In a NY Times article from last February, a Playmobil spokeswoman claimed that, "... the company’s decision to stop producing it was not because of criticism but rather consistent with its habit of doing limited runs for toys."
Regardless, you really have to read the reviews on the Amazon site linked above. Make sure to also view the "tags" associated with the product. I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe.
For another take on this strange toy, see this video that includes a woman putting her child, in a car seat carrier, through the x-ray machine.
After talking to some parents, they told me that Platmobil has a whole world or products to match almost any aspect of real or fantasy life. From the Amazon site, there were also links to the Playmobil Safe Crackers (thieves). That item included this priceless review:
These guys are absolutely fabulous. They got right to work when we took them out of the box and quickly showed their stuff. They have gotten bored with the supplied safe and I've been having to keep them occupied by buying other kinds of locks and safes to keep them occupied, which has been hard because I seem to be misplacing money. I've even lost a credit card or two, now!Oh, how the world has changed since my friends and I had Playmobil.
The wife seems to like them, too. She especially likes the little blond one and keeps talking about how he really has a heart of gold. She also points to the rather fancy Playmobil yacht that I'd only recently noticed (odd that, I don't remember buying that one for the kids) and keeps saying she bets he really knows how to "treat a woman like the princess she deserves to be treated as". I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but overall she seems happy, so I'm not complaining. Overall a great toy!
