Hans Beck

Hans Beck (6 May 1929, Greiz — 30 January 2009, Markdorf) was the German inventor of Playmobil toys. He is thus often called "The Father of Playmobil".

Born in Greiz, Thuringia, Beck grew up in the town of Zirndorf. He trained as a cabinet maker and made small toy vehicles and figures for his younger siblings. He presented his model airplanes to Horst Brandstätter, owner of local toy company Geobra Brandstätter, who took him on, and asked him to develop toy figures for children.

As a hobby Beck built ultra-lightweight model aircraft for flying indoors. He competed in the FAI World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary in 1966 and won the individual title in the F1D class. In the early 1960s the planes had a wing span of 900 mm (550 mm today) and were made from a balsa wood frame covered with a film of acetone lacquer. They were powered by a small rubber band wound to over 1,700 turns and could fly for over 40 minutes in large halls or airship hangars. The whole aeroplane weighed only 1.2 grams.

Beck spent three years developing the figurines with interchangeable accessories that became Playmobil. He conducted research that allowed him to develop a toy that would be flexible (unlike tin soldiers), not too complex, that would fit in an average child's hand and have a face like a child's drawing (a large head, smile, and no nose). "I would put the little figures in their hands without saying anything about what they were," Beck remarked. "They accepted them right away... They invented little scenarios for them. They never grew tired of playing with them." Horst Brandstätter was not initially convinced of the viability of Beck's idea, but allowed the inventor to continue developing the product.

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