16bit.com Figure of the Day Review: Playmobil Toy Fair 2014 40th Birthday Knight

Main
Features
FOTD
Toy Fair 2025
Toy Fair 2023
SDCC 2023
Toy Fair 2020
NYCC 2019
SDCC 2019
Toy Fair 2019
SDCC 2018
Toy Fair 2018
HasCon 2017
SDCC 2017
Toy Fair 2017
SDCC 2016
Toy Fair 2016
SDCC 2015
Toy Fair 2015
SDCC 2014
C2E2 2014
Toy Fair 2014
SDCC 2013
C2E2 2013
Toy Fair 2013
SDCC 2012
C2E2 2012
Toy Fair 2012
NYCC 2011
SDCC 2011
Toy Fair 2011
Archives
Books
DVD
Music
Statues
Prop Replicas
Toys
Video Games
Credits
Contact

This site is part of Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Entertainment Earth affiliate programs. We may earn a commission when you click one of their links.

Playmobil Toy Fair 2014 40th Birthday Knight Playmobil, 2014

Day #887: March 28, 2014

Toy Fair 2014 40th Birthday Knight Toy Fair 2014 Boy Exclusive Playmobil Toy Fair 2014 Set Item No.: No. n/a Manufacturer: Playmobil Includes: Birthday shield, sword, helmet, feather, swan Action Feature: n/a Retail: free Availability: February 2014 Other: Free is good
PREVIOUS	RSS	NEXT

Every year at New York's Toy Fair, there's a Playmobil booth - and generally the nice lady out front will let you take one, or two of the promotional figures. Most years have two, this time around we saw a 40th Birthday Knight and a matching Queen/Princess. There have been numerous fantastic toys in four decades, and the company reigns supreme in Germany and does very well in Europe. Here in the USA, it's been increasingly tougher to walk into a store and find these toys - big box stores have more or less completely dropped them, making them a bit more of a prize for the collector that still goes on toy runs. Rarely is the figure at Toy Fair a genuine exclusive - usually it's a special packaged version of a figure from a bigger set, but this one seems unique to the various Toy Fairs around the world so far.

As always, the figure is about 3-inches tall. Not as always, it has a unique shield that is arguably the selling point. It reads: "40 Playmobil Happy Birthday!" This kind of promotional figure is the kind of thing I live for, as LEGO rarely puts out a minifigure with its own logo on its chest, and Playmobil doesn't do that either. Seeing this kind of on-toy branding is pretty unusual, so it's automatically awesome. The amror is painted gold, and some assembly is required - getting that swan to sit on his helmet was a finger-smashing pain in the neck. The sword and shield fit nicely on his hands, and the feathers pop right in place.

The coloring of the Knight is quite striking, even without the promotional boost. Blue arms and red pants pop out from under the gold nicely, with a rather cheery, festive demeanor around his smiling, stubble-covered face. His chest armor also has more sculpted detail than most figures, which is nice considering that this is clearly meant to be an especially special figure.

The sword is... a sword. It doesn't do anything too interesting, but it does fit in his belt quite nicely. The shield has no problems being held in his hands, once again proving that there's a real reason to make toys for kids rather than collectibles for old people. Don't get me wrong, I like Marvel Legends, but how many of those can stay standing on a shelf for years at a time? I've never had a Playmobil figure nosedive on me. Or fail to hold an accessory. Or fail to fit in a vehicle. They make it work, which is why it's disappointing they won't do licensed characters.

As a souvenir from attending a trade show, this is one of my favorites. He'll go on the shelf next to the hobo, which is about as high of an honor as any toy can hope to get in my house. eBay prices for this guy are $10-$20 or even higher, but it'll probably calm down - most "rare" figures don't stay that way for too long once the hype wears off. There was an FAO Schwarz soldier that commanded a slight premium at a time, but it seems Albrecht Durer is still kind of pricey. What can I say, I love weird exclusives.

--Adam Pawlus

Additional Images

Click Here for 2013

Figure of the
Day 2014

January 2014

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

February 2014

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28

March 2014

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

April 2014

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

May 2014

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

June 2014

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

July 2014

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

August 2014

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

September 2014

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

October 2014

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

November 2014

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30

December 2014

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

Click Here for 2015

16bit.com is best not viewed in Apple's Safari browser, we don't know why. All material on this site copyright their respective copyright holders. All materials appear hear for informative and entertainment purposes. 16bit.com is not to be held responsible for anything, ever. Photos taken by the 16bit.com staff. Site design, graphics, writing, and whatnot credited on the credits page. Be cool-- don't steal.
We know where you live and we'll break your friggin' legs.