February 3rd, 2009 by Stinkhead
The UK Guardian is reporting that Hans Beck, inventor of Playmobil, passed away last week.
I am a bit saddened, due to my love for everything playmobil. Read that article for more in depth history, and I’ll use this space below to tell you my history with playmobil.
When I was really young, my father got me the Playmobil space shuttle. It was one of my favorites… even deep into the haze of He-Man, Star Wars and Transformers, I loved that Space Shuttle and flew it around, exploring many different planet surfaces in my house. I had the shuttle and the small skimmer, but never the big Space Station. I have since claimed it off of eBay. It’s missing a few windows, so I am currently looking to make it complete.
So the years went by, I packed up all of my toys, went to college, got an office job, and then ended up at a small web firm in Columbus Ohio. In their web dept, everyone had action figures all over their desks. It was a sign that you were there for the long haul, (not packing up and splitting in the middle of the night). One guy had obscure (to me) Japanese imports, another had movie and TV figures, I needed a theme, and I had always loved playmobil, so I decided to start there. I love their design aesthetic. I love that unbeatable smile. I love the graphic-designy rules. They exist to make everything fit together, but there is also room for invention.
I started with all of the horribly inappropriate figures… the Executioner, the Drunken Hobo, the Devil, and then expanded into other cool sets, such as the bank robber, the Zulu warriors, and the Ninja. Then I got the foamy beer keg. This was awesome.
Eventually I (and the rest of the company) was laid off, and I needed to bring the playmobil home. I took a part time job at Zany Brainy so I could use the 30% discount to buy the Incan Temple and the large Pirate ship, and then eventually moved back to the DC area, playmobil in tow.
Shortly after moving back, I got engaged (I proposed by putting the ring inside the treasure chest inside the pirate ship), and married (we had the Bride & Groom as cake toppers obviously), and then bought a house with a basement large enough to hold my collection… for awhile.
I started going after the rare sets, like the Old West Saloon (complete with dancing girl). It was popular in Germany, but a lot of US retailers didn’t think American parents would buy their children a bar, so it’s tough to find in the US. I also started trading playmobil with a friend in Germany. He hooked me up with the HazMat crew one year before they were available in the US, and the German exclusive BMW. I begged my cousin, stationed in Germany, to send me the Roman colosseum.
Then the most amazing thing happened. A new book came out, The Story of a Smile detailing the 30 year history of playmobil. (in German, of course) And they included the story of my engagement and cake toppers. (Available here in English) Then I did an ad for Playmoboard.com in the Collectors’ Handbook.
Now I’m becoming known on the web for being a playmobil fanatic, and people send me news clippings. Our friend Bobbi at Raving Toy Maniac sent me word of this massive playmobil cache that turned up at a toy store (kinda) near me. It was an hour and a half drive, but totally worth it. Apparently a private collector was forced to sell off his collection. There were thousands of unopened, pristine, vintage playmobil. (Check out my tour of this shop and the mountains of boxes, and check out the stuff I actually bought).
I’ve been doing reviews and podcasts and collecting for years, and in under 2 weeks I’ll be at the Toy Fair in NYC to take pictures of 2009’s playmobil… and now I have a young son who is too young for a lot of playmobil, but old enough for Playmobil 1-2-3 and he loves carrying his little people all over the place. I even taught him to attack the playmo-folks with an alligator finger puppet.
So I am sad that the inventor of my favorite toy passed away. I’m glad he got to see playmobil make more figures than (real, breathing) people on Earth, and that in this day of toy recalls and Made In China scares, playmobil is doing pretty well, more than 30 years later. Sleep well Mr. Beck. I will always have a little of that playmobil perma-grin on my face because of you.
(And I’ll be passing it to others)
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Posted in article, playmobil | 2 Comments »
February 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
[…] A tribute to Hans Beck. [via] “Sleep well Mr. Beck. I will always have a little of that playmobil perma-grin on my face because of you.”; […]
March 4th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Nice article. I looked to Hans Beck as inspiration, using playmobil I have been able to invent themes that have yet be. As an amateur toymaker, I see playmobil as extremely imaginative for children and adults. I will miss Mr Beck but I will always see that smile that his toys give my children when they play. Godspeed Mr. Beck.