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Playmobil: not as good as LEGO?

18.6.2018

Translation: machine translated

Playmobil builds great toys, has been on the market for decades and is the delight of many children. Why are they still in LEGO's shadow? Investigate the heart of these two worlds.

Playmobil and LEGO are among the best-known brands in toys. I don't know anyone who didn't play with them as a child, and almost everyone prefers LEGO to Playmobil. A little online research also told me that most people prefer LEGOs. In an article in Spiegel Online (in German), Playmobil is even described as a low-class game that would only appeal to the simple-minded. On Google Trends, it can be seen that LEGO is more popular than Playmobil.

Where does this grudge against Playmobil come from? What does everyone have against these toys? And above all, are LEGOs really any better?

Playmobil vs. LEGO

Which game do you prefer?

Playmobil
16%
LEGO
84%

The competition has ended.

I asked my colleagues what they liked best. From beautiful, almost romantic stories to borderline statements, I heard it all. Natalie Hemengül told me that she prefers LEGOs. She finds Playmobil a bit soulless because of their almost always identical faces. Raphael Knecht is also clearly in the pro-LEGO camp. He even told me the LEGO stories of his childhood, as if it all happened yesterday. How he could have hours of fun building villages and boats. He wasn't interested in ready-built models. It also explains why his relationship with Playmobil was doomed from the start. He loved building above all else.

I find Playmobil a bit soulless.

Aurel Stevens believes that LEGOs are better suited to children who are already grown up, as they are able to manipulate the little bricks to make the constructions. On the other hand, he thinks Duplo is rubbish. His daughter loves putting little characters on horses and playing with them. Aurel therefore thinks that Playmobil are more suitable than LEGO for children who like to make up stories. Vanessa Kim and Michael Restin agree. As children, they both preferred to play with Playmobil. They both had LEGOs too, but quickly got bored of them once construction was complete and left them gathering dust in a corner.

I think Duplo suck.

Carolin Teufelberger is in the Playmobil camp. As a child, she preferred role-playing games to building sets. So she thinks Playmobil is better than LEGO. When she played LEGOs, it was more Duplo, because she wasn't very good with the little pieces.

So, have Playmobil become less good than LEGO?

No! It's not a question of good games or bad games. Playmobil and LEGO each have their fans who prefer one brand or the other. I would even dare to add that the subject is as controversial as the debates in the computer world: Microsoft or Apple? Is Linux in the running?

For my part, I'm of the same opinion as Aurel Stevens. For young children who prefer to invent stories rather than build, Playmobil are more suitable than LEGO. As LEGOs are more popular with adults and allow everyone to create their own constructions, the brand is more popular, which also explains why it is more searched for on Google.

What about you? Did you play with LEGOs or Playmobils more as a child? Tell us in the comments...

17 people like this article

Ramon Schneider

Editor

Ramon.Schneider@digitecgalaxus.ch

I get paid to play with toys all day.

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