Playmobil at 40: behind the scenes at the 'people factory'

As Playmobil celebrates its 40th birthday, Harry Wallop goes behind the scenes at its Malta factory, where every one of its 2.7 billion plastic figurines have been made
Forty years ago, the world was in crisis. Banks were collapsing, a US president resigned in disgrace, the price of oil had quadrupled.
But in 1974, on the tiny island of Malta, a new world order was taking shape -- peopled by little, 2.9 inch plastic figures: Playmobil.
In that first year there were just three men: a construction worker in stripy bib (no sign of high-vis jackets in those days), a knight with a silver helmet and an American Indian with a feather in his hair. Since then 3,995 different designs have come off the production lines in a slightly scruffy factory, along the road from Malta's airport.
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