Hans Beck 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
Batman action figures seemed to be initially popular in sales the others were not as successful, DC Comics noticed the poor quality of the figures, and quickly cancelled the license, awarding it back to Kenner. A foreign release based on the Batman (1989 film) was an 8" Batman figure in Australia by Kidz Biz and in Belgium by Bikin. These figures featured real clothing with removable plastic accessories, similar in style to the Mego figures that debuted nearly two decades earlier. The same year that Toy Biz won and lost the rights to produce DC Comics figures, Kenner regained the rights and quickly