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ApophisV

Why Playmobil rules TLC out

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When I was out for getting some stuff for university I have seen this:

New Roman Playmobil Line

I got a small leaflet showing all the sets and historical facts going along.

They got sets with accurate figs (politicans, slaves, gladiators, soldiers,...) and very accurate vehicles (siege tower, galley), places (arena, camps) and other nice stuff!

And you might already have noticed an important aspect making those toys so great: ACCURACY! Yes! TLC, look at them! There IS NO (Yes, it's right! ZERO! NONE! NADA!!) Minigun and NO shooting mechanism at the galley! The horses don't carry any catapults! And now the most awesome news: there is NO laser gun included! Yipee! *sweet*

Yeah, I wish I were AFOP instead of AFOL....

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LEGO is long over due to make an series like this. I really wish they would. Maybe even an ancient culture theme starting with Egypt, then Persian, then Greek, and finally Roman.

The simple yet mostly accurate look is nice and it is a shame it is not in LEGO. Playmo has always been a great toy though. Second only to LEGO really. The nice thing is that they always follow suit eventually. If LEGO releases sets (non-futuristic) Playmo comes out with a similar theme not too long after and vice versa.

So here is hope for 2008 Roman LEGO!

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it's kinda crazy why they didn't push a roman theme during the mad publicity of the movie gladiator. yes it is very gory...but...

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Loool Apo, I posted a pic of the Roman Playmo line a long time ago :-P

As a general statment, Playmo is fdoing far better than TLC in terms of lines, accessories and longevity of such lines !!

Oh well, I'll stay an AFOL :-D

*yoda*

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Really? I hadn't seen this line yet. And it seemed to be really new, those sets doesn't even appear at the english homepage of Playmo...

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It appeared at toy fair this year if I remember correctly ;-)

I think I remember as well that the release date is september.

But this line is really brilliant (darn I cannot find the pic :'-( either I got rid of it, or its on the broken computer >:-( )

*yoda*

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Playmobil always seems to have much more diverse offerings than Lego. Especially in the historical realm. Though they have also done farms and safari too. Both of which I'd love to see in Lego. I just don't get the appeal of Playmobil... its not really a building toy is it?

Steve

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Two days ago I was passing by a local toy shop and I was so sad when I saw this set, why can't Lego make sets like these anymore? But Apo, I think the cannon in this set shoots.

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Two days ago I was passing by a local toy shop and I was so sad when I saw this set, why can't Lego make sets like these anymore? But Apo, I think the cannon in this set shoots.

Oh yes they DO shoot *wacko* My little cousin had fun shooting at me with it >:-( Tks he had a Lego shooting mechanism so I could retaliate :-D

*yoda*

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Only one disavantage of Playmobil. The scale is much bigger then lego. I've to admit that Playmobil has much more niccer sets then Lego. For example, bakery, butchershop, toilet, etc, etc.

But people, be creative. Build these things out of Lego :D .

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actually, TLG does do stuff like this. in regards to historical toys targeted for this age group. they are doing the duplo pirates line.

what i am seeing is that toy companies are focusing their historic lines on a younger age group than what the minifig scale line of toys is suited for.

they do plenty of test groups on these toys... so the older kids (minifig scale customers) must not like historically based lines... where as younger kids like it, or should i say, their parents do :-D

what i am assuming (from this perception) is that the older kids are at a point where their parents let them make their own decisions... so they decide for fantasy, catapults, and action toy-like lines. where as the younger kids are at a point where their parents still decide which toys they get... and thus, we see history.

- Brick Miner

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Playmobil has always had a broader range of products that appeal to both girls and boys ..

This company seems to have not been affected by computer games..They havent done anything like bionicle ( :-X ) or bought any license..Its like playmo its the toy that tells us what all toys could look like if pc games never entered our lifes!They have no discusting monsters and no ungry faces ..most of their minifigs are still smiling while lego cry get ungry have criminals and get greyer by the second!

The playmo city dosent need to be all gray with ten police stations like the lego one...

I just cant figure out how two companies that started at about the same time took such different paths ...And then i wonder about the playmo age group and thow it seems to be the same like lego i have never heard of an AFOP!! i beilive lego is more addictive and creative than playmo and gives you more possibilities..im just confused about the whole matter...

Oh and speaking of historical Greek-Roman themes i found this on brickshelf

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1850630

and i wonder..where did these accesories came from? Great minifigs IMO

Lego could create an ancient Greece theme...with monsters and wars and ships and catapults and temples and legions and the wonders of the world and the 12 Gods and....i must be dreaming |-/

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and i wonder..where did these accesories came from?

Customization. We've had a few new members who are pros at that, they sure can tell you more about it :-)

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This company seems to have not been affected by computer games..They havent done anything like bionicle ( :-X ) or bought any license..
like i said, i think they are appealing to two different age groups here...

the nature of the minifig scale (or SYSTEM line) is greared toward a pre-teen age group (the blocks and pieces are too complex for any one younger)... that same group is a large part of the computer gaming demographic.

- BM

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and i wonder..where did these accesories came from? Great minifigs IMO

Well, in Anthony's gallery, you see some BrickForge products - RedBean & Armothe's new store. You can check out and buy their products here. They are certainly planning to give us the chance to make more historical minifigs, have a look at the new products:

image.jpg

I hope to get a fair amount of their arms soon, so if you guys are interested, I can try making a 'picture review'.

When it comes to historically-accurate themes, I don't think that TLC is really that bad - I mean, they certainly could make more of them, but they have released the Vikings line lately - perhaps we can hope to see some more...

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LEGO refuse to make people fight against people... that means little historical accuracy, and the lack of faces on Storm-Troopers :-P

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LEGO refuse to make people fight against people... that means little historical accuracy, and the lack of faces on Storm-Troopers :-P
i dont' think this is true... LEGO always makes sure there is some conflict in each and every set, at least in the SYSTEM releases of the 90's.

most of the pirate sets have at least one "good guy" and one "bad guy." you see the same in wild west sets and all of the adventurer sets. LEGO knows conflict is what pre-teen kids want, and that is what they get.

now, it is true that LEGO refuses to handel historical war... no confederate soldiers in the wild west, and no miliarty themes. but that has nothing to do with that fantasy space war invloving stormtroopers.

- BM

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Which currently makes Playmobil better than LEGO is that they're not felt under any influences of modern society like LEGO did...

They're making toys exactly how they did in 80's... I will suport BM here, LEGO does appeal to new age generations... I mean kids want action toys and they get it... It's not so strange to me, having on mind all those video games and media crap...

And whole that thing about storyline behind the sets is VERY bad... Splitting (for example) factions on good and evil doesn't give the kids a chance to choose, they get everything served on a plate... and this is not very imagination&creativity-productable...

Just imagine if they had splitted (for example) Lions and Falcons on good and evil ones... *wacko*

Playmobil does have better themes, but LEGO is still and it would be always the best "TOY" :-P on the world...

I'm just sitting here in silence and waiting for it to rise from the ashes...

Greetings from Serbia

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Indeed !!

Also, in ordrer to have a hero, we need a foe ;-) Its as simple as that ;-) JT would be a generic fig if there was not Lord Sinister !!

That is particularly true with named characters.

Also enemies are needed to brake the boredom of the theme: what is the interest to have 30 WW Indians MFs if they have no cowboy to scalp :-D The same argument can be used with pirates and all those great themes.

To go even further, thats a reason why that fantastic Viking line was stopped: an army of MF fighting gigantic Bionicle creatures is way less fun !! But having them pillage a village, as awsome it would be for us AFOLs, is NOT PC unfortunatly |-/

Thats also a reason why I doubt we'll ever see this Roman theme. I would love to see gladiators beeing thrown to lions in front of Ceasar 8-

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If lego would make a new Roman theme, I will for sure buy it.

I might even try to build an entire roman army (would look great).

To be honnest, I don't like most of the current lego themes.

I think the knights from the 80's and 90's looked much better than the current ones.

The vikings is a theme that I like, but why must there be dragons everywhere :-X

Another great theme is ofcourse Star Wars.

I would like to know how lego decides on future themes.

Can't they just organise a vote ??

I'm also interested to know the average age of people that buy sets like Vikings and Star Wars.

What would be the percentage kids/adults ?

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I don't get why Playmobil rules out The LEGO Company???

LEGO is a building toy while Playmobil just has sets, so therefore The LEGO Company can release there own versions of whatever theme Playmobil has going at the time. And this has been happening for decades with Castle, Pirates and Western - probably other themes too.

Or have I misunderstand what the title of this thread means?

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I would not necessarily say that Playmobil rules Lego out, but Playmobil is a great toy company. The two are very much different in the obvious fact that Playmobil is not a construction toy (although System X and other Playmobil sets require some construction (castle, buildings, etc.))

I have always loved Playmobil as I do Lego but for differnt reasons.

Playmobil has some great themes and I've always loved their buildings. They remind me so much of memories in expensive "European-style" toystores in which the toy store window was decorated in Playmobil castle and pirates. I collected a number of Playmobil themes including pirates, castle, jungle, and my favorite: Wild West.

Here's a few shots of my WW Playmobil diarama from a few years ago.

playmobilwestern3.jpg

playmobilwestern4.jpg

Look at the detail and the quality is outstanding! Collecting these old sets also cost quite a bit on EBay, but the pieces are exceptional (esp. for the older themes that have been retired >10 years).

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man, i see some pieces i really want for my MOCing... various cactus plants, and actually vulture (that looks like a vulture), and i love the girls hat coming out of the salon *wub*

so, brickster you also collect playmobil ?!?!?!

what themes ???

how do you find the money !!!

- BrickMiner

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I haven't bought any Playmobil in a few years but yes, I did collect them. Unfortunately, I was looking for all the retired western sets. I have quite a few, but I prefer them MISB. I did open them for display though. They are great! Some of my favorite pieces are the old gold mine and the stage coach (both pictured). I have more that aren't in that picture- like a working water tower and windmill (lego should have made these too).

In addition to westerns, I was partial to the Jungle theme, Pirates, Castle, and Vikings. I still think that Lego copies Playmobil themes though. They're just too close (even the sets within the themes).

The real problem (and always has been) is space. You need a huge area if you want to leave all this stuff set up (esp. with trains). The Playmobil trains are G scale - these are really intended for garden railways and will run on LGB track. They take up a lot of room. But then agian, even Lego requires a lot of room if you do trains.

But what I like most about Playmobil is that the detail and the quality is outstanding. The quality reminds me of really old toys and they last a long time. They bring back a nostalgia for me, esp. the western sets which I think is Playmobil's best theme (they still have some western sets as Add-Ons). And I think one day, they will bring them back. Themes repeat. let's just hope Lego does the same with WW.

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