Toys "R" Us Gets Lots of New Playmobil (if you're in the USA)

It seems that all of a sudden, some (but not all) Toys "R" Us stores in the USA are getting a massive push of new product. Some stores have stuff in more than one aisle, with all sorts of sizes and price points to delight and amuse. Even more astonishing, there were loads of sets I haven't seen before, so being my lazy self, I didn't write down all the numbers for your reference. (Sorry.) Here are some of the things we saw in today's runs:

Circus
Small clown, $100 tent, dog act, pony act, tightrope, and what probably amounted to the entire new theme minus one or two sets.

Take Alongs
In addition to the 4774 Barbarian set we reported earlier, a new Knight set (4775) and Pirate set (4776) were available. It didn't seem like there was a spot for a fourth set, so that seems to be that.

Knights
A red dragon-with-barbarian is available for $20. It's the older dragon mold (the one with arms).

Dinosaurs
Seemingly the entire line is being sold at Toys "R" Us for roughly the same prices Playmobil sold it for directly in January. Even the boring little quad is there.

Romans
There's a Roman camp, 5838 Gladiators with tiger, and some larger sets you have no doubt seen elsewhere.

Christmas
The return of the Nativity Scene, and a new advent calendar packed with little woodland creatures. In other words, zzzzz.

Now if I wasn't so cheap to not have a camera phone, I could probably share pictures. Since so many new items were there today, it seems unlikely there would be too much more-- but it's nice to see the biggest toy retailer in the US picking up some serious slack for the brand. It's as close as we've ever seen to a full year's line outside of a specialty toy retailer.

Sadly, there were no new Specials (or Pals) to be seen, and there were no sign of the new blister packs we're told are being sold at select larger Wal-Mart stores. There were, however, a large number of older sets which have been at the stores for ages or have been restocked.

New Mass Market Playmobil Sets Arriving

We're spotting numerous new sets around town these days, and here are two new releases you can watch out for.

4774 Take-Along Barbarians Fort
Includes two figures, some accessories, and a small take-along fort that folds up to store parts and pieces. This is part of a new line, and other themes will have similar sets released in the near future. It's $9.99.

5837 Roman Arena
A much smaller version of the set sold a couple of years back with fewer parts. If anything, it may work as an expansion to the large set. It's $39.99.

New USA Playmobil 2-Packs for 2008?

Good news! Apparently the (mostly) exclusive to Target and Toys "R" Us Playmobil figure two-packs did well enough to warrant additional items to be released in the assortments. So far, Playmobil has released a Policeman & Criminal set, a Roman Gladiator set, a Pirates set, and a Knights set. Each one costs about $2.99 for two figures with accessories and you can find these first four at Targets everywhere with little problem.

The news is that two more have started to pop up on eBay. I personally have yet to find these (not for any lack of searching), but here's the scoop: at least two sets are on the way. Currently, these ship in two assortments (the Gladiators & Police are in one case, the Knights & Pirates are in the other) so this looks like it could be a third assortment. Set 5824 contains two more gladiators, from the look of things these are repackaged figures from the 4270 Roman Arena. Set 5823 repackages two older, hard-to-find specials: 4545 Sea King (or Neptune), and 4557 Mermaid. It seems that for this release, the Mermaid's animal sidekicks were dropped.

Please click either image to see the completed auctions from Roger75093.

Of course, we'll post more about these as we find them in the wilds of retail. Neither is confirmed to be an exclusive, although it seems there's a very good chance they won't show up too many places other than Toys "R" Us and/or Target in the USA. As far as I know, neither of these have been announced in any official capacity and few if any sightings have been confirmed outside these appearing on eBay.