No ethnic minority playmobil families?

[PickleWithEverything]

I've just been looking for a gift on the Playmobil site, was very disappointed I could not find any non-white family groups.

I bought DD a Playmobil pirate ship about 7 years ago and the pirates weren't white, so I assumed I'd just be able to get a mix of skin tones in the rest of the range. When I bought the pirate ship, I had generously assumed Playmobil was a nice company that actually decided it was great to have a WHOLE set of characters who weren't white, but now I'm thinking, perhaps Playmobil just thought the white Playmobil people would have got sun-tanned sitting out on deck of their ship all day. Oh dear!

Does anyone else find this weird? Most other toy manufacturers seem to be doing a better job eg Lego Friends.

AIBU to want to send an email to Playmobil asking them to please join the 21st century?

You really really can't just go on the playmobil site and find them.

@chetchet I didn't say I agree with it ffs. Was merely pointing out how the company probably see it.
They make loads of historical sets. Some of which (like slaves) are not what we would want our children to play with.

I love that Ancient Egyptian family set.

www.amazon.co.uk/Playmobil-Add-On-Series-Egyptian-Family/dp/B01GRYSFPE/ref=asc_df_B01GRYSFPE/?hvlocphy=1006897&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=310764975243&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-562925395643&hvrand=18330255007706101965

Like, 3/10 for accuracy, but cool nonetheless.

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander, interesting point. Slavery happened. But surely we don't think that 3 to 6 year olds slapping tiny plastic collars on their black dolls would be in any way helping?! Well Playmobil obviously agreed as I don't think that figure is still on sale.

If I'm wrong, maybe Playmobil could introduce a Political Awareness Range. They could have a sweat shop, a Ku Klux Klan lynching, and a Gestapo HQ.

Why are you getting hung up on the (presumably long deleted from the catalogue) slave figure and ignoring the fact that there is in fact a huge amount of non white figures for sale, op?
Other people have found them quite easily, you don't seem to have looked particularly hard.

[quote PickleWithEverything]@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander, interesting point. Slavery happened. But surely we don't think that 3 to 6 year olds slapping tiny plastic collars on their black dolls would be in any way helping?! Well Playmobil obviously agreed as I don't think that figure is still on sale.

If I'm wrong, maybe Playmobil could introduce a Political Awareness Range. They could have a sweat shop, a Ku Klux Klan lynching, and a Gestapo HQ.[/quote]
No I don't for one minute think its an appropriate toy! But someone must be buying it!

We have a very diverse set of fairies that the DC love

Oh just saw its not for sale anymore. So maybe people weren't buying it!

@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble, okay, I accept these are family groups! You win a point here.

I can buy Ancient Egyptians, Native Americans and Inuits, cute character groups doing their traditional thing. To my eyes, they might look a tad out of place in the Camper Van and the Modern Bathroom. But, this is a land of make believe, and they will certainly add a certain je ne said quoi to the neighbourhood.

Is it that there isn’t a specific family; instead every group is mixed

www.playmobil.co.uk/egyptian-family/6492.html

Anything goes on playmobil land. Weve had Mary and Joseph working the bin lorry. I think the binmen had a day off and it wasn't Christmas so M & J weren't busy

www.playmobil.co.uk/native-american-family-ii/6322.html

🙄

Just saw your update. If you want modern characters, you’ll have to buy a mixed race family bundle (just as you would if you wanted modern white characters).

I had loads of different ethnicities when my children were small - I also worked as a childminder so certainly didn’t pay a lot.
Could the issue be stock related??

I checked the USA website thinking they might have a more diverse range but it looks to be the same stock.

You can obviously buy mixed sets but you can’t currently buy a black family etc. Perhaps drop an email to playmobil?

You are making me want playmobil again and my DC are grown up
I’ve just discovered adult Lego too

Few choices on ebay too.

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander

Anything goes on playmobil land. Weve had Mary and Joseph working the bin lorry. I think the binmen had a day off and it wasn't Christmas so M & J weren't busy

My mum bought all the lovely historical ranges for the kids and my stepfather set them all up in really elaborate scenes from history.

DD2... took all the historical bits off them and sent the kids to school with all the other playmobil kids to have adventures. I keep having to evict small plastic children from playing hide and seek in my shoes. She has hundreds of the bloody things - she can even tell which one from the identical figures she's picked up from duplicate sets is which and what their name is!

OP - take a look at that FB group I mentioned - they really do have most things up for sale over time.

Right, heading over to eBay and Facebook. Thank you everyone!

good luck!

Pickle I agree with you. While they do have a variety of skin colours in their sets the majority seem to be white and it’s not good enough that you can’t order a non-historical family of a particular skin colour when you can buy a white family, grandparents, pregnant mum, twins etc.

Playmobil do a replacement service where you can order spare parts for sets. You could get the piece numbers for characters from sets and order them individually to make up a family that looks just like yours.

I think you should just e-mail their marketing department and ask if they have considered selling a stand alone Black family and explaining exactly what you would like to buy for Christmas. If they’re any good they’ll help you out and if the response isn’t up to scratch then you don’t want to give them your money anyway.

Yes, but they do still sell Sinterklaus and Black Peter (if you're familiar with the bizarre Christmas celebrations in the Netherlands).

Here are some smaller sets with Black figures.

www.playmobil.co.uk/christmas-concert/70396.html

www.playmobil.co.uk/girl-with-pony/70060.html

www.playmobil.co.uk/mars-rover/9491.html

www.amazon.co.uk/Playmobil-9439-Other-Children-Minigolfing/dp/B07678MZXK/ref=mp_s_a_1_62?dchild=1&keywords=playmobil+duo+pack&sprefix=playmobil+duo+&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1605562518&sr=8-62

www.amazon.co.uk/Playmobil-5377-Special-Plus-DJ/dp/B01608LFKE/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=playmobil+special+plus+figures&sprefix=playmobil+special&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1605562589&sr=8-11

www.amazon.co.uk/Playmobil-9085-Special-Children-Beach/dp/B01LYFQTOS/ref=mp_s_a_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=playmobil+special+plus+figures&sprefix=playmobil+special&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1605562629&sr=8-20

www.amazon.co.uk/Playmobil-Country-70137-Enclosure-Colourful/dp/B07JLS11JY/ref=mp_s_a_1_87?dchild=1&keywords=playmobil+special+plus+figures&sprefix=playmobil+special&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1605562721&sr=8-87