PlaymoFriends
Getting Started => Welcome! => Topic started by: Alison01326 on January 20, 2011, 23:02:07
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Hello everyone :wave:
I'm Alison, and I live in the far far south west of the United Kingdom with my husband and our five year old son.
I didn't have any Playmobil as a child because I was probably deemed too old when it was first introduced (yes, I am an older mum for those of you whose maths is as quick as your reading!!). I seem to recall that one of the boys in our road had some little green people with some little road signs, but it was some time before I realised they were Playmobil (on a visit to The Metropolis there was a very large version of one of those little people in the toy department!!).
Back to the present (ish) ...... in 2008 we bought a small camper van (a real one) and as our son likes to recreate all of his life experiences in his play, I thought it would be nice to buy him a toy camper for his third birthday which was just after we took delivery of the van. Although nothing like our van, the Playmobil camper which I found on EBay fitted the bill and the budget and he was absolutely delighted with it and all the bits which came with it. I too was enthralled by the detail, and thus it all began!!!
I went back on EBay to buy a few bits to make up a campsite, and while I was there I just saw a few things that I really had to have, and thus it all continued.
Quite a bit of the stuff that I bought on impulse is up in the loft, from whence it is being gradually introduced, as I don't want my son to think that a new toy is going to be produced every month or so (even if I do tell him that some of the stuff is mine). He's a very “switched on” child and creates all these little scenes and situations with the Playmobil, usually based on what is going on in his life at the moment. He asked for the circus this year, as we went to the circus for the first time back in June. We've got a tour bus because I work as a tour guide, and quite a few other things which he has chosen from the catalogue because they are relevant to him. When he started school in September, one of the first things that happened there was a fire drill, and sure enough, next morning we had all thirty or our Playmobil children and two adults, plus a fire engine and fire crew standing by because they needed to have a fire drill too!! I've learned a lot about what he does when I am not with him from the Playmobil People.
I've just discovered this forum as a result of being given the “Playmobil Collector” book for Christmas, and think that at this stage in my “life with Playmobil” there's probably a place for me here!!! I wouldn't necessarily describe myself as a collector, more of a gatherer. I buy new items of Playmobil for birthday and Christmas, but browse EBay occasionally for inspiration or oddments to fill a gap in our Playmobil world and usually end up with something completely different as well. We aren't collecting whole sets, as a lot of the things I've bought just fit in with what we are doing or seeing in real life. The purists among you will probably shudder but we often use our buildings for a number of purposes – the airport terminal for example doubles as hospital or school or car showroom; the vacation house is usually the campsite reception/cafe and Skull Island is often a family beach and somewhere to swim to from the speedboat. And we bought a Roman to go with the nativity set because the boy was a Roman soldier in his school nativity play. On my own wishlist is a nun for the airport. I don't know what plans Playmobil had for her when they introduced her, but to my mind there are always nuns at airports!!
We occasionally take photos of the scenes we have made, and at Christmas had our first foray into film making. After a trip to Bristol during the half term holiday, where he learned a bit about stop motion animation, the boy decided that Playmobil films would be a great idea and our first film was based on his school Nativity play, and the second on the school Christmas Fete. They weren't bad for first attempts and were made as a present for his teacher and teaching assistant for Christmas. I hadn't realised until now just how many films and still photos of Playmobil scenes exist on the internet. I've found some wonderful things since I discovered the internet Playmobil community a few weeks back.
My husband is less passionate about Playmobil, as it doesn't all get put away every night (there's always a “work in progress” in progress). He's also convinced that our house is getting smaller!!
Hopefully I have managed to attach a photo of us (well, our Playmobil selves 8-))
This will probably be my longest post, by the way ;)
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Hello and :welcome: from Buenos Aires, Argentina!
I loved your introduction, I think its one of the best I've read so far! ;D
And I loved the fact that your kid recreats his life with the clickies, must be great for a parent to know what kids do when they are not together! :lol:
Here at Playmofriends we love to see pictures so..... :picsplz: of you collection!
And we surely would love to see your films!
Gaston :wave:
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Hi Alison :wave:
Welcome from Southern Scotland (http://planetsmilies.net/flag-smiley-7326.gif) and a much older mum!
It's great to have someone else from the UK here.
It is good that you use your Playmobil for so many different scenes, one of the great things about it is its versatility.
I love your Playmobil selves, we'd love to see more of your photos here.
Elaine (http://www.anchoredbygrace.com/smileys/mgqueen.gif)
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Hello and :welcome: from Louisiana! I enjoyed your introduction so much! Nice to hear that you and your son are already "customizing" by using thing for other than their intended purposes. To me, that is one of the best things about playmobil is that everything is the same scale, so it's easy to mix and match! I also found it interesting what you said about how you find out what goes on at school through what he does with his playmobil. i think playmobil could be used in child therapy sessions for this reason.
I hope you enjoy your time here, and we look forward to seeing pics of your collection!
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:welcome: from Austria! (http://playsued.forumprofi.de/images/smilies/oe.gif)
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:welcome: A warm welcome from Indiana, USA. Yes, there is absolutely a place for you here! Thank you so much for your introduction. What a wonderful way to bond with your son! I look forward to getting to know you and seeing pictures of your collection. :wave:
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Welcome from Southern California! :wave:
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Welcome from Eugene in Oregon!
I went back on EBay to buy a few bits to make up a campsite, and while I was there I just saw a few things that I really had to have, and thus it all continued.
There is so much unsaid there, but it's something we are all familiar with!
I love that your son has not become Disney-fied, and still has the imagination to create his own scenes and stories based on his life experience.
There are some new Christmas-themed sets in the 2011 catologue that might be suitable for expanding your Christmas Fete scenes. They're due out in August (for reasons best understood by Playmobil).
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:welcome: to Playmofriends from South Carolina USA, Alison! You are about to start on a journey that will be one of the funnest with us here on Playmofriends! Thank you for a very interesting introduction!
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Welcome aboard from Chicago, Illinois!
:wave:
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:welcome: from Louisiana. :wave:
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He's right you know, your house will slowly shrink and shrink... ;) :lol:
:welcome:
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Hello and :welcome: to Playmofriends from Greece!!!
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Hey Alison, a warm welcome to playmofriends from the Netherlands.
Thanks a lot for your great introduction! I am sure you'll have a great time here!
When it comes to purist I think the only problem to them is using non playmo and playmo together. Using playmobil outside of their theme is not something I have EVER heard anyone have a problem with.
Are there any links to your stop motion movies?
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:wave: Welcome from Pennsylvania, Alison! Good to have you with us.
Joe
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Hello Alison, and a warm welcome from North Yorkshire! :wave:
You and your little boy use your Playmobil just as it should be used - to fulfil your imaginations, so don't worry and enjoy your time playing with it.
Maybe your husband needs a bit of guidance - possibly with his "projects in progress this would get him interested in Playmobil:
http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/showpart.pl?partnum=30-51-5970
(Sorry it's not clearer.)
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Welcome from Hertfordshire, Alison :wave:
A really great introduction :yup:
Damo :)
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Hello Alison, :wave:
Welcome from sunny Arizona.
Best regards,
Jimbo
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welcome from san francisco
this is the best forum to be part of, as your playmobil collections grow ( and it sounds like you are definitely addicted) you will find that the members here are very helpful, and have an incredible knowledge base about the most obscure things playmobil.
kaethe
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Hello and :welcome: , Alison, from South USA! :wave:
Baden :wave:
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Hi Alison! :wave:
Welcome from the Scottish Highlands! :coo:
Thanks for the interesting introduction. Think you might have broke a record for word count, but I really enjoyed reading all about you and your family. I know exactly what your husband means about shrinking houses. :lol:
Btw, you sound like a very good mum, not a bad one. ;D
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Hello Alison, what a great introduction! I enjoyed it very much as my son is just 8 months and i am really looking forward to see him play with playmo. :wave:
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Hello Alison and :welcome: from Greece.
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A big and warm :welcome: from Athens in Greece :wave:
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Welcome , Welcome :)
( In Spanish accent similar to the accent of the translator in Black Adder's Series 1 Episode with the Spanish Infanda )
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Thank you all for your wonderful, warm, multi-national welcome!!
There will be photos, and a link to one of the Christmas films we made in due course. "Real life" keeps getting in the way at the moment!
Btw, you sound like a very good mum, not a bad one. ;D
It's the secrets I keep in the loft, and the lies I tell after the postman has been that make me bad!! :shhhh: