Special Feature
Playmobil
Rise up! The cover star of this month’s issue, Dino Rise is Playmobil’s latest theme. A battlebased mashup of human heroes, daring dinosaurs and radical robots, the range offers figures, play sets and animated content that offers retailers a cohesive and exciting new offering for their customers. Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to Jamie Dickinson, head of marketing at Playmobil, about the launch plans for Dino Rise, and what else the company has in store for this year.
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laymobil has entered 2021 ‘full of positivity’, Jamie tells me, having fared well during a challenging 12 months that left the company just as pleased with its own performance as that of the wider toy industry (which finished the year +5% up). “We had a much better year than we’d anticipated, meaning we’re coming into 2021 in a strong position,” Jamie explains. “We’re hoping
for more of the same; continued high demand from consumers for toys, and innovative, adaptive sales tactics from retailers. I’m also hoping that we come out of all these lockdowns with a little more breathing room, which will allow physical stores to go back to doing what they do best - selling toys – armed with all the new skills they’ve embraced over the past year. We’ve got lots of exciting new launches coming through, as you would expect from Playmobil, some of which is brand spanking new, and some of which joins existing brands and themes as refreshes or extensions.” The biggest new launch this year, and a decidedly different take on the evergreen dinosaur play theme, Dino Rise offers kids a new battling experience with good versus evil at
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its heart. The diverse and representative group of largely teenage characters – Ian (the leader) Kaidan, Jaden, Samu, Ayla and Matt (plus Uncle Rob) - work together with their dinosaur mounts, which include a Pteranodon, T-Rex, Spinosaurus, Saichania, Triceratops and Deinonychus, using friendship, teamwork and courage to overcome the challenges that stand in their way – the evil robot fighting machines from the Comet Corporation. “We know that dinosaurs are loved by kids, and always have been,” says Jamie. “Dino Rise not only adds to existing dinosaur toy ranges, and all the fun they offer (including how to pronounce their names), but also introduces the unique element of humans and dinosaurs teaming up to take on the bad guys, who are piloting robots in
