual it's not black or white but something about grey).
Maybe we also should take into consideration that Playmobil (as company) currently is not run anymore by Mr. Brandstätter itself but -- as far as I know -- but by Mrs Andrea Schauer.
And I just spotted that they put a note about the inventor of Playmobil on the German start page of Playmobil.de
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My apologies Gordon, I wasn't commenting directly on your post, but on the Beck-Brandstatter situation generally.
No apology is necessary, Martin.
It's true that artists often if not usually get a raw deal on the fruits of their labours, and the money men get the lion's share, but as Ras points out Beck took no risk here, it was all with Brandstatter. Had Playmo failed to take off, as it very nearly did, Beck goes back to designing plastic toy telephones while Brandstatter has a big hole in his financial accounts.
Agreed, but risk taking is the entrepreneur's function and some you win and some you lose, but that shouldn't exclude the entrepreneur who wins showing generosity to the creator of his success.
The "appropriate financial reward" is what's in the contract. If Hans had focussed more on the money side of his life when he was designing, he would have got his appropriate reward. He didn't, and then when Playmo was a massive success, thought he should be rewarded in retro. Brandstatter didn't.
This isn't a personal criticism, Martin, but I think one of the big problems of today is the attitude of business to contracts and legalities. Time and again you hear businessmen defending questionable activities with the words "But I haven't done anything illegal." Recently, a Saville Row tailor admitted that the suits he was selling for hundreds of £s were 75% made in Kenya and the only work done here was minor stuff such as sewing on buttons, just enough work to account for 25% so that a Made in England label could be sewn in and the price increased to take advantage of that. Suits from the same makers in Kenya in the same shop where all the work had been done in Kenya were being sold for about one quarter of the price. OK, he wasn't breaking the law and maybe the law is one which needs looking at, but shouldn't ethics and fair practice be part of business? Business depends on trust and when trust fails you get the mess we're in now with the banks.
I can feel sorry for Hans for not realising the massive success his figures would be, but I won't villify Brandstatter for taking the financial risk of developing it and enjoying his rewards.
I'm not criticising Horst Brandstatter for taking the risk and reaping the reward, but I am criticising him for what appears to be a meanness of spirit.
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(moderators, you might think of splitting this discussion to a new thread as we're getting a bit off topic now)
Done!(...eventually.)
I had to remerge it and split it again because I forgot to give the topic a new name the first time!
Sorry if this caused any confusion. :-[
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Done!(...eventually.)
I had to remerge it and split it again because I forgot to give the topic a new name the first time!
Sorry if this caused any confusion. :-[
I always hate to see a really good discussion topic split, as it often seems to "kill" the momentum and sometimes appears to "drain" the energy from the conversation.
However, my comment is only an observation and not a criticism.
And, one additional observation and comment: Sir Alec Guinness might be a bit amused to learn that Sir John Gielgud is being remembered here as the Star Wars hero and Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi-Wan_Kenobi) ... ;)
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I always hate to see a really good discussion topic split, as it often seems to "kill" the momentum and sometimes appears to "drain" the energy from the conversation.
However, my comment is only an observation and not a criticism.
And, one additional observation and comment: Sir Alec Guinness might be a bit amused to learn that Sir John Gielgud is being remembered here as the Star Wars hero and Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi-Wan_Kenobi) ... ;)
LOL well you know these knighted actors, they all look the same. :lol:
I stand corrected.
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As stated in the article, at the time that the small figures we have grown to love, were produced in a time similar to now, during an oil crisis, & financial disaster! Hans Beck was given a project to save the company for whom he worked from impending doom. Luckily he hit a home run for the company! In those times, there weren't the same bonuses or compensation packages as in today's time. But, there is a sense of greed surrounding Horst Brandstatters' position, if he didn't appreciate the significant contribution made by a talented employee, & compensate him for his efforts by not sharing the proceeds in the following years. In regards to the other position, the original toy design was not favored as a success in its early stages, & had to be given a chance in which the company had to struggle to accomplish in that era.
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LOL well you know these knighted actors, they all look the same. :lol:
Ain't that the truth ... ;D
see attachments
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... and somehow look like your avatar ... Obi-Richard ;D
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... and somehow look like your avatar ... Obi-Richard ;D
OMG ... Little Jo ... :o
Now you know our true identities ... :wow:
see attachments
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well, you both are the two wise men of the forum ;D
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Now you know our true identities ... :wow:
see attachments
:lol:
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from playmofriends guidelines... ;)
"8. Try to keep on topic whenever possible. Mild diversions during discussions are perfectly human and understandable, but please remember that this is a messageboard, not a chatroom. If a topic wanders into an aimless chat between 2 or 3 members it can result in other members feeling excluded, so don't be offended if you are politely reminded by a Moderator to revert to the original topic or begin a new one."
this reply can, of course, also be considered as deviating from topic... 8}
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from playmofriends guidelines... ;)
"8. Try to keep on topic whenever possible. Mild diversions during discussions are perfectly human and understandable, but please remember that this is a messageboard, not a chatroom. If a topic wanders into an aimless chat between 2 or 3 members it can result in other members feeling excluded, so don't be offended if you are politely reminded by a Moderator to revert to the original topic or begin a new one."
this reply can, of course, also be considered as deviating from topic... 8}
Oooops ... :-[
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Ups, you're right. My fault. :-[
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come on guys, you don't need to feel so ashamed. i was only kidding. :P
one of the reasons i had for posting the not-so-nice article about hans beck was an attempt on "surveying" members' reactions about it. :yup:
the same article had only 5 replies on klickywelt.de. :(
in playmofriends we had (up untill now) 19 "valid" replies. :)
this means that a tendency i see on some playmobil forums to act like the 3 wise monkeys when confronted with "difficult" news is maybe (more or less) absent among us.
the stated objective of this forum is to "enjoy and explore this fascinating hobby in a fun, informative, entertaining, and respectful environment".
maybe, sometimes, "fun" and "information" can be difficult to mix. :hmm:
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For my self coming to this forum and the collecting at all is all about escaping the realities of the real world that i have very little control over . In my Playmobil world i do as i please . This just reminds me of some of the harsh realities i try to meditate away from when i am in Playmo-world . This type of situation happens more often than i care to keep track of and if i think about it too much it could raise resentment for the company . It is similar to why i chose not to start selling Playmobil as it will turn it into a job and not an enjoyable retreat from my job ;) So yes Hans gets the Employee shaft and Horst get the money but that is just the way it seem to go and the way business is set up most of the time . Capitalism = capitalize on the misfortunes of others ( in this case Hans's weak business sense )
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For my self coming to this forum and the collecting at all is all about escaping the realities of the real world that i have very little control over . In my Playmobil world i do as i please . This just reminds me of some of the harsh realities i try to meditate away from when i am in Playmo-world.
Oh yes, how true. That reminds me of myself ... my ideal world ...
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Oh yes, how true. That reminds me of myself ... my ideal world ...
There's clearly a meeting of minds here between the three of us.
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There's clearly a meeting of minds here between the three of us.
*group hug* ;)
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not just the three of you; here's the fourth Mousketeer :lol:
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I don't want anyone to feel that I'm unsympathetic to Hans Becks situation, but I wonder how themes, & figures would have evolved to the current level if Hans had been in sole control of the development through out Playmobils history if the comfort zone had not been stretched by Horst? As stated in previous publications there were themes under Hans guidance that would not be allowed, but have since been achieved, & produced by Playmobil like the dinosaur, alien, & other similar editions! Just an idea.
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I do recall either reading or viewing how Hans wanted some ideas that were considered controversial. One in mind is the US Asian rail workers ( I may be mistaken, it does happen often :P). They were a very important contribution the the expansion of the rail system in the US and Hans wanted to include them and the idea was considered not in line with the companies morals .
What ones are you referring to Bill ?
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I do recall either reading or viewing how Hans wanted some ideas that were considered controversial. One in mind is the US Asian rail workers ( I may be mistaken, it does happen often :P). They were a very important contribution the the expansion of the rail system in the US and Hans wanted to include them and the idea was considered not in line with the companies morals .
What ones are you referring to Bill ?
I remember reading about a medieval torture chamber, & the chinease western railway workers too, which were tabled by Horst due to controversial content. I read the list years ago regarding themes that Hans himself would not develop. Most of which were not able to be seen as historic or in his opinion, something a child could understand like space aliens, monsters like Dracula, & dinosaur models, but then again, it was long ago that I read this during the years of 1999-2002, & I'm sure that version has been revised due to Playmobils current, & previous renderings of these once excluded themed items. There maybe someone here who may have access to the original version regarding Hans concept about exclusions.
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I remember reading about a western undertaker with wooden coffins, & the chinese western railway workers too, which were tabled by Horst due to controversial content. I read the list years ago regarding themes that Hans himself would not develop. Most of which were not able to be seen as historic or in his opinion, something a child could understand like space aliens, monsters like Dracula, & dinosaur models, but then again, it was long ago that I read this during the years of 1999-2002, & I'm sure that version has been revised due to Playmobils current, & previous renderings of these once excluded themed items. There maybe someone here who may have access to the original version regarding Hans concept about exclusions.
Collectobil has some history HERE (http://www.collectobil.com/guide/hansbeck.html) and a broken link (that hasn't been fixed) to the following article ...
Bill, perhaps this is the article (http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/1007/100797.home.home.1.html) that you remember:
(http://www.gardenwargamer.com/images/csm.png)
from the October 07, 1997 edition
One Man's Tiny Plastic Universe
Ruth Walker
The inventor of Playmobil began his toymaking career as a big brother.
Hans Beck's parents divorced when he was young, then each remarried and had more children. Mr. Beck and his sister soon had eight younger half-brothers and -sisters.
"When I was about 10, I started making toys for them," he says. He made "little cars and trucks, little figures, dolls, some furniture for the dolls." But he didn't dream of becoming a toy designer. The profession "didn't really exist" when he was growing up in Zirndorf, Germany.
He was a teenager when World War II ended, and he trained as a cabinetmaker. He also started making model airplanes. He was going to make model planes for a company, but it didn't work out. The owner of the company asked him to think about toy figures for children instead. That was in 1971.
"I looked around to see what was on the market," Beck says. A lot of what he found were the tin soldiers that had been around since the 1800s. They couldn't bend or move. They didn't fit well into the adventure stories children like to invent.
Dealers weren't so sure
The figure Beck developed was just under three inches tall. It fit well in a child's hand, and it could move its head, arms, hands, and legs. On its face was painted a benign smile.
"My figures were quite simple, but they allowed children room for their imagination," he says.
He wanted to test the new figures. So when he had children over to visit, "I would put the little figures in their hands without saying anything about what they were. They accepted them right away.... They invented little scenarios for them. They never grew tired of playing with them."
Today, Playmobil (pronounced "play-mo-BEEL") figures come with elaborate equipment and accessories, including real flashing lights on the fire trucks, a tiny treasure map for the pirates, even ball-bearing in-line skates. But "the central point has always been the figure, not the surroundings," Beck says.
The owner of the company wasn't very interested in the figures at first, but he let Beck keep working on them.
Oddly, what helped put them into children's hands was the worldwide oil crisis of 1973-74.
Plastic is made from oil. So when oil suddenly got more expensive, so did the plastic pellets Beck's company needed to make toys. Now it had to do more with the plastic it bought. Instead of making, say, a plastic beach bucket, it made sense to use that plastic to make something with more to it: a collection of Playmobil figures, for instance.
Toy figures would cost more than a bucket, but kids could do a lot more with them, and parents would feel they were getting more for their money. The company, of course, would be happy with more money.
But when Playmobil figures were shown to toy wholesalers (they sell toys to toy stores), not everyone liked them.
"People didn't realize how much you could do with them," Beck says. But a Dutch firm agreed to buy a whole year's production! The rest is history.
Keeping toy secrets safe
Today, Playmobil's offices are outside of Zirndorf, near Nuremberg, Germany, a city that has been important in the toy business for hundreds of years. Beck's office has lots of windows that overlook the pretty countryside. There's also a place where children can play with almost all the Playmobil figures there are.
The office has a special "inner sanctum." You can't get in without a special card to open the door. That's so the toys they're working on will stay secret.
By now, so many Playmobil figures have been produced that, if they were real people and had their own country, it would be the most populous nation on earth: 1.3 billion!
Today's Playmobil figures look pretty much as they did in the beginning. The first year the company had three "themes": medieval knights, construction workers, and American Indians. Beck's favorite is the pirate ship, introduced in 1978.
Now there's a Playmobil train that includes a car sprayed with graffiti and a "street action" collection showing a racially mixed group of kids playing basketball.
It's clear from the letters kids send to Playmobil that a lot of them think of themselves as part owners of the company. They have lots of ideas. The letters (many with drawings) are carefully logged, answered, and filed. Ideas are tallied so that the firm can tell how many letter-writers asked for Playmobil cavemen this year, for instance.
But the company that Beck works for, the Brandstätter Group, is run by grownups. And at times, grownups say no. No, for instance, to a real, working siren on the fire truck: "Sirens would get on parents' nerves," the company wrote back. No to dinosaurs: Human figures are central in the Playmobil universe, and there were no humans when dinosaurs lived.
No to submarines and an airport with jumbo jets: To keep to the Playmobil scale, the subs or jets would have to be too big.
There's a fair bit of demand for ancient Greeks and Romans, especially from fifth-graders beginning to study them in school. But the company says no to them, too: Fifth-graders are getting too old for Playmobil, and the company says it wouldn't make sense to produce a theme for an age group that's about to "graduate."
Historically Accurate, Yes; But Not Politically Correct
In a glass case in his office, Playmobil inventor Hans Beck displays some of his favorite creations, including some that never made it to stores.
A band of medieval troubadours with a muzzled bear sold in Germany, but did poorly in England. "Cruelty to animals!" was the protest. A group of medieval hunters with a deer they have just killed also flopped in England, where a lot of people oppose hunting, Mr. Beck says.
Another collection "we had second thoughts about," as he puts it, and never brought to market featured medieval punishments, including toy stocks for Playmobil baddies to put their (benignly smiling) little heads and hands in. There was even a "baker's cage." In the Middle Ages, bakers whose loaves were larger or smaller than the standard size were put in such cages and dunked once or twice in the nearest river. (This didn't generally hurt them, but it did encourage them to get it right next time.)
A group of 19th-century Chinese railroad workers, complete with a cart full of perfect little railroad ties, was never in stores, either. These so-called coolies proved to be politically incorrect. It is a fact, though, as Beck points out, that gangs of Chinese laborers helped build America's transcontinental railroad.
"When you're presenting a picture of a time past, you have to show all sides of it," the toymaker insists. But this has to be done with Fingerspitzengefuhl, he says. The German word means "a special sensitivity in your fingertips." What Beck means is that you have to do it carefully and sensitively.
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Great article Richard , thank you :wow:
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not just the three of you; here's the fourth Mousketeer :lol:
Is this a closed group or is there room for more?
Gepetto
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Yes Richard, thank you for the article. :wave:
Gepetto
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Is this a closed group or is there room for more?
Gepetto
Yeah :yippee: ! What about us :hissyfit:?
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I think there should be room for all of us. Calling myself the fourth mousketeer was wrong. I should have said the fourth Playmofriend!
Bogro
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the announcement of hans beck's death was removed from playmobil.de's page today.
his presence in the site went back to what it was before - the last article in the list of the PRESSEINFORMATIONEN - UNTERNEHMEN section, "Hans Beck, der "Vater" der PLAYMOBIL®-Figuren", written in 2006.
first in the list is the article "Brandstätter Gruppe - die wichtigsten Daten / 2008: 496 Mio. € Umsatz, 2973 Beschäftigte".
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I think there should be room for all of us. Calling myself the fourth mousketeer was wrong. I should have said the fourth Playmofriend!
Bogro
There is room for all of us Mark, whether musketeers or Playmofriends.
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There is room for all of us Mark, whether musketeers or Playmofriends.
Thank you ;D! We feel much better now :yup:!
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Great article Richard , thank you :wow:
That's the article I remember reading! At the time it was published, there were no plans for airports, jumbo jets, submarines, dinosaurs, Romans, & Greeks! As we have witnessed most of these designs have become a reality for us now! Thank you Richard for posting this article :wow:! I was beginning to wonder if I had become delusional, because I couldn't find it anywhere :-[!
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It's clear from the letters kids send to Playmobil that a lot of them think of themselves as part owners of the company. They have lots of ideas. The letters (many with drawings) are carefully logged, answered, and filed. Ideas are tallied so that the firm can tell how many letter-writers asked for Playmobil cavemen this year, for instance.
But the company that Beck works for, the Brandstätter Group, is run by grownups. And at times, grownups say no. No, for instance, to a real, working siren on the fire truck: "Sirens would get on parents' nerves," the company wrote back. No to dinosaurs: Human figures are central in the Playmobil universe, and there were no humans when dinosaurs lived.
No to submarines and an airport with jumbo jets: To keep to the Playmobil scale, the subs or jets would have to be too big.
There's a fair bit of demand for ancient Greeks and Romans, especially from fifth-graders beginning to study them in school. But the company says no to them, too: Fifth-graders are getting too old for Playmobil, and the company says it wouldn't make sense to produce a theme for an age group that's about to "graduate."
Oh, how issues change over the years don't they!
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No, for instance, to a real, working siren on the fire truck: "Sirens would get on parents' nerves," the company wrote back.
Oh, how issues change over the years don't they!
Well this one did not seem to change ;) Not only did the siren get on our nerves the thing was a piece of junk :lol:
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Well this one did not seem to change ;) Not only did the siren get on our nerves the thing was a piece of junk :lol:
Very true :)9, but they did end up producing such a beast after saying no :no: :lol:!
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Not the siren but the tower bell of the church ... and what about the gong of the new family house and the announced bell of the school house ...?
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Well this one did not seem to change ;) Not only did the siren get on our nerves the thing was a piece of junk :lol:
Which siren are you thinking of as junk, Ras?
Several of my firetrucks, police vehicles and ambulances have working sirens and lights and they work and sound fine. Some go on a bit too long - I think 10 seconds would be ample for one button press, and I've got an ambulance that wails for a couple of minutes.
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Which siren are you thinking of as junk, Ras?
Several of my firetrucks, police vehicles and ambulances have working sirens and lights and they work and sound fine. Some go on a bit too long - I think 10 seconds would be ample for one button press, and I've got an ambulance that wails for a couple of minutes.
The US exclusive 5843 "made in china " one . All the other Playmobil ones only have the flashing lights and require me to insert a child if i want to hear anything
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The US exclusive 5843 "made in china " one . All the other Playmobil ones only have the flashing lights and require me to insert a child if i want to hear anything
I thought that's the one we were referring to Ras! Martin, which vehicles do you have that have both the light, & siren switch? Are they blue light assemblies? The 5843 had red lenses with one switch for the siren, & another for the flashing lights on the cab light bar. Has North America been short changed in regards to blue lights without sirens?
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Which siren are you thinking of as junk, Ras?
Several of my firetrucks, police vehicles and ambulances have working sirens and lights and they work and sound fine. Some go on a bit too long - I think 10 seconds would be ample for one button press, and I've got an ambulance that wails for a couple of minutes.
??? Seriously? My Playmobil vehicles do not have one ... are these customed or did you refer to toys from other manufacturers?
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Hmmm, now I think about it, maybe they're just flashing lights and the sirens are in my head.
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Hmmm, now I think about it, maybe they're just flashing lights and the sirens are in my head.
You do have one heck of a vivid imagination . that is great as long as you do not hear that when you are biking around :lol:
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You do have one heck of a vivid imagination . that is great as long as you do not hear that when you are biking around :lol:
At least you'll never get lonely Martin :lol:!
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Hmmm, now I think about it, maybe they're just flashing lights and the sirens are in my head.
Ah, I just thought I had missed something out there ...