YMMV / Playmobil

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Enforced. All of the figures are nameless and open to playtime interpretation. A good example would be the "Dragon Land" theme. Which side is good? Which side is evil? Are both factions evil after all? It's left ambiguous.
  • Another humorous example of this enforcement is the 4591 Queen set in the "Specials" theme. Looking at her, the title "Evil Queen" would be more accurate, due to her black dress, shadowed eyes, and mirror (placing her as Snow White's stepmother).
• Broken Base:
  • Non-standard figure faces. Are they okay since they allow for more expressive figures, or do they disrespect the iconic smile? The same goes for figures with radically different eyes, like the "Fi?ures" mad scientist, or the fashion models.
  • Black and Asian faces. Are the black adult faces offensive, or do they simply portray the contrast of teeth and eyes against darker skin? And are the Asian eyes offensive, or are they just a stylistic way to signify diversity?
  • The skinnier bodies. Are the swimsuit bodies a welcome solution to create swimmers, or are they bad because they led to the "dress-up" figures introduced in the "Shopping Mall" theme and look too different? The same goes for the skinny dress-wearing figures, but because they are unable to bend at the waist. Both types of body are under scrutiny because they limit customization to "only with other skinny bodies".
  • The "tan" skin tone. As it's relatively new, compared to the white, Mediterranean, and black tones, it seems to be an argument of customization, since so few figures currently have that skin tone.
  • Religious sets. Playmobil makes some sets with Catholic figures, such as nuns, nativities, and Saint Nicholas. Though it can be largely chalked down to Culture Clash (Playmobil being a German company and all), many genuinely enjoy the oddness and novelty of having a less "PC" toy, though some view them as inappropriate.
  • Super 4, mainly its figures. The faces and bodies are radically different from the classic figure, so several people don't like them. Others feel that they introduce some nice things to Playmobil, and are just fine as long as they stay out of other themes.
  • Playmobil branching out into licensing as of 2016. While this is catering to the child fanbase the toys are aimed at, the adult fans tend to bemoan the decision, since Playmobil had avoided licensing for so long.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Historical themes, especially the Romans. Cultural figures in the "Fi?ures" theme are also popular.
• Fandom Rivalry: Playmobil fans don't care for LEGO, possibly in part because some stores will try and phase out any Playmobil sets they have in order to have more room for LEGO. It's one-sided, though, since LEGO fans don't really pay Playmobil any mind.
• The Scrappy: Fantasy and action themes aren't too popular in the (adult) fanbase, and the "Ghost Pirates" theme received a lot of hate for being a ridiculous and bizarrely-executed concept.
• Scrappy Mechanic: System X is almost universally disliked in the fandom for being time-consuming, difficult to use (as it requires a tool to insert and remove the connectors), and for trying to imitate LEGO.
  • Whenever Playmobil reuses figures' designs and uses them in a future set. Most fans view it as laziness and an annoying way to get rid of production runs' leftovers.