Pics novelties 2013 at the Nuremberg Toyfair (Nürnberg Spielwarenmesse)

[Hadoque]

who is not allowing them to be reposted? Is it KW ?

As I understood, they got permission from Geobra to show the pics on their site with the imperative they would not be shared anywhere else...

[Bolingbroke]

I have the feeling that older toys, like older cartoons, where designed much more in line with what the people creating them liked instead of conforming to kids all the time.

True. The problem is that everyone's trying to dumb everything down these days, from cartoons (is there any comparison between the Japanese cartoons we grew up with in Europe and the animated idiocies you see on the Cartoon Network nowadays?), to toys to pretty much everything else. Nothing much can be done, unfortunately. Why? Globalisation, for one. And second: the fact that we think we - as a society - are much more enlightened than the ones who came before us. But we're talked ad nauseum about this, and I don't think we'll ever agree. I just know that when I have kids there'll be no Hanna Montana pap for them. It'll just be the anime I used to watch as a child.

[Bolingbroke]

There was this man once, who went up to the barman, and he told him:

Can I have a screwdriver please?

And the barman said ok, and started making him one.

Then the man said: sorry, could I have vermouth instead of the orange juice?

The barman said yeah, slightly puzzled.

Then the man said: um, and could I have gin instead of the vodka?

At which point, the barman turns to the man and tells him: then why didn't you order a martini?

There's a moral there, guys 

[Georgeag1972]

Hello.

I have to say that maybe the designer of the ship must was drunk when he did this.
There is not another one explanation. I don't like the Asia theme and the castles, only the roofs. I don't like the dragons and I don't understand why they have a dragon in all the new sets. I like only the figures but these are based, on the figure from playmobil special, only some extra helmets, nothing new for me.
The shoping senter is a nice set for girls with some very nice figures. Some figures reminds me, a series on TV  "Sex and the City". That's all from me, see you next year.

Friendly George.

[nunney]

As you mentioned cheng, children's taste in toys has definitely changed, what with their playing annoying video games, never looking away from their cellular phones, and appearing to have much less grounding in the "global society" of the world. What I don't agree with is how the developers seem to accept this and continue to develop toys that someone - no doubt a "social expert" or "trend analyser" or some sort of high-paid fellow who reckons he knows what will sell and what the children will culturally accept and want to play with - designs and promotes. It's understandable how and why this happens, but it's still sad.

i don't really have a horse in the race as far as lego v playmo is concerned from a collector or fan perspective. i'm not the lego type. as i've mentioned elsewhere, i do think that lego runs a compelling operation and if doing wildly successful stuff like ninjago enables them to do those beautiful modular buildings and the arcitecture series, then i think they have discovered the sort of balance most of us playmo fans would find perfectly acceptable if it meant certain styles and traditions adult playmo fans are most attracted to were maintained and built upon.

as far as ninjago goes, my understanding is that that was a true kid phenomenon where adult fans trashed it pretty heavily and didn't get into it. i never saw the show but looking at some of the ninjago sets, i really think they're kind of fascinating. look at the names of all of those characters! it's like the rza's asia for kids.

the playmo fantasy asia  boat totally looks like it took a cue from ninjago without the wild spirit of the lego theme in terms of colors, shapes and references.

i don't think i've ever witnessed so much ire over a series so completely and inherently dull right at its core as this upcoming playmobil theme. it somehow manages to be unremarkable and offensive at the same time.

oh well!

[cheng]

much as we acknowledge that this Asian theme was not made for us adult collectors (maybe with fixated/historical perceptions), but our much revered toy company & its development team, reusing old samurai & castle moulds is fine if they are making some small sets to test market but this is a full theme, even used as a catalogue cover....surely they wont compromise on playability if they spend a bit more on R&D instead of 'putting an Asian hut on a European castle'

and nobody will accuse PM of copying another brand's Asian boat or ninja if it looks like what it/he looks like in books....is there another way of making a British (Redcoat) guard or a Roman Centurion or even Santa?

I wish an Asian kid reading our forum will speak up and maybe prove us wrong....or like I said, let's leave it to the kids this Sept, maybe they'll fizzle out, maybe a second wave of even more exciting Asians when this proves successful

I would be happy if this (I'm sure they took a lot of pain but the result doesnt speak for itself) quickly-put-together Asian theme sells well because it means I still get to cannibalize a few more Asian parts and still be happy with my own Asian customs  ....Geobra, please hire me for your second Asian wave      

[bonniebeth]

As I understood, they got permission from Geobra to show the pics on their site with the imperative they would not be shared anywhere else...

What!? That's crazy, and so not fair! Why should one forum get to share them and other forums not?

This is obviously not a historic Asian series so I do not see why compare it or hold it up to the other historic themes. To me its all fantasy and should be compared as such. Dragon land, fairies, ghost pirates etc........If you compare it to Romans this theme looks ridiculous, but if you put it next to the ghost pirates it makes sense.

I agree, this is a fantasy theme, not historic. It will be interesting to see if it is categorized as historic or not. What really bothers me is, I think this may sell better than the historic themes, and then we may never get the stuff we want.

[Bolingbroke]

Theyll put it under 'dragons'. That's a category in its own right on the website now, right?

[Pynedor]

Theyll put it under 'dragons'. That's a category in its own right on the website now, right?

It is. And it's also in the corner of the page, so I assume it will be in that section too. But this theme might get it's own section to replace that, since it is specifically called "Asia-Drachenland".

[Hadoque]

maybe the designer of the ship must was drunk when he did this.

I think he/she was way higher in the sky. (probably somewhere on the Dark Side of Pluto)