Rough week at Picayune, my site turning into a dreadful obituary section which used to be the easy money for newspapers alongside the want ads.
A friend brought up this news because I guess poor Mr. Brandstätter wasn’t that important or then again, I may have been busy with trying to get through last week unscathed. Either way, he has been important in my life over the years, especially in the last few with my monthly visits to Terra Toys.
The Guardian has a nice piece about him here.
I first encountered the toys in the late Seventies. I think it was a toy commercial promoting their knights which was one of the only three lines they made. An immediate family member gave me the knights which was pretty cool. It came with seven figures, two in red, the other five in black, white, green, blue and yellow. They had swords, shields, pole arms, a throne (one knight got the crown over a helmet), benches, a table, plates and goblets. I didn’t care about the lack of detail, they were just cool. Sadly, they were put aside in time for the more popular Star Wars and Adventure People action figures which were not customizable.
Over the years though, Playmobil did expand into other ideas and genres: Cowboys, Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Romans, Pirates, Super Spies, Police, Firefighters, Astronauts, you name it, they’ve probably done it.
We got reacquainted when I was first dating Somara. To cheer her up after being sick, I scored her a Old West Calvary set as a cheer-up gift. I re-enacted an old bit from F-Troop I had seen a hundred times on Channel 44’s plugs. We’ve been buying them off and on since. Namely their highly amusing blind-bag series. I’m also working through a German co-worker to get the highly coveted Martin Luther figure.
Playmobil may lie in the shadow of Lego in America but it’s really a different toy. Lego is a building-set toy which is equally cool. Playmobil is more in line with its American competitors Imaginext from Fisher-Price yet it has cooler accessories and to some extent, a subtle sense of humor. I mean c’mon, name a little kid who’s going want a figure of Elvis or Surfing Santa?
Thanks a million Herr Brandstätter! The toy you championed during the oil embargoes will live on through its many incarnations.