This article covers child-sized klickies and does not include later ‘dwarfs’ which are adult klickies with short legs.
Having been captivated by the little red Gnome (my Avatar) since my children played with it many years ago, I thought I would find out more about these figures. I soon found myself trying to get them all! Twelve Gnomes, in sets 4950 to 4953 and 4956 to 4963 were issued between 1997 and 2001 in three groups of four.
Sets 4950-4953 and 3975
The first group of four gnomes appeared in 1997 when Karstadt GmbH, a chain of department stores in Germany, started giving away free PLAYMOBIL Gnome sets with Kids Meals in their restaurants. Four different figures were offered in sets numbered 4950 to 4953, each packaged in a blue Playmobil box with a red ribbon across the front, like the one below (though this one came out later).
The first four sets were also released in Germany (exclusively?) in March 1997 as four Easter Specials, under set number 3975. The red, blue, green and yellow plastic eggs had sets equivalent to 4950, 4951, 4952 and 4953 respectively. 
As far as I know, the contents of these four Easter egg sets were identical to the four Karstadt sets, but each also included a sheet of stickers to use to decorate the egg.
The gnomes in 3975 were given names; Kalle, Marre, Wille and Raffe.
I suspect these four Gnomes are easier to come by secondhand now because they were issued in both Easter specials and Karstadt restaurants.
Sets 4956 to 4963
Karstadt gave away four new figures in 2000 (4956 to 4959) and then four more in 2001 (4960 to 4963). Collector (p328) has a picture of a Karstadt menu from 2001 featuring the last four sets.
The basic figures
All 12 gnomes are child-size ‘boy’ klickies with printed eyes (white sclera and central black pupils), printed mouths (white) and red-brown faces. Most have red-brown hands, one has black hands, one has white hands.
Two have bare feet, two have long skirts, three have boots and five have shoes: all have feet of different colour from their legs.
Two have long skirts, 8 have leg printing, 5 have torso printing (belts) and 2 have additional face printing (black around the mouth). Six have white hair, 5 have black hair and one has yellow hair. Two have broad collars (cannot be removed without removing the head).
Here are the 12 gnomes ( in set number order)
Wearable accessories
All the gnomes have wearable accessories: ten have beards, 9 have full-length cloaks with pockets, 9 have pointy hats. 6 have trailing hat bands, 2 have hatbands with flat bows, 1 has a double bow hatband and one has a hatband with a feather in it. Here they are (in set number order again) wearing their hats, cloaks and beards:
Other accessories
Each gnome came with several other accessories (the Devil has the least- just a trident and a campfire) and here are the twelve sets complete (PlaymoDB names and German Names from Collectobil are given for each set):
4950 Magic Gnome, Zauberwichtel
4951 Alchemist Gnome, Zauberwichtel
4952 Robber Gnome, Raubwichtel
4953 Knight Gnome, Ritterwichtel
4956 Pirate Gnome, Piratenwichtel
4957 Druid Gnome, Druidenwichtel
4958 Guard Gnome, Wachterwichtel
4959 Farmer Gnome, Bauernwichtel
4960 Devil Gnome, Teufelwichtel
4961 Bandito Gnome, Banditwichtel
4962 Keyholder Gnome, Schlusselwichtel
4963 Garden Gnome, Gartenwichtel
Unique parts
Most of the parts have been used in other sets, before or since, but 21 parts in the 12 sets appear to be in colours unique to the gnome sets (see the following four pictures); 3 clip-on beards, 3 cloaks with pockets, 2 pointy hats, 3 hatbands and 11 other parts.
One part (Which I have called “Flames in ring for rim of goblet” (clear red)) in 4950 may have been made with a mould unique to this set as I can’t find anything similar in any other PM set. Please let me know if you have seen this part in another set.
Some of the ‘unique’ parts are real gems: the red round-topped case in 4950, the black screen in 4962 and the large red (not orange) flame in 4960 are three of my favourites.
Set inventories
All the Gnome set inventories in PlaymoDB are currently incomplete. No instructions were issued with these 12 sets, so part numbers have to be allocated with some guesswork. I have created complete lists (here as a pdf or here as a Word document) by reference to the box pictures and a MISB 4961 (the only set I have as MISB). If I have made any errors I would be grateful to have them pointed out. Additions are in red text.
In creating lists of parts, I have used the existing PlaymoDB inventories, added the 22 ‘unique’ parts mentioned above, inventing part numbers in the format p49nnx (in line with other parts in PlaymoDB where numbers have had to be invented). I have identified eight other parts which are to be found elsewhere in the database (and these have 30 nn nnnn part numbers) but were not included with these sets’ inventories.
One part listed in PlaymoDB (30 61 3280 Bush, large (3 parts) (green)) in 4956 is incorrect and I have added the two correct parts needed to replace this.
Other small figures; dwarfs, goblins and gnomes
For the sake of completeness, I should mention that there are thirteen other figures which resemble the Karstadt gnomes in some way; 7 dwarfs, 2 goblins, 3 more gnomes and a Halloween Devil. These are all child-sized figures with dark skin and ‘special’ face printing.
2 dwarfs appeared in set 4211 (Snow White) in 2006, with the five more appearing later as a DS item 7849 (perhaps in response to a demand for the ‘correct’ number of dwarfs). Here they are:
The two on the left are from 4211, the other five are from 7849. The guy on the extreme right differs from the others as he has the ‘normal’ face (injection-moulded eyes and mouth). Here they are wearing their hats and beards:
The 1998 Halloween set 3025 included a gnome similar to the one in set 4951, with his wand, hat, hatband, cloak and beard (but none of the other accessories from 4951). However, the 3025 gnome had glow-in-the dark hair, mouth and eyes, as shown on the left of the following two pictures, with the 4951/ 3975 gnome on the right:
In 1997, two ‘magic’ sets were released, 3897 had a blue gnome and 3898 had the ‘Tree Stump Goblin’ (he has a tree stump like the Robber gnome 4952, but with green printing on it). There was a Halloween Devil special (4561) in 1999 (reminiscent of the Devil Gnome 4960, but differing in every respect apart from his hair, hat and trident!), another gnome came in an Advent Calendar (3974) in 1998 and an ‘alien goblin’ in the 3283 set of 2001. These five klickies are shown below:
. 3897 3898 4561 3974 3283
. 3897 3898 4561 3974 3283