What trends are there in toys?

Lübeck. A model of a tank as a gift for a Merry Christmas? “Everything from the military sector is running like hot cakes,” says Marc Erdle, team leader at “Blue Brixx”. The Hessian company from Flörsheim has a store in the Haerder Center in downtown Lübeck. For example, on the shelf there is the Leopard II A4 main battle tank in a scale of 1:30.

The interested party has to assemble 1244 parts in order to ultimately have the small tank in camouflage colors in front of them. The kit costs 44.95 euros. The Bundeswehr still uses the model in various variants. In real life it weighs around 64 tons and costs between three and seven million euros.

Blue Brixx also generally offers the self-propelled howitzer 2000 and the mine clearing tank Keiler, which are available from the Bundeswehr. The company also sells historic fighter aircraft – such as the British Spitfire interceptor. “This corner is more for parents and is not so suitable for children,” says Erdle.

In general, Blue Brixx tends to attract adults. “Customers are often people aged 30 and over who already have children of their own,” says the seller. “From time to time you can hear parents say to their offspring: “Now be quiet for a moment. We're going somewhere else.” Spaceship and shuttle models from the US science fiction television series “Star Trek” and “Star Gate”, which can cost 34.95 or 199.95 euros, apparently tend to attract older people semester.

“Adults dare to stand up for it”

You can also put together landmarks: the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Taj Mahal mausoleum or the Brandenburg Gate. “The fact that adults are enthusiastic about games and toys is not new,” says Bettina Ernst, who owns the toy store “Kinderkram” on Mühlenstrasse. “But what’s new is that the digital world allows them to showcase their skills and hobbies,” she says. “Adults have the courage to stand up for themselves because they can find like-minded people online.”

These people in the toy industry are referred to as “kidadults”. A portmanteau of the English terms for child (“kid”) and adult (“adult”). One trend that Ernst sees for them is cuddly toys. Especially from the British company “Jellycat”. A chestnut, a bouquet of red roses or an avocado with two button eyes and a tender smile – “women occasionally stand in front of them and literally speed up with joy when they see them,” says the toy dealer.

According to Ernst, card and board games have been experiencing a “renaissance”, a rebirth, for some time now. “They are the counterpart to the digital world,” says the shop owner. “Everyone sits at the table and does something together.” You are in the here and now and switch off.”

The game “City, Country, Boom”, for example, is “City, Country, River” in a new look. However, the terms are not noted. “Next Station: London” is also popular with players who have to build the subway network for the English metropolis. There is also a variant for Paris and Tokyo – at 13.95 euros each.

Escape as a goal

Escape games are also in high demand. Players solve puzzles to get out of one or more rooms. Thriller best-selling author Sebastian Fitzek has now launched his third board game in this category – in 3-D form. The players witness a crime and have to escape from the perpetrator.

But digitalization is also conquering the gaming world. With “Hitster,” each card contains a QR code that is scanned in the free Hitster app. The song played must be placed in the correct chronological order.

The character Ichigo Kurosaki comes from the manga series “Bleach”. Manga are Japanese comics.

Source: Agency 54°

The “Gandalph” shop specializes in board and role-playing games. But there are new products here too. “The Manga corner has been added,” says owner Matthias Borm. “As a result, the customer base has become more female and younger.”

Mangas are Japanese comics. They fill a large shelf in the shop on Wahmstrasse. Fans of the currently popular Japanese pop culture can also purchase corresponding game figures and trading cards from Borm.

LN