Playmobil: Five Decades, One Iconic Smile

It’s a milestone year for one of the most iconic staples of toy boxes and playrooms around the world.

The Horst Brandstätter Group’s Playmobil is celebrating 50 years of fun with a fresh lineup of immersive playsets, licensed collaborations, and continued efforts in sustainability. The company prides itself on durable, educational products that encourage families to explore and learn more about the world. Playmobil attributes its decades of success to excellence in design, an expansive catalog, and best-in-class production methods. 

“Playmobil is the finest quality plastic injection toy manufacturer in the world. Our German engineering and design [teams] produce our toys to the strictest safety standards with the highest-quality plastic and are nearly indestructible,” says Marc Shinderman, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Playmobil USA. “No other toy manufacturer packs as much lifelike play value into their toys as Playmobil. Quality, innovation, and evergreen lasting play value is our legacy, and that provides endless opportunities for the future.”

Playmobil’s evergreen themes include Farm, City Life, History, Pirates, Vehicles, and others, and in recent years, the company has become more engaged in licensing, developing products in collaboration with top automakers like Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, and based on pop culture licenses, including Ghostbusters, DreamWorks Dragons, and more. Over the past year, the company collaborated with Disney to add Winnie the Pooh- and Mickey Mouse-themed toys to its 1-2-3 catalog of toddler toys and developed a Naruto line to connect with anime fans.

“This year we are bringing Miraculous — Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir to Playmobil; increasing our sustainable line with our new theme world, Horses of Waterfall; and of course, celebrating the 50th by bringing back some of our favorite Playmobil items,” Shinderman says. 

Retailers have stocked Playmobil products for several decades. Barnes & Noble, the mass specialty retailer that sells books, toys, and more, has carried the brand in most of its stores for approximately 15 years. 

“We are always on the hunt for new and exciting play patterns that are educational in nature, but also foster creativity and imaginative play,” says Julie Duffy, Senior Merchandise Manager at Barnes & Noble. “Playmobil fits perfectly … and the play value is unparalleled.”

Collectors, educators, and guardians can find Playmobil products in stores and online. According to Duffy, Playmobil has “remained dedicated to fostering an assortment that is a great fit for the specialty toy market, which is in line with the Barnes & Noble toy focus. They create great playset offerings for younger kids, especially in the preschool space. Their expansive catalog of themes also makes it easy to market to families with children of varying age groups and interests.” 

Playmobil collectors have a similar view of the brand. There are several sites run by fans of the brand, including animobil.info. This site, launched in 2005, acts as an encyclopedia for Playmobil’s animal figures. Playmobil collectors can find images and information about every Playmobil animal figure available. It also covers Shields and Hearldy, the bagged Figures Series, and Robots, Playmobil categories that animobil.info owner Tim Matteson enjoys. 

Matteson, a Playmobil collector of around 20 years, frequently updates the site’s figure index and makes blog posts concerning new collections. 

According to Matteson, “The company’s long-term consistency in holding a single vision of how everything they make fits together is really the core of their success. Parents hand down their old toys to their children and expand on them with new sets for a multi-generational experience rarely found in other brands. Playmobil is designed to be the [real] world in miniature.” 

Throughout the year, retailers and consumers can look for products in special 50th Anniversary packaging, the return of some old favorites, and competitions inviting fans to create their own Playmobil products. 

Celebration-themed gift sets for kids ages 4 and up include Mermaid’s Birthday with mermaid figures, a shell box, cupcakes, and more; Knight’s Birthday Gift Set, which includes an Arwynn figure, cans, cannons, and more; and the Keeper with Animals set that features two adult seals, a baby seal, a birthday sign, fish, and more. Three additional sets, Mini Golf, Researchers with Robots, and Costume Party, are also available. 

The 3-inch tall Knight, one of the first Playmobil figures, will be available exclusively in gold this year, while the 1977 Classic Police Car will be re-released in July as a “vintage” car with a figure.

These celebratory products continue to showcase what collectors enjoy most about the brand. “One of the main things that helps Playmobil stand apart is the consistent use of a single scale for all of their items for the last 50 years … figures and accessories made 40 years ago fit perfectly with new pieces that just came out this year,” Matteson says. “The ability to combine decades of back catalog items with any new release creates an immersive play world and allows the slow building up of larger and larger scenes by long-time collectors.” 

To remain popular and trusted, brands must evolve. For Playmobil, a commitment to the world and giving back to the earth has increased over time. “Playmobil is actively working to reduce its carbon footprint at manufacturing facilities, offices, and subsidiaries around the world,” Shinderman explains. 

Those efforts include products and packaging composed of at least 80% recycled or sustainable materials, such as this year’s Horses of Waterfall range. The line features several toys for kids ages 5 and up anchored by the Waterfall Ranch, a fully furnished play home and adjoining stable that comes loaded with accessories.

“[Playmobil’s] shift to recycled content plastics, as well as new plant-based plastics for their Juniors line, are great steps,” Matteson says. 

As Playmobil looks to enter its next 50 years, the company plans to stay true to its roots in creating toys that spark creativity and imagination while leaning into a legacy of quality engineering.  

“Our future looks exciting as we produce new toys for generations to come,” Shinderman says.

A version of this feature was originally published in The Toy Book’s 2024 Licensing & Entertainment Issue. Click here to read the full issue! Want to receive The Toy Book in print? Click here for subscription options!