Playmobil Specials Return to Toys "R" Us?

It seems like the single-boxed figure has returned to Toys "R" Us! We spotted a whole rack of 4685 Zulu Warrior figures at $3.49 a pop. There were no other Specials available, but seeing as US TRU stores haven't had these in some time, this might be a good sign for these guys returning to American big box toy stores. Happy hunting!

New Playmobil Specials/Mass Market Twin Packs at USA Wal-Mart

Over on Playmoboard is a thread showcasing four new twin packs of Playmobil figures which, it seems, are showing up at Wal-Mart. As the first products to hit the mega retailer in years (or possibly ever), it's pretty big news.

The sets are:
5825 Crusaders
5826 Pirates
5827 Romans
5828 Knights

All seem to be previously released figures with minimal changes. Happy hunting!

2009/2010 Playmobil Themes Revealed

Over on the various Playmobil forums, a number of new sets and themes are being shown. I'd like to point you to Playmoboard, as accounts are free and it, like this blog, are in English.

New themes include Ghost Pirates and Merpeople, or Mermaid stuff. The Merfolk line seems like a follow-up to the fairies, only now it's under the sea. Highlights include seahorses galore and new fishy kids. There's also an evil sea witch.

Knights continues, this time with loads of wolves and a lot of gold elements. Truth be told, I have a hard time discerning this as new, and the sets seem mostly to be on the small side. Aside from some catapults, it's a very redeco-oriented line.

The Ghost Pirates are pretty stunning, if you like such things. A giant glow-in-the-dark whale skeleton (unfortunately cast in green), huge clams, a giant manta ray, killer crabs, and a three-headed sea serpent make this a really cool, really supernatural line. A haunted ghost ship rounds things out, complete with tattered sails and a crew of the dead. This seems to build on existing themes, plus brings the giant sea life we've all come to know and love from LEGO's ill-fated Aquaraiders line. I must say, these look like a lot of fun.

The new Specials, sadly, are not so special. It appears we're getting a new Mongolian warrior (nice!), but we're getting yet another orange-clad sanitation worker, more kids-with-gifts, and some lady on a floaty pool thing. Where are the crazy awesome ninjas, monsters, and literary figures we used to get? Oh well. Check 'em all out!

Playmobil Pals Clearance at Target

Some-- but not all-- Target stores are running clearances right now. These vary widely by location, with some stores marking things down slightly and others not at all. With that in mind, a local Los Angeles Target has the latest batch of Pals/Specials on clearance for $0.98 each, down from $1.99. These include:
4637 Surfer
4645 Unicorn Princess
4646 Knight
4650 Ghost
4653 Gladiator
4654 Angry Pirate

Happy hunting!

US Spring Line 2008 Available

In case you didn't see them-- we certainly didn't-- the new-for-USA 2008 sets for Spring are hitting. If you haven't already seen them, you will now find the Water Zoo sets at a store near... someone. Also, six new specials have hit, including new versions of the police officer with the radar device, yet another ghost pirate, and a few other releases.

Take note that these are not the mass-market sets you'll see at Target or Toys "R" Us, but rather the speciality market stuff that hit Germany about a year ago (or in the case of the specials, just recently.) Happy hunting!

More New Specials/Pals at Target

It's restock o'clock at Target in Burbank, CA! We found a couple of these out in Simi Valley over the weekend, and now we found all six in a single location. Since Playmobil typically releases new assortments in batches of 6 (new, old, or a mix) this is probably going to be all you see until Summer or Fall.

The 6 new releases you may see on your next trip to Target include:
4637 Surfer*
4645 Unicorn Princess
4646 Knight
4650 Ghost
4653 Gladiator
4654 Angry Pirate

It's worth noting that this is a reissue of the Surfer into the US mass market Pals assortment. It was previously released in different packaging around January of 2006. You can tell that it's the new one because the 2008 release does not have the name "Surfer" on the box and the 2006 release does.

The other five releases are new to this style of assortment in the US mass market. We snagged the 4654 Angry Pirate.

Target Gets New Specials (or Pals)

According to our research via eBay and various forums, it appears Target is currently getting in two new assortments of Specials/Pals with new (or newly repackaged) figures. One of them has the 4646 Knight and 4650 Ghost (shown below) as well as the 4645 Unicorn Princess (which we didn't get.) Each is $1.99.



Also shipping-- but we haven't seen them yet-- are the 4654 Angry Pirate and 4653 Gladiator. We'll have more as we find it, but feel free to leave a comment with what you're seeing!