News

Life-Size PLAYMOBIL Characters Celebrate Toys’ 40th Anniversary

Avatar photo
Written by Tim Barnes-Clay

To kick off this year’s 40th anniversary celebrations for the iconic toy company, 40 life-sized PLAYMOBIL characters came to life yesterday at the magical Pirate Castle in London.

A vast array of giant versions of fans’ favourite characters from 1974 through to the present day staged a dramatic rescue attempt to inspire kids’ imaginations, big and small, in the brand’s milestone year.

Passers-by – which included comedian Jimmy Carr – watched as a noble Knight fought to rescue the beautiful Princess from the clutches of a dastardly Pirate. The hero and villain scaled the grand castle walls in a battle to reach her, cheered on by the crowds below. Confusion soon turned to both despair and delight, as onlookers were thrilled by a novel ending; one that certainly proved the Princess was far more than just a pretty face.

The collection of large figures represented four decades of the brand’s characters, with everyone from a magical Fairy to a classic British Royal Guard present.

Jamie Dickinson, Marketing Manager for PLAYMOBIL UK, commented: “It’s so wonderful to see our characters brought to life in such an exciting setting! Children’s imaginations invent scenarios like this during every playtime, so to celebrate our special year by making that a reality is just fantastic – bring on the next forty years!”

Throughout PLAYMOBIL’s 40th year, these life-sized characters will be popping up in various locations throughout the UK and the brand have also unveiled their first-ever Facebook app, PlaymobilME, offering parents and children the chance to design an avatar of their favourite characters from the 40th launch to use as their Facebook profile picture.