More New Playmobil Castle (or Knights) at Target

Tonight's journeys yielded not one, but two new Playmobil sets with knights in them. As part of the new (and seemingly US exclusive) winged knights and dragons theme, this new assortment was spotted at Target for $9.99 a pop.

5836 Green Knight and Cannon
5832 Dragon Wing Knight and Fire Catapult

The Green Knight and Cannon looks more or less like a standard entry in any of the swords-and-sorcery sets. The Dragon Wing Knight is uniquely new, and it has a really slick catapult that, as you may have guessed, launches little plastic balls of fire. I think these are new to this set. Each has a couple of figures and a smattering of accessories, making it a fairly decent deal for the price. They certainly aren't stunning values or what we'd consider a must-buy set, but you're likely to get your fun out of them.

New Playmobil Specials/Mass Market Twin Packs at USA Wal-Mart

Over on Playmoboard is a thread showcasing four new twin packs of Playmobil figures which, it seems, are showing up at Wal-Mart. As the first products to hit the mega retailer in years (or possibly ever), it's pretty big news.

The sets are:
5825 Crusaders
5826 Pirates
5827 Romans
5828 Knights

All seem to be previously released figures with minimal changes. Happy hunting!

New Mass Market Playmobil Sets Arriving

We're spotting numerous new sets around town these days, and here are two new releases you can watch out for.

4774 Take-Along Barbarians Fort
Includes two figures, some accessories, and a small take-along fort that folds up to store parts and pieces. This is part of a new line, and other themes will have similar sets released in the near future. It's $9.99.

5837 Roman Arena
A much smaller version of the set sold a couple of years back with fewer parts. If anything, it may work as an expansion to the large set. It's $39.99.

Playmobil 5840 Flying Knights, Dragon Released

As revealed many moons ago, the "flying knight" or "flying dragon knight" is finally making an appearance in what appears to be another mass-market exclusive set. The 5840 Dragon Rock does indeed include a dragon and a rock, but also has a catapult, a flying knight, and other tidbits. The new dragon is certainly different from previous releases, and we'd also like to point out the helmet on one of the knights on the packaging. It's turned around like 90 degrees so he's looking out the side. Not so hot.

UPDATE: We have since found the set in a Los Angeles-area Target for $19.99. Happy hunting, Playmobil fans!

Reader Q&A: 5775 Pirate's Attack

Reader Scott asked: Have you ever heard of set 5775? This set has a pirate ship and a fort (awesome)! I saw this set in a coupon when I received a recent order, but the only other place I have seen it is on the Toys'r'us website. Do you know if this set is upcoming or discontinued?

First, when in doubt, be sure to consult the tools you have at your disposal. Checking TOys "R" Us is most useful, but you can also check Google and my personal favorite, eBay. Seeing closed auctions can show you who's selling what, and where.

As far as I can tell it has not yet been discontinued. This particular Pirate's Attack Ship has indeed been out for a while, and in the 5775 configuration appears to be a US mass market exclusive-- which means you probably will only see it at Toys "R" Us or on closeout down the road. I've seen this set come and go at a few Toys "R" Us stores around Los Angeles, but it comes and goes. I'd suggest you hit the road for a good old fashioned toy run-- check your local stores (or call them) to see if the set is available. Due to the fact employees generally have a number of duties to perform, I tend to prefer to just make the drive and stick my head in the store(s) in question.

Happy hunting, Scott! If you have a question, feel free to leave a comment or email me, if I can't find the answer I'll at least leave you with a believable lie. Or the truth. One of those.

Playmobil Toys "R" Us Sale

There's a sale going on now at most/all USA Toys "R" Us stores. A number of sets are marked down $2-$5 off, including those new pull-back racers and the newly reshipped Skate Park. Selection varies by store, so if you've been putting a few purchases off, now may be a good time to see if there's something of value for you at the toy store with the freakish cartoon giraffe.

Target Playmobil Sale

Target stores in the USA are currently running a temporary price cut on a number of items, including the take-along castle, the pull-back dragsters, the Roman Charriot, and others. In short, any item that's normally $9.99 or more is marked down $2 or more. Check your local stores for pricing and availability.

More New Specials/Pals at Target

It's restock o'clock at Target in Burbank, CA! We found a couple of these out in Simi Valley over the weekend, and now we found all six in a single location. Since Playmobil typically releases new assortments in batches of 6 (new, old, or a mix) this is probably going to be all you see until Summer or Fall.

The 6 new releases you may see on your next trip to Target include:
4637 Surfer*
4645 Unicorn Princess
4646 Knight
4650 Ghost
4653 Gladiator
4654 Angry Pirate

It's worth noting that this is a reissue of the Surfer into the US mass market Pals assortment. It was previously released in different packaging around January of 2006. You can tell that it's the new one because the 2008 release does not have the name "Surfer" on the box and the 2006 release does.

The other five releases are new to this style of assortment in the US mass market. We snagged the 4654 Angry Pirate.

5835 Sea Life Show Packaged Pics

While there have been no confirmed USA brick-and-mortar sightings (or any at all other than Toys "R" Us' web site we are happy to report that some guy named "segaslash" is selling the 5835 Sea Life Show on eBay. Apparently, it's a Super Set (at least in terms of packaging) and you can see it here. It also shows the back of the box, which shows the first (and probably only so far) baby white seal, a unique rockies formation, an exclusive sign, and some other new-to-this-set components.

Have you seen this set in the wild? Let us know!

Target Gets New Specials (or Pals)

According to our research via eBay and various forums, it appears Target is currently getting in two new assortments of Specials/Pals with new (or newly repackaged) figures. One of them has the 4646 Knight and 4650 Ghost (shown below) as well as the 4645 Unicorn Princess (which we didn't get.) Each is $1.99.



Also shipping-- but we haven't seen them yet-- are the 4654 Angry Pirate and 4653 Gladiator. We'll have more as we find it, but feel free to leave a comment with what you're seeing!

Tuesday Morning Spot Check: February 2008

Because it's a good thing to do if you collect toys, we hit up the Tuesday Morning stores in our general area. Was it worth it? Yes. All items there are on some degree of closeout pricing, be it a few cents or several dollars cheaper than you may have seen them at your favorite toy stores.

While quite spotty, we actually managed to score some good stuff there today. We don't advise you hit up every last one (unless you've got time/gas to kill) but if there is one in your area, consider hunting some. Your mileage may vary, but here's some of what we found. (In hindsight, we should've written more down.)

3193 Baby Dino Egg $6.99 (rang up $4.99)
3260 Construction Office $11.99 (rang up $9.99)
4402 Bank $9.99 (rang up $7.99)
4421 Off Roader $29.99 (rang up $24.99)
4637 Surfer $1.49 (didn't buy)

There were additional construction sets as well, but most items were ones and twos-- there wasn't a notable amount of stock.

We're also not sure why we picked up 4421. The sign seems like a good reason given that it points to Rabat, Marrakesch, and Casablanca, which makes it seem much cooler than it probably is. We'll know for sure as we crack 'em open.

New US Mass Market Pirate Ship 5810

Well, it's new-ish. Set 5810, the latest Pirate Corsair, is hitting Toys "R" Us stores around the USA for about $29.99. It's similar to another ship in another set, but it has white flags, different figures, and a totally different crew-- made of figures you might recognize from elsewhere.

Skating Theme Dropped

One nugget I forgot to mention from Toy Fair-- the Skating sets have been dropped. They don't appear in the 2008 US catalog and they're being phased out. If you haven't yet got yours, you best start looking.

New York Toy Fair 2008 in a Nutshell

Right now, I'm reporting to you from the hotel lobby of the Doubletree Hotel in Times Square. The wi-fi here is free, but in the room, it's ten bucks. It doesn't make any sense, and technologically speaking, I can't fathom how they block it in there like this. But they did, so I'm here seated facing an elevator.

WARNING/GUARANTEE: I did not take pictures of the showroom area as there was nothing to see that was not already online in their catalog. If you want pictures of their Toy Fair setup, they aren't in this post.

Well, today I got to go see a close-up look at the Playmobil booth at the Toy Fair in New York City. The good news is that the USA lineup for the year is looking fairly strong. The bad news is that there seem to be zero surprises. All the Specials were revealed a few weeks ago, there's no holiday surprises shown (at least, none I could see-- no eggs or pumpkins), so it wasn't what you might call a revealing experience. If you picked up the 2008 Playmobil Catalog, it's pretty much the same as being at the Toy Fair booth. As an informed fan, it isn't as exciting, but it was really cool to see the stuff up close.

The most impressive unreleased items were the giant 4290 Large Pirate Ship and 4230 Circus Tent sets. The tent was enormous-- huge. The pictures you may have seen really do a poor job of illustrating the fact that you could probably hide a cat or two inside this thing. I wasn't a huge fan of the theme initially, but I must say this is a toy that really does aim to please. It features LEDs in the interior which add a lot to the wowie-zowie factor, plus there's ample seating for many a collector's or spoiled child's collection.

The Large Pirate Ship was indeed large. It was packed with features and so sizable you can't help but look at it and wish you had the room for it. The 4291 Giant Octopus set was also very impressive, although it doesn't look it in print. The creature is easily twice as big as the previous release, and it's a hard plastic and not rubbery like the green or color changing versions. In short, if you think you might want one, allow me to assure you that you do. It's quite nice and we'll be getting it for the site.

While the fairies aren't our thang, we did dig the whole Water Zoo and the new pirates Advent Calendar too. The new specials are good, the limited edition recycling truck looked very nice, and the city additions were great. It's a good year to be a fan, and next year should be great too.

If time permits I'll see if I can snap a picture or two of the booth so you can get an idea of what it was. If you really wish you were there just for this line, there isn't a lot new to see, but it is turning out to be a pretty great show with the showings from Diamond Select, Mega Brands, LEGO, Hasbro, Mattel, Quantum Mechanix, and other companies I've met with. I'm a happy camper.

Greetings From New York!

Hi Playmofans! I'm writing to you from the lobby of my hotel in New York City. I'm here for Toy Fair 2008, which means I should be able to snag a few good toy scoops to share with you here, on 16bit.com, and on Galactic Hunter.

My meetings haven't started yet, but I have visited the giant FAO Schwarz and the Times Square Toys "R" Us. Why do you care?

The new Playmobil figure 2-packs (the knights, mermaids, pirates, and Romans) were all there and in very limited supply at Toys "R" Us. I snagged the last pack of Mermaids, and it was about $4.50 before tax. I didn't see any of the new divers which seem to be hitting as of yet, so I'll be keeping my eye out for those elsewhere. Most of the selection at Toys "R" Us was stuff you've seen before, so I won't spend too much time there.

FAO had a huge Playmobil section with lots of neat stuff. I took a bunch of photos and saw that they had the entire Water Zoo theme available, as well as the dinosaurs and some other newish sets. The guy in the department was sure to let me know he expected the circus to be in stock very, very soon, which was surprising. Either way, it was neat, and I'll post my exploits there later.

More as I have it! We just started so odds are there arne't too many (or any) of you reading just yet, but I will update as best I can as news becomes available over the coming week.

Third New Blister 2-Pack Spotted

Over on the Playmofriends forums, user playmogirl has posted a shot of a previously unseen set she found at Toys "R" Us. Set 5818 contains two previously released specials: Sir Polka Dot and Sentry, both of which are slightly older and slightly harder to find sets these days. This may mean even more await you in the wilds of retail, and we'll keep you posted as we see more if we see more.

It's also worth noting that "Sir Polka Dot" was issued in Pals packaging in the USA a few years ago, but under the name "Battle Knight." Both sets were numbered 4567, although the Pals set has the distinction of actually having had the name "Battle Knight" written on its box.

Divers Set 5834 (4500) Confirmed Sighted

Over at the Laughing Giraffe Forums, user Tiermann (who runs Animobil) has found the shark diver set! Called Shark with Diver and labeled as set 5834 for the US mass market, this item was originally scheduled to show up in Germany later this year. But he found it a Fred Meyer, a grocery store chain with a decent toy department, just last week. Click through for lots of pictures and comments on his forum posting!

This set sports a nifty floating cage, a slick diver, a repainted shark, and yet another release of the orange eel. Which I think will make three of them for me when I find this cage set.

New USA Playmobil 2-Packs for 2008?

Good news! Apparently the (mostly) exclusive to Target and Toys "R" Us Playmobil figure two-packs did well enough to warrant additional items to be released in the assortments. So far, Playmobil has released a Policeman & Criminal set, a Roman Gladiator set, a Pirates set, and a Knights set. Each one costs about $2.99 for two figures with accessories and you can find these first four at Targets everywhere with little problem.

The news is that two more have started to pop up on eBay. I personally have yet to find these (not for any lack of searching), but here's the scoop: at least two sets are on the way. Currently, these ship in two assortments (the Gladiators & Police are in one case, the Knights & Pirates are in the other) so this looks like it could be a third assortment. Set 5824 contains two more gladiators, from the look of things these are repackaged figures from the 4270 Roman Arena. Set 5823 repackages two older, hard-to-find specials: 4545 Sea King (or Neptune), and 4557 Mermaid. It seems that for this release, the Mermaid's animal sidekicks were dropped.

Please click either image to see the completed auctions from Roger75093.

Of course, we'll post more about these as we find them in the wilds of retail. Neither is confirmed to be an exclusive, although it seems there's a very good chance they won't show up too many places other than Toys "R" Us and/or Target in the USA. As far as I know, neither of these have been announced in any official capacity and few if any sightings have been confirmed outside these appearing on eBay.

US 2009/Germany 2008 Diver Sets Out in USA?

A number of the still-not-released-in-Germany diver sets are on the US Toys "R" Us Web site and are being listed for sale, and in stock too. What's more, one of the sets listed has yet to appear in any German, American, or other catalog. Of note in this new set are some newly colored rockies, a small white seal (previously released in grey), and a nifty hat on the trainer. A new yellow submarine, presumably one we could all live in, is also shown as well as the 4500 Shark Cage Diver.

As of yet we haven't seen any of these in the wilds of retail.

2008 US Catalog Now Online

The official Playmobil site has published a digital version of the 2008 Playmobil Catalog. It's in some proprietary format which does not lend itself to downloading, but you can zoom in and flip through the pages.

If you're new to this toy line, it's worth noting that the bulk of products offered in the USA were previously available in Germany a year earlier. That means if you troll German eBay-- and we suggest that you do-- you'll find that a lot of these "upcoming" items are already available. This may beg the question "so where's the 2008 Germany catalog?" Well, we'll let you know as soon as we find a link to it.