If you ask me what my favorite toys are, I'd have to give Legos and the original Fisher-Price Little People some consideration. But in my heart of hearts, I know the answer right away: Playmobil. Beyond their charming mixture of stylized simplicity and observant detail, I just love the German company's vast catalog of often bizarre figurines and playsets. There are several smiling at me right now as it sit here in my office.
So when I heard that Hans Beck, the creator of Playmobil, died recently, it seemed a perfect time to post ten of my favorite Playmobil toys. The list could have been ten times longer. Thank you, Herr Beck, for whimsical wonders like these...
Cossack
From time to time, every Playmobil village needs a good pogrom. For more multicultural aggro, see Arabian Warrior, Barbarian Chief, Masai Warrior, Roman Legionnaires, and Gauls. They're all ready for a fight, and they're all awesome.
Bunnies' Music Lesson
The whole Playmobil Bunnies line is an exercise in Lynchian transgression, but the medieval-looking instruments make this one the weirdest.
Wild Boar Family
Because even the forest's least cuddly residents need love, too. I'm glad my Dad didn't have tusks.
Ghost Pirate
A lot more entertaining than Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Caiman Wrangler
A lesser toy company would just call it an alligator or a crocodile and be done with it. Not the detail-oriented Playmobil crew. They call a caiman a caiman and if you don't like it, go play with your Weebles.
Cop vs. Anarchist
Playmobil variously describes the tattooed, masked troublemaker as a "crook" or "gangster", but he's clearly supposed to be a Black Bloc anarcho-punk rioter, a stock archetype of urban life in Germany. They should make a little Starbucks for him to firebomb.
Egyptian Family
So happy, so at ease. Why couldn't I have been born one of them?
Drachenreiter mit Leucht-Lanze
They don't even sell this bad-ass techno-sorcery line in the U.S. It's just too hardcore for non-Teutonic peoples to deal with.
Liberace?
OK, I don't think Liberace ever had a mustache, but that's who this dandyish ivory-tickler puts me in mind of. Check out the pedals, the cuffs, and the brand-name on the piano, all details that less conscientious toymakers would ignore.
Fruit Fairies
Santa brought this for my 4-year-old daughter this past Christmas, and it immediately entered heavy playtime rotation. They had me at the pineapple hat.
I'm not the first to do something like this, but I made sure there wasn't much overlap with Top 10 Stylish Playmobil Dolls and Top 10 Playmobil Oddities. As for the controversy over the Playmobil Security Check Point, the paranoiacs and the 9/11 Truthers all over that Amazon page are overlooking a crucial point. Like Tupac Shakur, Playmobil doesn't make reality. It just reports on it.
