A well known but fairly uncommon site in many American toy stores, Playmobil is a successful toy line from Germany. With small, just over three-inch figures the line is both extremely collectible, durable, and great for kids or collectors. The manufacturer made sure to appeal to older and younger buyers, which is great considering they claim that their official target audience ends at the sixth grade.
Eschewing licensed characters for free-form play and universally known concepts, the line typically keeps its feet firmly planted on the ground with themes based on daily life. They also managed to spread it out to include a number of historic themes, fantasy elements, and starting in 2004 they even brought out some Dinosaurs. There's really no end to the variety you can find in the line, from drunk homeless shoeless vagrants to undead pirates. If you can't find a Playmobil piece to appeal to someone you know, you aren't looking hard enough.
In 2009 and 2010, plans call for Playmobil to expand to include several new themes. We covered many of these items in January 2008, so please check our January archives for images and more of these sets. Here's what you can expect in the future:
2009 (US, 2008 Germany)
Egypt
Divers
Police
House
2009 (US, 2010 Germany)
Fire Fighters
School
Mermaids
Wolf Knights
Our archives are here to merely present some of our favorite pieces in the line. This is by no means meant to be a complete resource, but merely a supplement or an introduction to the range.
The finest resource on the Web for Playmobil news, information, and discussion is Collectobil. Unfortunately, this rich resource has more or less stopped being updated in early 2006.
Pages last updated June 23, 2009.
