Nuremberg, Part 2: Spielwarenmesse

Today is day 2 of hanging out at the spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg. There is an overwhelming amount of exhibitors from every land (12 gigantic Costco size halls, housing 100+ booths each). I can easily lose myself (and have) wandering about. Just browsing, I feel a bit jaded because most toys fail to catch my attention for very long, or I find myself criticizing poor design. However, there are many cool toys and gadgets. Being here and seeing everything is very inspiring and a little bit daunting. It is really interesting to me to see all sorts of toys that would appeal to non-European/American markets. This includes Japanese baby dolls that really creep me out in a different way than Western baby dolls do. Also in the Silverlit space, there are some MP3 connectable electronic animals that are in very non-Western colors that I could imagine are successful in the Asian market.




I am working for Silverlit, a Canton based electronic toy company, who are currently producing the Air Drums and Air Guitar an invention of 1up-Toys. Together with Jorn and Robert, I have demonstrating the products to toy buyers. This mostly means playing Wild Thing and Seven Nation Army. We are getting better and better, and I am definitely developing my drum skills. What is very surprising to me is that none of the buyers ask to try the product...

Incidentally, I can't read or understand German at all anymore so naturally I accidentally ordered some sort of tongue on our first night out in the city. I don't mind though.. yummy. I also tried some of these little sausages that Nuremberg is famous for.

Yesterday evening we ate tapas, something I definitely can order with more ease. Good thing I am not a vegetarian. Ronald (our boss and former TU Delft student) has been eating soup exclusively for the past few days.


more pictures on Flickr...