Playmobil 2020: Back to the Future / Scooby-Doo!

In December 2017 we reported on Playmobil for the first time: Playmobil Ghostbusters – Welcome to merchandising

In this article, I’ll take a look at the extent to which the new products from playmobil with the merchandise from Back to the Future and Scooby-Doo! are suitable for us collectors.

Have fun reading!

First of all, you can win some of these sets presented here until August 30, 2020!

Back to the Future

The film was a big hit in 1985 and probably every young person at that time liked it. I doubt that the core target group (5-12 years) of Playmobil is familiar with this film. So, as with Ghostbusters, the theme only really makes sense if you want to address an older target group.

Anyway, for the kids it’s a cool car, for fans of Back to the Future it’s a nice part to add to the collection.

I always find it a bit difficult to imagine the playmobil sets as collectible items. Playmobil is a bit too much toy for me. The figures are too big, the details too inaccurate in short, too much toy for small children.That’s no reproach, playmobil makes 100% playmobil sets out of these themes and playmobil has worked well for decades.
It’s also a matter of taste and there’s no arguing about taste, and that’s a good thing. That makes every collection unique and I think that’s great!

Back to the Future DeLorean

The legendary DeLorean. Playmobil calls it ” authentic.” Well, let’s call it “true-to-life” for a toy 🙂

Einstein, Marty McFly and Doc Brown are in on it. So apart from the terrorists, everything is in place to play the first scene of the time warp after.
Basically playmobil is going the same way as they did with Ghostbusters. They get a license for a product that the target group (children) doesn’t know and build a cool toy out of it.

Whether the children know the film or not is not important to them. The DeLorean is a unique – today a little outdated – vehicle, which you like to look at. Of course the set can be combined with the rest of the playmobil without any problems.

Maybe even some parents/relatives buy the set with the ulterior motive “BTF was a great G-rated movie, I can’t do anything wrong with it” and they would be absolutely right.

For boys the set is ideal

Yeah, I know, “The set is ideal for boys” is a little provocative. Because boys and girls are the same… they’re not. I have tried everything, but my daughter doesn’t care about Ghostbusters. She loves the riding school and she has turned the Ghostbusters fire station into a really nice cuddling corner for fairies. She and her friends don’t care much about cars. So yes, for boys – and a few girls – the set is ideal. A sports car, nice figures, light effects! You can refill the car with plutonium, OK, you have to explain that to them first. But there’s also a nice dog.

Let’s leave the fidelity to the original.
It’s good for kids.
For collectors you could go a little more into the details before you could call it “true to original” on our level 🙂

But it is playmobil, a toy, what can you expect? Playmobil did a good job.
The DeLorean also has a gimmick from the second part, you can flip the wheels. Just like the second part, when the DeLorean flies.
The flipping mechanism reminds me of my childhood. Because what was sometimes necessary but unloved in the Wild West is taking off a saddle. The saddle is clamped together so tightly under the horse’s belly that you can really hurt your fingernails as a child. This has not changed until today. The turning of the wheels is similarly adventurous. I have had other adults test it to make sure it is not me. But everyone moaned a little. Kids’ fingers are definitely at risk. But whole generations of children have survived the horse saddle, so they survive the DeLorean too. The DeLorean definitely survives the children, it is very solidly built, playmobil, that is.

Back to the Future Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown

This set shows Marty and Doc in a well-known scene. Marty performs his legendary guitar solo at the school dance and Doc prepares the cable for the lightning.

It’s classic. What can I say about this set? I dare say that for children a guy with a guitar and an old man are not very appealing. I think the BTF collectors are the target group here. There will certainly be some hardcore collectors who will buy the figurine set, I’m sure.

With the scene in which Marty in the radiation suit woke up his father and introduced himself as Darth Vader and then said goodbye with a Vukan greeting, would have been more interesting for collectors and children.

Scooby-Doo! is a legend…

Scooby-Doo is a very successful animated series from the USA, only the Simpsons have more episodes > Wikipedia / fernsehserien.de

The Scooby-Doo series is perfectly suited for playmobil because of its simple animation.

I have never seen Scooby-Doo and I don’t know anyone who has seen the series, maybe a movie. Nevertheless, everyone knows Scooby-Doo and his friends.
The merchandise for it is as diverse as in STAR WARS. There is everything from action figures to bedside lamps and underwear.

After doing a little research I think the fan base is concentrated in the USA, I couldn’t make out an equally large worldwide fan base.

Playmobil has chosen Scooby-Doo as its second line of merchandise. At the moment there’s “The Mystery Machine”, collectible figures and “Scooby and Shaggy with Spirit”. Further sets will follow in August 2020.
With Scoobe-Doo, playmobil has opened a series that complements the playmobil range perfectly. I’m not sure if boys are interested in these sets, but for girls they are certainly great. Anyway, they add another facet to the playmobil universe. Since Scooby-Doo! is still on TV, I can imagine that some children will recognize the playmobil version.

SCOOBY-DOO! Mystery Machine

I like the Mystery Machine. The car is well made, as usual from playmobil. The light effect is probably something for hard-core Scooby-Doo fans. I would describe the gaming experience as limited, I would prefer working headlights.

Unfortunately Scooby and Shaggy are not included in the set, you need the second set for that, because what use is it without the star of the series?

What I also don’t like is that you have to stick the rear doors. I didn’t do that very well, as you can see on the photos in the collecting data base. I can’t stand stickers, they come off at some point and it’s an art to attach them in the right place. It gets worse when you open a set with kids and the kids want to apply the stickers themselves. Such a little guy can do even worse than me!
It is a pity that the bus has simple rims and no decorated rims.

But otherwise it is a great set. Really, I like the bus and it is also suitable for adult Scooby-Doo fans for presentation

Scooby and Shaggy with ghost

A ghost that isn’t one. Shaggy, the eternal hippie, his best buddy Scooby and, of course, some food.

You definitely need this set as a supplement to the Mystery Machine. The other way round, you don’t necessarily need the Mystery Machine for this set. The real highlight of this set is of course Scooby and he was lovingly created by playmobil.

It can also be combined well with the standard playmobil series. I’m sure that many children like to use Scooby as a simple dog. The set is also suitable as a gift. You can’t go wrong with the set, there is something for everyone, whether you are a child or a Scooby-Doo fan.

As a Scooby-Doo uninformed person, I am looking forward to the sets in August. There will be some great sets.

Even for fans, Scooby is a nice addition, even if you’re otherwise not very enthusiastic about playmobil and 12.60 € is a good price and Scooby is definitely convincing.

As a toy there is no question for me. There is a 100% recommendation from me!
Children will have fun with it and it does not cost the world! That in turn is important for the parents.

What do I say as a collector?

For hardcore collectors of the respective merchandiselines the sets are of course an absolute MUST!

For the more selective among us probably not.

Collectors often collect toys, yes. But they collect them because they have a connection to them. Very few of us haven’t a connection to playmobil as adults, we discard playmobil with puberty, if we have played with it at all. At least that’s my experience.

I firmly believe that playmobil could establish itself among us collectors worldwide, but with a modified product line, a “Dioarama Line”.

Imagine the following:

Ecto-1 on the street

Imagine the first Ecto-1. You got it?
Put the Ecto-1 on a piece of street, with a shining lantern and a ghost – which is also shining, maybe also with a hydrant from which a water fountain is spraying (also discreetly lit from inside). The power comes via USB connection and not or optionally via battery.

Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters 4

Just imagine this picture as a diorama. The Ecto-1 completely fucked up racing through a cornfield. That’s it, done, thank you, bought.

BUT the diorama contains toys (the car), but is not a toy.
Playmobil should find its artistic vein and make something special out of it. If you simply let playmobil do what it is supposed to do, you would certainly have a yellow-brown block in which you can see ears of corn.
No, there would have to be movement, colour, shades inside. A little piece of art. This applies, of course, to all the scenarios presented here.

Flying Delorean

The DeLorean can fold down the tires at will. So you might as well take the DeLorean out of BTF 2. Put it on a clear base and let it fly at a cool angle.

Delorean with burning track

Imagine another piece of road. The car is driving on it and behind it you have the burning track. Illuminated, of course… with USB connection, then you can leave it on as long as you want and switch it off by power switch.

The Mystery Machine

I’d just let him drive through a wooded area. Look at the wrapping, something like that.
He doesn’t need any more. Vehicle lights, done. Maybe one owl with shining eyes still 🙂

Playmobil tailor-made for collectors, would probably capture a market

But I don’t believe it. Until now everything was 100% tuned for playability. It is also a toy! But that doesn’t always work for us collectors on a large scale.
The dioramas wouldn’t be very playable, of course, but they would be collectable, and more importantly – they would be presentable. They would be an eye-catcher. Now they’re just a smile in the style of “wow, playmobil has that too?” and it’s forgotten.

But will playmobil do that? Probably not.

I don’t understand playmobil. Licenses cost money and are more complicated. Why do they choose licenses that their core target group – children – does not know? With “Dinos” playmobil also made a series in which dinosaurs walk around and remind a little of Jurrasic Park/World. Why do you need a license? A 7 year old will not care if there is a JP logo on it. So why do you need a Ghostbusters and BTF license?

I have a slight suspicion that today as a toy company you have to have a few licenses, that’s just part of the game. AND they have no idea what to do with collectors.

But that’s OK, where are they supposed to get it from?

The question is just where playmobil wants to go, with the line they’re going to use now it’s not going to work. The kids will buy the sets because they are great to play with, no question.But for us collectors it will probably remain – as it is now – more of a gimmick.

The only playmobil figures that are especially designed for collectors are figures that are twice as large as conventional playmobil figures. The figures are the exact enlargement of the standard figures. But they are many times more expensive! Just under 50 Euro playmobil presents itself as a RRP and has a limitation of 12,500 pieces … if you want to call that a limitation. The insanely high price has of course not been reflected in the trade. Otherwise you could stick it on the shelf. I completely miss the relation. Especially with the otherwise so price-conscious Zirndorfers.

Collectors are crazy, yes!
Collectors pay absurdly high prices, yes!
But playmobil has nothing on the market yet that can captivate collectors. To pay 200 Euro for 4 oversized playmobil figures, that’s something only the absolute hardcore fans do. But don’t worry, if you want the figures, you can get them for only 12 Euros. I did not find them under that. But it shows how massively playmobil has miscalculated with these figures.

My conclusion:

The playmobil sets are great for kids.
For collectors, I see it rather mixed, but it is definitely not a must-have.

I’m still convinced that playmobil has the potential for collectors’ items.