Playmobil considering buying Schleich?

As everyone is quite aware by now the quality of Schleich models isn't as good as it once was. While I was casually browsing the internet today I came across an article saying that Playmobil might buy Schleich. I fear that if they do, Schleich models will look more like cheap toys (more than the new ones do) rather than lifelike replicas.

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SchleichGirl1997 wrote:

As everyone is quite aware by now the quality of Schleich models isn't as good as it once was. While I was casually browsing the internet today I came across an article saying that Playmobil might buy Schleich. I fear that if they do, Schleich models will look more like cheap toys (more than the new ones do) rather than lifelike replicas.

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Yes, I read this on one of the Playmobil forum that I follow. It is quite interesting what would happen if Playmobil buys Schleich, maybe the company would waste everything that Schleich stands for OR it would end up even better then it is now.
But I do not think there should be pannic already, because Playmobil is in the very early stages of thinking and talking about it, so it maybe a dead end afterall.

Oh, this is interesting! I think I am more against the idea though, I don't think Scheich should be part of an even bigger business because I think it could turn it even more into a money-making brand and with models with even less realism. I think it was much better as a small scale German toy animal company, and already some of its playsets are surprisingly like Playmobil. I think I remember reading somewhere on here that their CEO or something used to work for Playmobil?
This is so interesting though, thanks for sharing!

Bonnie wrote:

Oh, this is interesting! I think I am more against the idea though, I don't think Scheich should be part of an even bigger business because I think it could turn it even more into a money-making brand and with models with even less realism. I think it was much better as a small scale German toy animal company, and already some of its playsets are surprisingly like Playmobil. I think I remember reading somewhere on here that their CEO or something used to work for Playmobil?
This is so interesting though, thanks for sharing!

The CEO worked at LEGO and this might be the reason why Schleich looks the way it does now. LEGO and Playmobil are big competitors, so it might be Schleich is getting in the way of Playmobil with their sets and such. The last is just a thought tho.

NightLioness wrote:

Bonnie wrote:

Oh, this is interesting! I think I am more against the idea though, I don't think Scheich should be part of an even bigger business because I think it could turn it even more into a money-making brand and with models with even less realism. I think it was much better as a small scale German toy animal company, and already some of its playsets are surprisingly like Playmobil. I think I remember reading somewhere on here that their CEO or something used to work for Playmobil?
This is so interesting though, thanks for sharing!

The CEO worked at LEGO and this might be the reason why Schleich looks the way it does now. LEGO and Playmobil are big competitors, so it might be Schleich is getting in the way of Playmobil with their sets and such. The last is just a thought tho.

That's very interesting and probably is one of the reasons!

Holy Hamster

I hope Schleich does not end up like Bullyland, being sold every second year , and with every new owner a new strategy worse than the other

The article says that Playmobil is in a bit of trouble with declining turnover, - it might be that they could learn from Schleich, - and then what  ?

Well, CollectA has not suffered from being part of Breyer,
Mojo seems to have got a better paintwork after the cooperation with Animal Planet ....

Only time will show

It would be a very logical investment from playmobil. I wouldn't be surprised if LEGO showed interest as well.

Let's face it Schleich isn't what it used to be and I doubt we'll ever have as realistic models as we did around the millennium so I don't really care because Schleich hasn't captured my attention for a long time now because it's focused on kids rather than collectors so I expect more "cartoon" animal figures in the future without realistic paint and sculpt.

I hope not.

SUSANNE wrote:

Well, CollectA has not suffered from being part of Breyer,

It has. Too much horses and no longer good wildlife like antelopes. But their prehistoric is still good.

Dear Sts Friends:

Okay, I saw this topic, and just had to insert my thoughts on this issue of Playmobil buying Schleich. Here's what I think would happen: the animal figures would get more cartoony. Although right now I don't think the current Schleich animals are "cartoony," it all depends on what you identify what cartoony means to you. For example, if hasblo bought schleich, and the animals got really weird looking, then I don't know what I would do. But we're not talking about hasbro. Oh no, we're thinking of playmobil. My line of thinking is that, if playmobil bought schleich, here's what I think might happen:

1. Playmobil could really expand the Bayala or eldrador ranges. In some ways, this would be sort of good, because we need more elves in bayala, not more unicorns.

2. The schleich animals, sets in particular, could be expanded as well. This might be another good turn of events, for collectors like myself. I have several animals from Schleich sets in my collection.

And now, for the bad parts:

3. It might turn out worse for the individual Schleich animals themselves, because if playmobil bought schleich, then there would maybe be fewer individual animals, and maybe, they would start to look playmobil like. You see what I'm saying? At this point, it's hard to tell what's happening with schleich, from a company standpoint. When it comes to companies, and how they're run, that's just not my job. Anyway, we'll just have to wait and see what comes of all this. In the meantime, we can at least be glad that Schleich has plans for 2023.

If any of you read this post, and have anything to add to my observations, then please reply to this topic.

Thanks for reading,

Aschuck

The market does not always works like this and Playmobil has no interest in turning Schleich into a Playmobil like product. It could open an even more direct competition and reduce the sales of the Playmobil models. They could also buy Schleich to reintroduce a more realistic approach to their figures opening a wider gap between Playmobil and Schleich for marketing purposes. Giving to the brand a closer connection to scientific institutions and presenting products that are more attractive to museum shops, thematic parks, etc. in clear contrast to the Playmobil range.
Schleich is still an interesting brand for my collecting interests while Playmobil has little or no interest to me. So, I hope to see Schleich operating for a long time and preferably recovering a more realistic approach.