Online shopping could be less painful… Perhaps, we all asked ourselves before at least once: who is supposed to regulate online shopping and better structure the product search through guidelines or something similar, in order to help facilitate it for the final consumer – the buyer?! Actually, there are several organisations trying to do that, but it looks like none of them are being very strict in a way that could transform the market through innovation.

Final Consumer

So far, products are being tested and validated for safety and further reasons via certification. Typically, the responsibility of finding the quality has always ended up at the side of the final consumer or buyer. But, there are so many brands, certificates, shops and even more products purchasable not only locally but worldwide. Shouldn’t this be better supported? Is this really something to be individual dependent? We probably can all agree that taste and quality are not exactly the same thing. Still you may not know what to buy.

Businesses

Looking around, not only in Germany itself, one may perceive that the innovations are being brought up mainly due to massive corporation activities, which are purely based on self profit – the very company’s own interests, nothing else. Entering as many markets as possible through stakeholder networking, as aggressively as possible. However, where do the local market and economic interests stay in front of that? One word: forgotten.

Digital transformation, innovation or marketing?

Some may not know it, but digital transformation is a term with roots in the 1940s and yet… Wait, why isn’t it “done” already? That’s a good question with so many possible reasons, better to dig it another time. Understanding the market is such a huge expertise, especially considering the effects of globalisation everywhere. Some countries or even systems do require more resources and will need more time than others. It’s definitely dependent not only on one person, but culture and local politics do influence a huge piece of that.

A Robust Path to Fulfilment

Given all players involved in the market, Product Cluster offers a free portal, where the product search is neither underestimated nor overcomplicated. Quality is not synonymous with price, if all toys have so many possibilities, why should the joy they bring be based and defined exclusively on that? Some people call the product quest actually as product research, due to how expensive and costly it can get and not that seldom! However, the word search itself suggests: it shouldn’t be like that, but way more easier.

Collecting and aligning so many different interests of multiple parties is surely not a simple task. Networking is a solution for that, whether it happens at fairs, streets or at Product Cluster.

Go check on us right away to start supporting and improving your experience with online shopping, the local market and everybody’s daily routines.

The post Another Minute Goes By first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

International SPIEL statistics

From ’21 to ’22, there was indeed an increase in visitors of around 75%, as was highlighted at the press conference. In fact, the number of visitors only reached the level of 2011. If it were possible to predict the number of visitors for 2022 from a trend based on history, one should have expected around a quarter of a million. The reason for this could be the increased number of private gaming events during the pandemic, so that people are currently catching up on other needs. Travel may also have been an issue shortly before the autumn holidays. The extent to which the economic situation has already made itself felt in the private and business sectors can only be seen in retrospect, which also applies to the slump in the number of exhibitors. The presentation of new games has maintained its trend, which is optimistic. But focus on today:

1800 new games or world premieres were presented at SPIEL ’22. Games dealing with nature, the environment and animals had a remarkable share at this game fair. But so-called expert games also made an appearance.
The trend is towards diversity, according to a brief summary. There was the main share of games worth between 15 and 150 EUR, but there was also a game valued at 400 EUR. Children’s games and card games are gaining a higher share again, as are party games. One-person games as well as logic games are strongly represented in customer demand. Thus, a variety of games could be played during the four days of the fair and there were platforms for diverse gaming communities, two of which will be highlighted later.
In the area of puzzles, innovations are also emerging. While many puzzles remained on the shelves at the time of the lockdown, the motifs are changing to modern art, game graphics, photos and generally variations in the design of the puzzle itself. Thus, the age distribution of the puzzlers is 60 % adults, consequently 40 % children. The environmental aspect is also evident, as sustainable or recycled materials are used. Multiple outer packaging made of foils and plastics is increasingly being dispensed with. Durable materials and the aspect that games are used for decades generally make it a sustainable product.
Gaming continues to be at a high level. Games are one of the two strongest product groups in the toy market, which itself, due to the pandemic, lost seven percentage points in 2022. There was growth in the plush product groups, while outdoor and dolls were less strong. Kidults still have a strong interest in games. Customers are asking for meaningful, creative and challenging playful leisure activities. We found it remarkable that Pokemon-Go and Pokemon collectible card games, a perennial favourite since 2016 and 2000 respectively, presented themselves with their own trade fair stand.

At the press conference for SPIEL ’22, there was also information about growth on the games market. The following diagram was shown, which we do not want to leave entirely uncommented. As a reminder, the chart shows the worldwide sales figures in the pandemic period for board games and puzzles. Strikingly, the growth at the beginning of the global lockdown in 2020 by about 30 percentage points. In the follow-up year 2021, however, sales grew by only 2 percentage points. In Germany, the figures are somewhat more slippery, 23 percentage points in 2020 and 3 percentage points increase in sales in 2021, which may be acknowledged as such given the intercepted inflation in Germany.

Turnover Board Games and Puzzles

The toy market, like many other retail sectors, finds itself in transition. Digitalization and e-commerce are forcing even the last to act. The stationary business in the dying inner cities suffers from this and other as well as widely spread problems. The pandemic drove up the share of fixed costs, the subsequent crisis the share, driven by raw material prices, energy, required decarbonization and delivery times / supply chains. Those who had to calculate sharply before now find their profitability even more threatened. As with other product sectors, Germany has so far managed to keep prices low compared to other EU countries, certainly due to the high and good domestic sales market. It is already noticeable how strongly prices have risen for many products. This will also happen with a delay in others and in the toy industry. Personnel is a sensitive issue, there is a lack of skilled workers plus a demographic change. Retailers no longer face competition from their local competitors, but from globalization, which has already moved many shops to open online shops or to offer products on electronic marketplaces. The demands in production, game development and distribution are growing, as is the request for government subsidies to mitigate the financial consequences. For some time now, attempts have been made to offer the games in bookshops, concept stores and the small shops of museums. These were the painful issues that were also addressed at Spiel’22.
There was the Educator’s Day on the first day of the fair with tailored information for educators and other teachers. Games for teaching, community work and work with seniors were presented here. The Research Day on the following day focused on board game research in Germany. An important support for educational toys and a look into the future.

In order to find their way around the large exhibition site, visitors were provided with an app to help them navigate. Our team from Product Cluster probably felt the same way as many other participants, due to a lack of information on site or in advance, we did not have this useful tool at the start, especially since all the hall flyers were already sold out by noon on the first visitor day. Nevertheless, we find this app very useful.

Navigation App at SPIEL ’22

Map of fair SPIEL ’22

The industry is expecting growth in Europe again in the next few years, argued by cocooning and the increased stay in family surroundings during times of crisis. According to economic research, Christmas business is not influenced by the current economic situation, so that economic effects wear off. It is important to know that Christmas business accounts for about 40 to 50% of annual turnover.

If you are interested into more affordable fairs in Germany, please refer to our special post All toy fairs in Germany 2022.

The post International SPIEL ’22, A Success Story first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

For a long time now, online retailing has been an integral part of the shopping behaviour of shoppers. It covers all areas of consumer goods such as fashion, cosmetics, household goods, electrical goods and furniture. E-commerce in Germany makes it easy for shoppers to have a collection of goods sent to their homes, to let the items work in their own rooms rather than in the shop, and then to return the item to the rack or shelf… pardon, back to the retailer. A partially granted right of return of 100 days lets the customer relax even more when shopping online; return labels are often already temptingly enclosed. This can be viewed critically, especially since ecologically minded customers also suffer.

But not everything may be resold after being returned or is not accepted in its original packaging by the next customer. Some products are also too cheap that it is not economically worthwhile for the retailer to subject them to a procedure for resale. Thus, about 17 million returned items, that is 1.3 % of the returns, end up directly in the rubbish, perhaps only tried on or switched on once, half are declared defective. For about 1 million products, the brand or patent owner prescribes disposal. With 70 % of all returns, clothing and fashion items are at the top of the list. Other categories such as entertainment, leisure, furnishings, household articles and other items are fairly evenly distributed at around 5 %. Not only are the material resources wasted, but we can also see that somewhere far away from us, people are preparing to produce and deliver these articles for little pay. These jobs were pointless. Some of these 17 million returns are donated or, if the profit margins are lucrative, 93 % are sold on as new. Figures show that the disposal of a product costs on average around 85 ct, provided the value of the goods is less than 15 euros. So it becomes obvious why so many returns are thrown away. It is assumed that of the 17 million returns to be disposed of, 40 % would be suitable for donation, which would correspond to almost 7 million products. It should be noted, however, that the legislator requires VAT to be paid, which means that the trader suffers a further financial loss on top of the necessary logistics.

Incentives are being considered to reduce or control returns and the resulting negative consequences, i.e. destruction of resources, CO2 footprint (about 795 thousand tonnes, an equivalent of 340 million litres of petrol or 8530 tanker trucks filled), etc. Statistics show that only 3.5 % of retailers are actually aware of the CO2 consumption of returns. The sensible implementation of such a strategy is difficult, as it must also be verifiable and ultimately affordable. What the customer often doesn’t see is that the return shipment, which is reported to be free of charge, incurs costs of about 7 euros, including postage and handling fees. Since the seller does not pay this sum from his own coffers, these costs are passed on to all customers. In any case, this applies to the 89% of German retailers who offer a cost-neutral return service. The situation is somewhat different abroad, where only 52% of retailers enclose a free returns label, 30% demand that the customer either pay the full cost or 18 % pay a fee. This sum is estimated at 5 billion euros.

The data from 2020/21 used in a study by the University of Bamberg for statistics include a turnover from statistically surveyed online retail of 59 billion euros, of which 1.25 billion packages were sent and returned. According to IFH Cologne and Statista, e-commerce turnover in Germany was 73 billion euros. Thus, the data determined appear to be reliable.

Correct citation of the study Asdecker, B./Felch, V./Karl, D. (2022): “European Return-o-Meter – Ergebnisbericht Teil 1: Deutschland vs. Rest-EU”, Forschungsgruppe Retourenmanagement, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, pp. 1-82.

The post Press Release: Disposing of Millions from Goods Returns first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

left: Events of SpielDoch! 2022; right: AMIGO’s stand of children’s Game of the Year 2022 “Zauberberg”

If you are interested into more affordable fairs in Germany, please refer to our special post All toy fairs in Germany 2022.

The post 3rd SpielDoch!, the board and card games fair 2022 first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

A trip tip in Berlin! Do you like social and board games? Since 2014 there’s a very interesting shop to visit there while avoiding big corporations… We’re sure that you should check it out someday.

Brettspielgeschäft.Berlin

Tired of playing the same board games again and again? Who never felt like that? What if somebody had told you that there’s a place with more than 3.000 different board game options to be bought…? At Brettspielgeschäft.Berlin you will find that huge variety. Within their 200 m², we can even find more than 1.000 options in english (great way to learn languages, by playing).

Following the tradition of board games in integrating and engaging people together, their store workers give advices and tips in several languages! Whether in German, English or Spanish, there is not space for confusion or doubts in what to purchase. However, they do have a lot a space as their shop is about 150 m². Where would all the numbers fit in otherwise?…

What is your favorite genre? Their sortiment is very diversified: child games, dice games, travel games, strategy games, role-playing games, many other themes for board games, etc. For all ages! They focus on two main groups: complex strategy games and games for children from 3 to 7 years old. If you purchase online, the delivery costs are free starting from € 49,01 orders.

Please, go to their website to get more information such as address and what is currently available to be ordered online.

We checked briefly thei their online shop and it’s huge. They also offer many different filtering options to help you browse their products! Check it out and have some fun. There are categories based on age, product, language…

Even though they are a not so old store, they offer advices in purchasing products, something which is becoming more and more rare today. Between the “old times” toy stores and the newest ones, click here to understand it better. One sample of them, which doesn’t exist anymore: here.

Did you like this tip? Is it in your to-do list already? Let us know when are you planing to go there or the last time you have been there… By sending this post to someone who would love to find it out you help them and us at the same time.

The post Brettspielgeschäft Berlin: Local Alternatives to Shop Better first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

For the first time in two years, the award ceremony took place in front of an audience, as it did in 2019 in the former main customs office in Hamburg. The award “Kinderspiel des Jahres 2022” goes to “Zauberberg” by Jens-Peter Schliemann and Bernhard Weber from Amigo. The game beat out “Auch schon clever” and “Mit Quacks & Co. nach Quedlinburg” (both by Wolfgang Warsch, Schmidt Spiele), the association announced. In 2021, 70 new children’s games came onto the market.

About the game
The press release of the producer AMIGO:
The magician Balduin lives at the foot of the magic mountain. With the help of his will-o’-the-wisps, he summons the sorcerer’s apprentices from the “Magic Mountain” to teach them the knowledge of magic. The will-o’-the-wisps show the budding magicians the way through the mysterious forest into the valley. But the mean witches also follow the trail of the will-o’-the-wisps and a race begins. Now the magical skills of the players are in demand. Can they manage to guide the “muttering” will-o’-the-wisps as skilfully as possible so that they only show the apprentices, but not the witches, the way to Balduin?

This is how you play “Zauberberg”:
All apprentices and witches are placed on their respective squares on the game board. One after the other, the players randomly draw different coloured balls from the bag and place them in such a way that they hit a sorcerer’s apprentice as they roll down the board. Together, the players discuss which starting point is most suitable for the ball. If the ball hits a figure, whether a witch or a sorcerer’s apprentice, it is moved down the path to the next free square that corresponds to the colour of the ball. Then it is the next person’s turn. The aim of the game is to get 4 sorcerer’s apprentices down the hill to the finish before 3 witches arrive there.

“Zauberberg” by Jens-Peter Schliemann and Bernhard Weber features an unusual 3D game board, a simple game mechanism and elaborately designed game material. This also convinced the expert jury of the “Spiel des Jahres e. V.”, which chose “Zauberberg” as the “Children’s Game of the Year 2022”. The cooperative game objective allows children to gain their first joint experience of strategic and tactical considerations.

So a game for 1-4 persons from 5 years, purchase price something at 36 euros. The jury found that everything was well thought out in this fascinating cooperative game, from the snappy structure to the detailed rules, so that children will want to be enchanted by “Zauberberg” again and again. The game “Zauberberg” is quickly mastered by children without the help of adults and can therefore also be played alone in the children’s room.

“We are delighted that our marble run game has now also been able to inspire the jury after so many children,” explains the Schliemann-Weber team of authors.
“The development really had it in it,” adds editor Holger Grimm. “Yet Corona wasn’t even the biggest hurdle we had to overcome. In cooperation with our producer, we worked on it for a long time until we could guarantee a balanced course of the balls. But as you can see: The work was worth it!”

Jury statement
“In ‘Zauberberg’, the popular marble run is used in a new way: it becomes the setting for magical races: cooperatively, in teams or alone. The attractive game structure draws children to the game table and the innovative marble mechanism won’t let them go in a hurry. Here, animated discussions about the placement of marbles are followed by spellbound glances at the marble run. It’s a total package that never fails to enchant children.”

Not an easy decision
“It was a strong year overall, with some good games not making it onto the list,” said the coordinator of the children’s game jury, Christoph Schlewinski at the awards ceremony.

The game inventors
Schliemann and Weber explained that they came up with the original idea for the game almost 20 years ago and were fortunately able to implement it shortly before the Corona pandemic. This meant that the game could be tested extensively by children before the kindergartens and after-school care centres also had to go into lockdown due to the pandemic. The jury explained that these lockdowns had made the development and testing of children’s games considerably more difficult.

Do you remember your favourite childhood toy when you were a kid? Please feel free to leave a comment!

The post The Children’s Game of the Year 2022 first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

left: View into 2nd hall with racing course; right: Floor plan with list of participants

The stands at the fair were divided into two large groups. One group consisted of clubs and private individuals who had exhibited their models or model layouts. There were miniature railways in various scales on display. Model ships were also presented, which could sail in a water basin if equipped with remote control. Remote-controlled construction machines and vehicles moved around in a large sandpit and were able to do work there. A separate area was available for aeroplanes, helicopters and drones, which regularly started their shows. A racing course was also set up, and there were award ceremonies.

Rendsburg High Bridge in Fischertechnik

Somewhat nostalgic was the stand of a Fischertechnik association, which we will introduce in a separate post. We had good conversations with some of these clubs. So also with Spielwiese, which had games presented in a large corner. This group was called demonstrators, of which there were 27.

left: RC R2-D2; right: Impression with traders and model railway

The other group consisted of 38 traders, called exhibitors there. Often used items were offered, but new material could also be purchased. A large part consisted of railway articles, car models and flying machines.

As we were already there for the opening on Saturday, we could observe that the exhibition quickly filled up with guests and was already quite empty by the afternoon. We could see that many visitors had either ordered items in advance or had specifically found items at the fair. Of course, the demonstrators were also very busy.

Selection of model ships

If you are interested into more affordable fairs in Germany, please refer to our special post All toy fairs in Germany 2022. More posts about the clubs and associations on this fair will follow.

Entry ticket

The post Lipper Modelling Days of 2022 first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

After you pick your required tools, get your machine ready! Bruder just launched an utility vehicle, the Bruder MB Sprinter Municipal vehicle. Have you checked it already? You surely have seen it before with your bare eyes.

Source: © Dorotheum

Tracking down the first Mercedes Sprinter launch in Europe, it was around 1995. This model has been brought to replace the TN series; if you’re a more mature reader, probably this is a known reference to be called of. Pioneering, efficient, reliable – as Mercedes itself describes it: you will most certainly be able to fix your model city issues!

Bruder is launching several new products right now and this model presented here is one of the utility/commercial cars models. What do you think about it? It does look very similar. The color looks a bit different but overall, we’d say it surely looks great as a representation! (Yes, we searched for the most similar pictures of the real size car) Please, be aware that this car just like other models do have several accessory options, which would modify the real life size appearance.

Let’s bring out the dimensions to the table now. The Bruder MB Sprinter Municipal vehicle piece has 1:16 ratio, a great size for outdoor playtime and to have a really good grip on the hands. Being more specific, its dimensions are (L/B/H) 50,7/20,3/20,3 cm and its parts are suitable for ages of 4 years or older.

The electrical interface features light and a sound module. The accessories are plug-in ramps, mounting adaptor, a driver and more. All 3-sided load gates can be opened and the chassis has a thread type. (See more details here).

Let us know if you purchased it already and maybe be the first to talk about it in our App! We’d love to hear about it and we bet that everyone would like to see your impressions too in our facebook community.

Others probably would like to know about this post too, so why not share it?

To see our previous posts of this series, click here. You could find other interesting suggestions…

The post Bruder Flatbed Sprinter : Pocket Ratio first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

Post Space Race with Revell – Part 1 describes the circumstances that led to the Apollo programme. The first studies for the Saturn rocket were made as early as 1959, two years before J. F. Kennedy’s famous speech: We choose to go to the Moon. Thus 1961 was the official birth of the programme. Following the example of conservative engineering, the concept was broadly conceived. It soon became clear that a three-stage rocket was needed, because it was essential to get rid of the empty heavy shells one by one. The Soviet design and the NASA design differed on one, perhaps crucial, point that Dr. Wernher von Braun had also considered carefully. How many propulsion engines does the first stage use. The decision directly affects the diameter of the first stage and, as is the case with foundations, what is built on top of it. So the vehicle had to be designed, but also the knowledge and training of the crew of a manned space flight. Thus, in addition to the Apollo missions, the Gemini programme was created, whose task was to test the necessary spacecraft manoeuvres in orbit on a small scale, but also to let the astronauts leave their ship and navigate. Just as the Atlas rocket of the Mercury programme came from military funding, the Titan-II for Gemini was chosen from the field of state-of-the-art military intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Titan was notable for its reliability. It completed two unmanned test flights in April 1964 and January 1965 and all 12 Gemini flights from March 1965 onwards, with the 18 astronauts eventually finding their way back to Earth unharmed. From Gemini-6 onwards, rendezvous in orbit were to take place. Thus, prior to the launch of the Gemini rocket manned in pairs, an unmanned Agena upper stage was launched into orbit. Both the Atlas from the Mercury programme and the Titan rocket from the manned Gemini launches were used as launch vehicles. The Agena upper stage had already been ordered earlier by the US Airforce as a satellite, which was equipped accordingly depending on the mission purpose. The Agena stage for the Gemini-6 launch did not reach orbit, so it failed. It was not until Gemini-8 that an Agena upper stage was again ready to fly into space and 100 minutes later the actual manned Gemini-8 crew launched and docked with the Agena for its exercises. Gemini-9 was also to perform another docking manoeuvre, but the two half-shells enclosing the docking area at the top of the rocket during Agena’s ascent phase only partially opened. This left only one beautiful shot, which earned this Agena the nickname “angry alligator” for Gemini-9.

Gemini-9 – Augmented Target Docking Adapter: The angry alligator (From NASA – Great Images in NASA Description, public domain)

The final Gemini flight, Gemini-12, then took place in June 1966, four months after the first rocket carrying Apollo spacecraft components was successfully launched. The first Apollo mission was carried out with the two-stage Saturn-IB, the Apollo capsule was tested unmanned on this flight, re-entry being the challenge here. The cheaper two-stage design was sufficient here, as it was only for Earth-orbital testing. The upper stage then remained conceptually the same for all Saturn rockets. The first tests of the Saturn-IB date back to October 1961, when the individual stages were successively tested, especially the upper stage, until the first Saturn-V was finally launched into space with Apollo-4 in November 1967. Before that, there had been 13 launches of Saturn I or Saturn-IB. The 14th launch of the Saturn-IB could not take place because one month before the launch date, the Apollo module burned out during an exercise with the astronauts on board. The accident led to the entire vehicle being rechecked for safety, and as a result it was greatly improved.

And after this introductory prehistory, it may be due to the founding year of the Revell company in 1956 that it was not possible to concentrate so intensively on space travel. After all, competing companies had already been established on the market for 15 years or more, so it was certainly necessary to quickly develop a broad base of models. Thus, apart from the A-4, which was founded in the German history, other models from the space programme were left out by Revell. With the Saturn-V, first edition in 1969 in 1/96 scale, the first rocket came on the market, just in time for the first moon flight with Apollo-11 on 20 July of that year. About every 13 years, the model reappears in new, but unchanged productions. Presumably due to the early edition or the secret construction plans, the model shows deviations from the original. Thus a marketplace has developed for the Saturn-V to supersize the Revell model, especially if the model is to be broken down into the individual stages, as it is, for example, in the museum in Cape Canaveral. The company New Ware , for example, specialises in this. What else exciting has been developed from this Saturn V kit at Revell? Well, there is another 03700 kit that contains just the Apollo spacecraft, that is the Command Service Module and the Lunar Module. So the spacecraft can be built coupled but also separated with the lunar module landed.

Mouldings for the Revell 03700 from the Apollo Box

If you are interested into the history of toys, please feel free to find more information here. My father, an old school modeller, was never that satisfied to just glue the plastic together. But when you review the article FineScale Modeler 2006/04 you may assume, that you learn more skills than brush on the glue. How about you? Do you like to give your kits a more detailed look?

The post Space Race with Revell – Part 2 The Mighty SATURN V first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.

Let’s go to another trip? This time we may even go back in time! There’s a cute and quite unique store to visit in Berlin, which we recommend you to come by for local shopping while avoiding big corporations. Older than 70 years old, this store has been selling special items… Did you go there before? Keep on reading to find out more.

Heinsohn Spielwaren

Where to find special toys in a world full of trends and seasonal consumption, have you ever wondered? Perhaps you asked yourself at least once, if one could find something special, which not everyone is currently tired of seeing. Maybe you thought: what would the toys bought by parents decades ago look like?

Started on year 1951, Heinsohn Spielwaren focus has been on collector pieces since then. Countless treasures (toys) were presented and offered at the store. The store front passed to the owner’s children, so many years went by and yet there they stand.

Variety is also not a problem: model cars, locomotives, teddys, building sets, dolls, baby toys, etc. We’re certain that there is something for everyone! Collectors, babies, children and even parents! If you purchase online, the delivery costs are free starting from 30€ orders.

Please, go to their website to get more information such as address and what is currently available to be ordered online.

Several unique options are offered on their online shop. Due to the limited editions, some items may never come back. Feel free to try it out and have some fun.

The majority of their articles are offered in-person at their store; packed full with many items, just like the “old times” toy stores, click here to understand it better. One sample of them, which doesn’t exist anymore: here.

A view of the front, just in case, so we don’t miss it when walking by.

When are you planing to visit there? Have you been there already? Please help us by sending this post to someone who would love to find it out too…

The post Heinsohn Spielwaren : Local Alternatives to Shop Better first appeared on Product Cluster Blog.