Am I mistaken or is the head surgeon in the operating room set wearing socks with sandals?

Well, the surgeon's assistants seem to be barefoot.

This list made me laugh ridiculously hard. Such a good one!

Wow, I used to have the Moose & Wolves set. Although I don't remember ever seeing the actual box. That's probably why I never made the connection. xD

A group of vultures is referred to as a venue or kettle while in the air.

i'd seriously buy a jihad set.

Why didn't I know about these when I was a child.

I remember having a Fisher Price camping set with those little peg people, and almost always, it was used to play my Fisher Price version of Friday the 13th.

Playmobil is made in Germany.
that's all I got.

I lived in Germany for a while and had some of these-no need to sugarcoat things for the little ones I guess. Nice article!

Re: #3: Hmmm... why is it that the obviously Mexican bandit doesn't get a horse?

Had so many of those sets as a kid! I loved making the moose become the cow carcass after the wolves had finished, (or a lioness) with the vultures cleaning it up. There was also a small devil child set, complete with pitchfork.

I had a Eskimo set complete with igloo icebears, seals, rifles and spears.
Slight racism, check.
Lots of blood and gore, double check

Playmobile just got way way cooler to me.

I like how the "rescue jumper set" comes with a scrubber, just in case they make a mess upon landing.

That surgery patient looks pretty happy about getting cut open...

The airport security screening set has some of the best reviews ever on Amazon.

I've just spent the past 45 minutes trying to find/buy the Hazmat set. No dice.

Holy hell! Where was I when these were all released? I hope these are all still up for sale somewhere, because I gotta get me some of them wolf attacks, hunting marmets, toxic waste spill, knive throwing, and alcoholic construction workers. Although, to be honest, none of this holds a candle to my 3 3/4 inch Joes of the day. They had a nice ensemble of animal friends to maul people (including a freaking fish; baracuda, to be precise), as well as knives, guns, and some weird shit that to this day I have no clue what purpose it was suppose to serve. And the later years had the eco wars stuff, which was close enough to toxic waste spills. But then again, none of these was ever targeting 4 year olds, lolz!

I'd like to say something intelligent about the differences between American and German culture here, but I just keep going back to how bad-ass the axe man figure is. On the serious side, I used to buy these things for my nephew. Expensive as hell, but I had it in my head that the lack of built-in back story would help him develop creativity. It was all good until he discovered F'ing Pokemon.

I like the Nazi officer and tramp set. Playmobil Nazis.....nice.

A few years ago McDonalds offered Playmobil angel and devil (with pitchfork) figures with a happy meal. I didn't understand them then, but now I see what could have been.

Playmobil is made in Germany.

Which would explain why the Kaiser himself is waking up the bum.

I owned the top five before I sold it all. I thought they were great.

You also underestimates a child's need to play poop goes the playmobil!

Playmobil also has a Nativity set for Christmas with all the trimmings: shepherds, donkeys, Mary and Joseph and little plastic baby Jesus in a manger etc. which always made me wonder if they'd ever release a Crucifixion set for Easter...

Did PlayMobil make a sexual harassment construction worker playset? If not I can see now, it would have a construction worker sitting on a tool box making obvious sexual remarks/gestures to a scantly-clad female passerby.

I think kids need to know about Hazmat teams, public toilets, and how much a pain in the ass it is to go through airport security.

When I was a kid, I traded a Thundertank with Panthro AND Lion-O to a friend for all his Playmobil. As much as I loved Thundercats, I definately got the better end of the deal.

seeing this list one wonders if playmobile was trying to get kids interested in the careers the sets represent though how the makers got the gnome devil approved one has to wonder what the mindset of the execs espically those who okayed the sets in the first place

Playmobile!Axe Man is brutal.

Hey! I had the Operating Theatre set. (Heck, it's still in it's box somewhere in my stored crap.)

Nothing wrong with it as a jumping off point for imaginative play in my books.

But, to be honest, I don't really get the problem with the other sets, either.

My favorite is the policeman/wino set. Generally kids' toys are based on something exciting, but they apparently thought kids would enjoy pestering drunken bums.

And keep in mind that Playmobil sets are ridiculously expensive. At least these ones are worth it.

I loved Playmobil as a kid and had quite a few of their sets. The humour they portray I think is what appealed to my parents!

They also made a Roman gladiator set, which led to an angry letter in some parenting mag my mom used to get.

Kevin and Brian? Together in one article?? Nerdgasm!!!!

Definitely love the cop and drifter set the best. My favorite part may be that the cop appears to be armed not with a baton, but with a SWORD.

I like how the moose and wolves set has a patch of the notoriously hallucinagenic fly amanita mushrooms growing by a fern.

I work with the homeless, and I am now determined to get that homeless set for my office.

For above poster about wanting Homeless one....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Playmobil-5504-Victorian-Hobo-Drunk-Tramp-Police-NIP_W0QQitemZ270415621569QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ef606edc1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|293%3A1|294%3A50

I love how the only tool in the medical rescue helicopter is a crowbar.

I've got that hunter one and the vulture one...

amazon reviews for security checkpoint:

http://www.amazon.com/Playmobil-3172-Security-Check-Point/dp/B0002CYTL2/

The mexican's hard plastic poncho prevents horse riding.

I had the axe man set.

One set that got pulled years ago was a medieval dancing bear set, since it portrayed a chained muzzle bear which animal rights people found offensive.

Stranger thing about the policeman/wino set, it was part of the pink boxed victorian doll house line. Yeah, the series aimed at girls.

Quite possibly the BEST TOYS EVER

Playmobil rules! I only had a few sets when I was younger, but have now made up for it - my daughter owns a big bunch of ass-kickin Romans, including the mighty galley ship.

I love how PM refuses to purchase licenses. For me, this makes storytelling and role play open ended. I never like Master of the Universe or Star Wars because they pigeon holed playtime.

The best set here is the Vulture & Cow Carcass - those bad boys look like they're straight out of 3:10 to Yuma. Western series is no longer made, unfortunately.

PM is actually not made in Germany - most of it is made in Malta. But European is European, and PM's quality has always been brilliant. And also shockingly expensive as a result.

I love the new Egyptian series - come Christmas there's going to be a mighty Rome v Egypt war brewing around our home.

>>Am I mistaken or is the head surgeon in the operating room set wearing socks with sandals?

Julius, you are not mistaken - it is a German toy after all, and nobody wears socks with sandals like the Germans.

Ah yes this totally brings back memories of my childhood. I always bought the wild west soldiers. Cuz they had lots of guns. And the wild west sheriff. He came with like a rack full of guns.

Best list in a while!

You missed the ones with the confederate flag. I think I have a biker gang as well as the set of disabled characters.

Great list! But you know, to be honest, I don't think a few of these aren't really that bad.

I used to have Playmobile Knights and Cowboys+Indians. The storyline that I worked with as a kid was that my Transformers had crash-landed on Playmobile-planet. The Autobots allied themselves with the Castle-folk, while the Decepticons subjugated the gunslinging Cowboy and Indian-folk (I was going off the idea that cowboys and indians could be friends, as per The Lone Ranger). The autobots and a group of knights went to find a magical weapon that could defeat the Decepticons. As you can imagine, Megatron slaughtered the castle-folk while they were unprotected. The only survivors were the 3-1/2-inch mutants known as the GI Joes. The knights tried to rebuild, but with only Scarlett to repopulate, I imagine that they were eventually doomed.

Ah, I loved those toys.

I'll probably get poked in the eye for saying this here, but I always preferred Playmobil to Lego, no questions.

And did anyone else think that Axe Man looked like an extra from Brutal Legend?

These toys are AWESOME.

used to get playmobil in happy meals

you cant find playmobil except in retardedly expensive educational toy stores. and can barely find lego. just alot of crappy megablocs that try to look more realistic but they dont go together as well as lego

I loved these toys when I was young. Still do really. They had so much detail. I had the covered wagon and plains Indians sets. I wanted the big Victorian doll house with all my heart. I lived out in a rural area and no stores around ever carried any of em.

I have the axe man, which my wife got for me ages ago as a "so, your office just got shut down..." gift.

My favorite things about him:
1. He includes a dagger on his belt, which is used for cutting through the tough bits if the axe didn't finish the job.

2. When you take off the hood he's got that cheerful smile that let's you know he enjoys his work.

Hot damn, Playmobil Pope of Greenwich Village! Gotta build your own elevator shaft, though.

We got most of our playmobil in small sets and for less than $10 at Target. Loved the roman gladiator series-- the shields even had spqr on them and we'd just read about what weapons they used and there were the fishnet gladiator and the short sword one! We also got many sets of knights/horses/dragons. And maybe playmobile is the reason why my 7 yr old boy draws all his tanks and soldiers with such happy faces?

wtf, playmobil? wtf.

I love the detail of extra rolls of toilet paper in the construction workers' office bathroom.

lower 20th criticized economics

God i loved Playmobil as a kid. I actually had the Bandito's / moose / and operating set.... and all 3 were some of my favorites hahaha. I dont know if its a sign of how interesting my childhood mind was or a testement to the great design and versitility of playing with playmobil. This makes me want to go downstairs and drag out the boxes of my classic playmobil. Im never selling them and i think when i have kids i'll be playing with it more than they will. I look at all the cool sets today and think, Aw! i wish they made that set when i was younger !

my son is having a playmobil christmas this year! i found the hazmat team on ebay, got the safe crackers and police station, and my sister got him the ambulance. they are too cool! i know my son's going to love vacuuming up the hazard waste!

They're all fine by me, except perhaps the executioner. Now inappropriate would be torturers, prostitutes, crime bosses etc.

Just noticed that Cleopatra, like all PM men, has NO NOSE!

Seriously, there was a problem with these sets? While the drinking construction worker is entertaining and may not be appriopriate, what's wrong with a kid playing with the Rescue set? Nobody thinks its inappropriate for kids to play cops and robbers or fireman, but to play paramedic is a no-no. What gives? These are real ligitamate professions that parents do. Kids want to pretend to be mom or dad. Hey, even the Prince of Darkness has kids (Yeah, I'm talk to you Jack Osborne).

some of these are strange but i dont see anything wrong with most of them unless youre a conservative prick or something. also, alcohol is not as vilified in europe. growing up there kids are perfectly aware that adults drink.

I think the Roman Arena(it exists,not making it up) should be added, complete with gates(large and smaller-who knows where your foes will come from!), thumbs down caesar, lion, and chariot!

Who would've thought a innocent repost by Ohdeedoh would have me rolling on the floor laughing? Great list, Topless Robot!

Aaaahahahahah. Why did I never see this stuff when I was a kid? I'd love to mix the sets up a bit and send the gnome devil through airport security, and maybe put the wolves on the construction crew.

I used to have the medic set, and thought it was pretty good! However, the fact that the patient is clearly still conscious but smiling after the laughing gas always freaked me out...

So.... what's inappropriate about these sets? They're all from Germany, where the depicted jobs are an important part of society and quite frankly they're shown in a realistic way. Another excellent example of how messed up American society is... as another comment said, cops & robbers is fine, but blue collar workers? Rescue workers saving someone after an accident? How inappropriate! It's like primetime TV... very graphic murders every night, but how dare we show a nipple!
I love this country, but there's just many things people need to get over.