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?

It's definitely worth writing to playmobil about family groups, they won't change if we don't complain. I just had a look at ours, convinced Playmobil would be the kind of company that would have mixed ethnicities. Our figures are mainly the individual figures you get in a bag where you don't know what you are getting (years and years of stocking fillers) and they are all white except one. Looking at those figure ranges they have about 1 figure in each set of 12 that isn't white. They do girl sets and boy sets (so much better than lego who seems to think there are more aliens than women).

@Arthersleep, I sincerely hope you mean secondhand only?!

So apparently Playmobil actually started selling this pack in 2010 - someone at Playmobil actively decided just ten years ago that it was a good idea to introduce a blackface toy. Holy Mary, what were they thinking?!

Thankfully not part of Playmobil's current range on sale in the UK, otherwise I really would have to complain.

@Arthersleep

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

That's fucking awful (the Dutch blackface tradition).

There are LOADS of playmobil figures that are not white OP......

I know what you mean Op, I was looking the other day for non white playmobil family groups and found that while there are plenty of brown and black figures, they weren't any stand alone black or brown families, which I found odd.
I also agree a lot of the ones they do have are in the historical ranges.
Its a shame as I would buy more if they had figures that reflected what our family and friends look like

I'd really recommend joining the Facebook groups for playmobil. Plenty of people have loads and loads of second hand figures they'd be willing to sell. I'm sure it would be cheaper than eBay and you'd get more specifically what you're looking for.

Duplo is quite good at being vaguely representative. Most sets have one woman and at least one non white person.Lego is in need of a bit of a refresh though which is odd as they are the same company.

Some more on eBay...

And an ethnic wedding set on eBay

So apparently Playmobil actually started selling this pack in 2010 - someone at Playmobil actively decided just ten years ago that it was a good idea to introduce a blackface toy. Holy Mary, what were they thinking?!

They were probably thinking, at that point, that the vast vast majority of the Dutch public did not consider Zwarte Piet to be racist, rather a unique quirk of their own Sinterklaas tradition. It’s a very old character that has developed over centuries separately from the issues around blackface in the USA.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet
According to a 2013 survey, upward of 90 per cent of the Dutch public do not perceive Zwarte Piet to be a racist character or associate him with slavery and are opposed to altering the character's appearance.[54] This correlated to a 2015 study among Dutch children aged 3 to 7 which showed that they perceive Zwarte Piet to be a fantastical clownish figure rather than a black person

In more recent years, influence from USA-based anti-racist movements has lead to a shift in public opinion though and now there is a much more significant move to change or even phase out the character. But for Dutch people that’s like phasing out Rudolph (can’t really think of a better equivalent!). Zwartepiet has been Sinterklaas’ chief elf-helper type figure for generations. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but Playmobil making a Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet set is just meeting a market for a depiction of that tradition.

It’s a very old character that has developed over centuries separately from the issues around blackface in the USA.

According to Wikipedia:
The character first appeared in an 1850 book by Amsterdam schoolteacher Jan Schenkman.

Since the Dutch didn't abolish slavery until 1863 and were a major player in the global slave trade I think it's absolutely coming from the same place as other 19th and 20th century blackface.

You don’t want to google ‘Persian New Year’ then.

I don’t think the book invented it, any more than I think CocaCola invented Santa in the USA. The character is supposed to be Moorish - he would take naughty children back to Spain. Obviously there is a backdrop of colonialism in Dutch culture, but it is not absolutely the same as what happened in USA that has lead to blackface being so socially unacceptable now.

I think the OP just wants a standard modern family in a different skin tone to white. I think she was assuming that because there are different skin tones there would be a 'standard family' set (e.g. two adults, two children and pet) which came in a variety of skin tones. Yes, there are sets with various skin tones, yes there are 'historical' or 'cultural' groups (Ancient Egyptians, Native Americans) but I the OP is not an Ancient Egyptian and wants a family group that reflects her own family's ethnicity!

You don’t want to google ‘Persian New Year’ then

Are you referring to Haji Firuz performers? They’re a rarity now, much like the ‘black face’ Morris dancers (who still performed in England until around 2015!) I remember those Morris Dancers performing in Oxford when I was a teenager.

Seems strange you would choose Persian New Year as an example when the U.K. government approved the Morris dancers using ‘blackface’ until very recently.

Most Haji Firuz performers now paint their faces the colours of the Iranian flag.

I have family in Iran . Baba Nowrooz is still fairly popular and I see him in local stores.

I have family in Iran . Baba Nowrooz is still fairly popular and I see him in local stores

I have family all over Iran and before covid I visited often. Baba Norooz is usually played by an elderly man with a long silver beard, I’ve never seen him in black make up! Only Haji Firuz with their tambourines, and nowadays they tend to paint their faces the colours of the flag?

Baba Norooz in folklore is the father of Rostam isn’t he?

In Persian folklore Haji Firuz killed Siavash (his red clothes symbolising Siavash’s blood and the black symbolising his return from the underworld and his good luck (black being the ancient colour of luck in Persia?)

In some cities I’ve seen Haji Farooz with his face painted white, or half black half white, maybe it varies by region.

I have even seen a white chap with a long beard (I think he is a updated version, looking rather Santa-like).

Maybe its regional thing - like Santa Claus, Santa, Father Christmas, St Nicholas... T'internet tells me that my Amoo/Baba is Haji in fact - but he is always Baba here.

I always feel sorry for the poor goldfish and have persuaded people to use a piece of carved carrot instead!

My children had ethnic minority playmobil

OP I had the same problem last year. Everyone is piling in to show you that you’re wrong, but I also found that the one thing I wanted - new, easily available modern (not historical!) Plasma people with a darker skin tone, ideally without needing to buy yet more white ones at the same time - was really hard to find. Yet there is a huge selection of modern white figures, in sets or singles.

I had to scour eBay but I also found that some of the older sets of black families just didn’t look right to my eye; they had slightly caricatured faces that made me uncomfortable. Nicer looking modern black or brown figures were available here and there, and I did get some. But they were rare as hen’s teeth and cost me a lot more time and effort to track down.

It is a thing.

Playmo, not Plasma

God I love playmobil

I always feel sorry for the poor goldfish and have persuaded people to use a piece of carved carrot instead!

Yes, luckily the goldfish tradition is frowned upon now, at least in the areas of Iran I’ve been to and in the U.K. and USA. Most people seem to use a plastic goldfish instead or an ornament (we have a rubber one with a suction cup and invisible string 😂) although that goldfish scent is missing from the haft sin!

Some people use a tangerine floating in jar or water to symbolise the fish. Never thought of carving a carrot, that’s a good idea!