PlaymoFriends
General => News => Topic started by: cachalote on January 08, 2010, 03:46:19
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8} in another thread - http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=3924.0 - i posted a very strange 4424 (wich is an european ref.) set being sold at playmobil's u.s.a. site for 15 000 u.s.d..
;) it seemed to me then that the new year's party at playmobil headquarters might have been a little "heavy".
:lol: ... but now they have gone totally mad.
if you look at the "special" page - http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/Search-Show?cgid=Special - you can see a lot of old sets being announced as novelties.
- the 4517 royal king from 1995.
- the 4548 captain peg leg from 1997.
- the 4616 blue knight from 2003.
there is also a 4581 pirate and skull from 2000.
:o what the hell is happening?
did they find a lot of these sets lost in the basement and decided to sell them now.
are they re-issues of incredibly successful past specials?
do they even exist outside playmobil's virtual reality.
are they a product of excessive l.s.d. consumed in new year by the person running u.s. playmobil's site?
:) we need answers.
:) we demand answers.
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If you look at the "special" page - http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/Search-Show?cgid=Special - you can see a lot of old sets being announced as novelties.
- the 4517 royal king from 1995.
- the 4548 captain peg leg from 1997.
- the 4616 blue knight from 2003.
there is also a 4581 pirate and skull from 2000.
:o what the hell is happening?
did they find a lot of these sets lost in the basement and decided to sell them now.
are they re-issues of incredibly successful past specials?
do they even exist outside playmobil's virtual reality.
These were up on 1st Jan, but you can't order them, just note them for an email when they become available. It's odd they should label them as "NEW" when we all know they're either re-issues, or as you say, a spare lot they found tucked away somewhere.
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Alright, who's going to call Playmobil & inquire about the $15,000.00 Pirate ship & report back to us :lol:? At that price you could buy a real ship :hmm:!
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The funny thing is, here in Belgium both the 4548,4616, and the 4581 have been available from several outlets sometime now.They are clearly american boxes (green/blue). And go for the nice price of 1,99 euro.
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The $15,000 ship is inexplicable, but I suspect Playmobil has someone new in charge of marketing. As evidence:
- The "Collect Them All" on the face of the blisters to encourage people to become collectors and buy more product.
- Reissues advertised as new, probably in the hopes that new collectors would not know or care. From a marketing standpoint, the word "new" is more sellable than "reissue." The word "reissue" implies that you can hold off on buying something now because the company may reissue it later. (On one hand, I think it's false advertising; on the other hand, I hope they continue to reissue some old sets no matter how they label them since I am new to Playmobil and would love to own the old Medieval sets without having to bid for them on eBay. I'm hoping they reissue the big Steck castle; I don't care if they call it new or old or reissue or classic. I just want it!)
- The establishment of more fantasy-themed sets like Ghost Pirates and Dragon Knights.
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There are the same old. discontinued Specials on the UK site too.
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Hi all,
The "new" logo could simply be a limitation of the playmobil website where every product that is added gets this tag for a fixed period of time.
Cheers,
Marc
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:hmm: i've heard from a reliable source that all these sets were recently released from a f.b.i. warehouse where they were kept in connection with the activities of gambino crime family.
apparently all these sets were locked inside a "suspicious" truck and were apprehended as evidence against carmine agnello... ;)
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:hmm: i've heard from a reliable source that all these sets were recently released from a f.b.i. warehouse where they were kept in connection with the activities of gambino crime family.
apparently all these sets were locked inside a "suspicious" truck and were apprehended as evidence against carmine agnello... ;)
Hi Cachalote :arrr:
Yes that would be your pirate brain at work. You may be on to something though as one of these "Suspicious Trucks" (http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=3825.0) contents may have made its way to an auction site. This "haul" still is unexplainable :hmm: Just a theory = What if there were large loads of containers that went missing. Some were stashed away in storage facilities and some were found. We know where one missing one ended up. Maybe Playmobil recovered some other ones and put them back up for sale. I do not know why they would be on 2 continents but I am just grabbing at straws here¿
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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all those special where available at target not so long ago... target (or any other big chain store including toys r us) dont sell specials anymore, so, they are selling it in playmobil.com there u have it!!!
(and in target they where "pals" nos special)
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all those special where available at target not so long ago... target (or any other big chain store including toys r us) dont sell specials anymore, so, they are selling it in playmobil.com there u have it!!!
(and in target they where "pals" nos special)
Hi Amd :wave:
We like the more sinister story :lol: But there is a way to check your theory, if you order one, will it come in a normal special box with the pink boarder or with out, like they were at Target. The 4517 & 4616 were not called "Pals" at that point. They have plain boxes with nothing on them.
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Go ask Alice.I think shelle know whats going on at playmobil.
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And if Alice doesn't know, I bet the rabbit does! :shhhh:
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all those special where available at target not so long ago... target (or any other big chain store including toys r us) dont sell specials anymore, so, they are selling it in playmobil.com there u have it!!!
(and in target they where "pals" nos special)
Hi Amd :wave:
Your not so exciting story is prbably correct . If you look at the side bar pictures at Playmobil.com the boxes are the ones that were from Target. They have no pink .
(http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6344/4517.jpg) (http://img46.imageshack.us/i/4517.jpg/)
4517 Royal King ? shouldn't it be Dark Knight ?
4548 Catpain Peg Leg
4581 Pirate and Skull
4616 Blue Knight
4658 Deep Sea Diver
4663 Royal King
4665 Western Cowboy
4666 Courageous Knight
4667 Magician
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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. . . If you look at the side bar pictures at Playmobil.com the boxes are the ones that were from Target. They have no pink .
Nice detective work, Rasputin! :lens: So the Target & TRU Pals are no more . . . does this mean that all those "Pals" that I bought compulsively have suddenly become "rare and valuable?" :crossed:
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I don't know how rare they are cause now you can buy em at playmobil.com ^-^ But, if you are going to dream, dream big I say! You may very well be sitting on a veritable treasure trove of klickys!!!! :cham:
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I probably have to sit on them for a good long time! :lol:
When did they stop putting the word "pal" on the box? Now I have to go up to my attic and check on my "investments" ;D
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I probably have to sit on them for a good long time! :lol:
When did they stop putting the word "pal" on the box? Now I have to go up to my attic and check on my "investments" ;D
Hi Indianna :wave:
This is when I started collecting so I do not know the specific year but it was a few years back. When Target started carrying Specials they were called "Pals" and had the "Collect all!" logo. Another unique feature of the box was that it said what was in the box. The 4637 said "Surfer". Then the "Pals" and other logos were dropped and we were given the plain box like the one I showed. Now they dropped the specials altogether for the blister packs. Now they only have the large blister packs at Target.
So in my opinion even though they may not be sought after box designs I see them as more rare than the pink or plain boxes .
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
Edit: In the bible is shows that box design came out in 2002 and was still around in 2006, so I am guessing 2007-ish they were phased out
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Hi Rasputin - thanks for looking up all that good info!
. . . So in my opinion even though they may not be sought after box designs I see them as more rare than the pink or plain boxes .
That's what I was thinking might happen - that the "pals" boxes might eventually be somewhat rare. I think a lot of folks used the pals as a relatively cheap opportunity to get multiples of klickys that had become difficult to find otherwise so there might not be a lot of them surviving as MISB if they got used for customizing or building armies, etc. Almost all the ones I bought are in a box somewhere in the attic - I'll have to see how many of them are actually "pals." Just another collecting opportunity for the Playmobil "completist." 8}
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Hi Rasputin - thanks for looking up all that good info!
That's what I was thinking might happen - that the "pals" boxes might eventually be somewhat rare. I think a lot of folks used the pals as a relatively cheap opportunity to get multiples of klickys that had become difficult to find otherwise so there might not be a lot of them surviving as MISB if they got used for customizing or building armies, etc. Almost all the ones I bought are in a box somewhere in the attic - I'll have to see how many of them are actually "pals." Just another collecting opportunity for the Playmobil "completist." 8}
Maybe if you have a complete set of "Pals" then you can truly say you collected them all! ;D
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My take/theory/??? ...
There was a previous discussion here with regards to PM US's perceived financial operations - that they did not have enough credit to order substantial quantities from PM DE, especially at year's end. So what would you do when you need to fill out quite a large quantities of specials to ship around the retail stores this year? Make a deal with PM DE to get previoud year(s) ex-stock at a discount compared with this year's new specials.
;)
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Maybe if you have a complete set of "Pals" then you can truly say you collected them all! ;D
Hi Martin! :wave:
Actually, I doubt that I do - I tended to pick up the Target pals/specials (or blisters) when I was there anyway and I would forget which ones I had already bought so I ended up with weird quantities on some of them (8 of the 4531 mummies, for example. ::)) Also, I usually just bought the ones that I liked or the ones that I wished I had bought when they were originally issued as specials. Anyway, I don't think of myself (can't admit?) that I am a proper "Playmobil collector" - I am more of an accumulator. :-[
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My take/theory/??? ...
There was a previous discussion here with regards to PM US's perceived financial operations - that they did not have enough credit to order substantial quantities from PM DE, especially at year's end. So what would you do when you need to fill out quite a large quantities of specials to ship around the retail stores this year? Make a deal with PM DE to get previoud year(s) ex-stock at a discount compared with this year's new specials.
That would make sense, except that these old specials are apppearing on all the countries' PM websites, not just the USA.
Hi Martin! :wave:
Actually, I doubt that I do - I tended to pick up the Target pals/specials (or blisters) when I was there anyway and I would forget which ones I had already bought so I ended up with weird quantities on some of them (8 of the 4531 mummies, for example. ::)) Also, I usually just bought the ones that I liked or the ones that I wished I had bought when they were originally issued as specials. Anyway, I don't think of myself (can't admit?) that I am a proper "Playmobil collector" - I am more of an accumulator. :-[
I got quite a few "Pals" off eBay to fill in gaps in my accumulation, but none of them are still boxed. ::)