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
Transformers Animated (toy line) Transformers Animated (toy line) Transformers Animated is an American/Japanese animated series which has an associated toy line released in 2008 by Hasbro internationally and in 2010 by Takara Tomy in Japan. Much like the TV series, this toy line is unique for its cartoonish designs. In keeping with the animated theme, each figure is molded and/or painted in a matte finish, as opposed to figures of other "Transformers" lines using gloss finishes. Metallic paints are also used sparingly on most figures. The only exception to this rule is Leader Class Ultra Magnus, who uses gloss black on some body panels.