Hans Beck, the originator and key developer of Playmobil toys, died last Friday at the age of 79. Trained as a cabinetmaker, Beck pitched a line of model airplane toys to German toymaker Brandstätter, and was asked instead to develop a new line of toy figures. The success of Playmobil, and the impact of the brand on the toy industry, reflected a growing appreciation of the open-ended play that had faded in the 1960s. During that period, companies like Hasbro and Mattel designed ever-more-specific (and gendered) toys which relied on new advances in electronics and television-based storylines, both of which had the secondary effect of structuring play experiences much more rigidly. Ironically, much of Playmobil's impact would be confined to Europe, allowing many non-U.S. toy brands to make inroads in the U.S. market, while companies based here - not just Hasbro and Mattel but many smaller brands - continued to surround their rare blockbuster original creations, if they had one, with fleeting gadgets and licensed characters.

And to understand the clarity of Beck's vision for barely-structured narrative play, you have to remember that at the time Beck developed the Playmobil line, the drive to capitalize on new technology and new media in toy form that dominated the New York toy companies was widely regarded as the future of toys. But for people like Beck, it wasn't a desirable one.





From Wikipedia:

Beck spent 3 years developing what became Playmobil. Beck conducted research that allowed him to develop a toy that would be flexible (unlike tin soldiers), not too complex, fit in an average child's hand and have a facial design based on child's drawing (e.g having a large head, smile and no nose). "I would put the little figures in their hands without saying anything about what they were," Beck remarked. “They accepted them right away... They invented little scenarios for them. They never grew tired of playing with them." Horst Brandstätter was not initially convinced of the viability of Beck’s idea, but allowed the inventor to continue developing the product.

The 1973 oil crisis made it possible for Playmobil to be considered a viable product. Rising oil prices imposed on Geobra Brandstätter (whose headquarters are at Zirndorf), for whom Beck worked as Head of Development, demanded that the company turn to products that required less solid plastic material (during the 1960s, the company had been producing hoola-hoops and large plastic toys). More had to be done with the plastic the company bought.

The company commissioned Beck to develop an entire series. "Playmobil is a toy that doesn't impose specific play patterns on children," Beck has remarked, "but rather stimulates their imagination." The system of customizable toys, with its interchangeable parts, offered unlimited possibilities for re-combination and expansion.

Some European brands, like LEGO, have adapted to the U.S. licensing model and now make a lot of their money from character lines (Star Wars, Batman, Spongebob Squarepants). Playmobil has stuck with the idea that their characters should be unscripted - provided with props and a setting but not a set of assumptions or beliefs about how that character should behave. Beck always described his rules for Playmobil toys as "no horror, no superficial violence and no short-term trends."

And from the internets, a quote to send Beck out with:

"A toy is not considered sold when we sell it to a store. A toy is not sold when a parent buys it. A toy is only considered sold when it is loved by a child."