It's the most wonderful time of the Playmobil Christmas Market

 

When Dad said "oh, we have to keep and use the Playmobil Christmas figures," he probably believed the box contained a Santa's house, a sleigh, and maybe a couple other things. 

He was so, so wrong. Last year's diorama required three shelves in the dining room. This year, I found the 1980s medieval houses and decided to go for the gusto with an entire Christmas fair, which takes four shelves.

Santa's house has more furniture this year, thanks to finds while I was sorting boxes of Playmobil to sell or donate. It's also gained a home office, for keeping those naughty-or-nice lists in order.

The ski and sledding slope is adjacent to an enchanted forest, so if you get up too much momentum downhill, you may end up as a guest of the fae.

New this year are Black characters. Playmobil's history on diversity is mixed, and a lot of my parents' collection dates from decades ago. So when I found Black adults and kids in the go-away bins, I swapped all of them into winter outfits for this diorama, and they will be permanent members.

Santa has sprung for rent on a garage and workshop. Mrs. Claus is relieved to have this part of the home business out of the home. (That's his sports sleigh parked in the garage, while the big family sleigh is upstairs by the house. Santa had a bit of a midlife crisis a few years back.)

The Santa Band plays swing version of holiday classics. The band leader is a Dean Martin impersonator during the rest of the year.

The second Tudor house is a vet's office with bookkeeping upstairs and examination room downstairs, convenient for treating reindeer.

Finding the porta-potty was a major motivator in increasing the size of the Christmas market.

I think the pizzeria furnishings were a set I gave Mom many years ago, and I'm particularly fond of it.

The toy store is because Mom collected huge amounts of Playmobil "toys for the children in the dollhouse," and even after culling it substantially, there are still more than enough.

Upstairs in the performance space at the pizzeria, an indie duo does their sound check. At least, we hope it's sound check, as there are no customers.

This all stays up until New Year's Day or Epiphany, whichever gives me the urge to take it down.