1974: THE FIRST PLAYMOBIL® SETS ENTER THE MARKET

In February 1974, the very first PLAYMOBIL® products premiered at the Nürnberg International Toy Fair. The initial product range was relatively small and offered only a few dozen sets in three different themes: knights, construction and Indians.

Toy retailers and wholesalers were not immediately convinced of the strength of the PLAYMOBIL® system, many of them did not give the product much chances on the market.

Only a Dutch wholesaler saw the great potential of the PLAYMOBIL® system and placed a amazing large order. The order - which would equal a full years production at Geobra - allowed further development of the product to continue.

Towards the end of May 1974, the very first shipments of PLAYMOBIL® sets left the factory in Dietenhofen to take their place on the shelves of toy stores in Germany and the Benelux.

The packaging of the very first sets was not executed in the typical blue boxed kind of packaging we recall from the early years of PLAYMOBIL® history.


The design of the boxes was much more detailed. Each theme had its own base color. The knights sets had a dominant green color, Indian sets had a red color and the construction workers came in a blue kind of packaging.

There was also an additional red suite case amongst the first product release. This suite case was designed to keep the figures and parts of several sets together. Later on, a blue version took its place.

By the end of 1974, the toy system had already proven its market value. Those who were skeptical at first, started to place additional orders. Geobra ended its fiscal year with a surprising turnover thanks to the new PLAYMOBIL® product.