Hasta La Gadget!

The Tokyo Toy Show was held today showcasing everything from magic carpets to virtual fishing games, 3D airbrush pens to laser controlled cars, and everything in between. There were plenty of Tokyo Sky Tree themed exhibits as the city counts down to its opening next year and it was clear that the eco trend has filtered through to the toy market also. Not content with mum and dad having the coolest gadgets and hobbies, many companies also had ipad and smartphone design concept toys for small children to practice using, and bizarrely there were even gambling games redesigned for toddlers!

As with industries across the board the Toy Show showed how many sectors are focusing their marketing efforts on the eco credentials. Wind up and non electric toys being the staple of toy boxes 10 years ago they have largely been replaced by digital battery powered alternatives. However it was interesting to see a resurgence in traditional and wind up toys, with dynamo powered toy cars complete with non battery operated flashing lights. One company was even making play things form waste, taking discarded plastic bottles, cans and packaging and turning them into robots, helicopters and cars.

Gunk, slime and chemistry combined in a really fun booth from Takara Tomy, turning bath time into a messy experiment. Igniting an interest in the sciences whilst making their own bubble bath, the simple idea plays on every kids love for anything slime based.

Sega also displayed their extended range of Homestar planetariums, with an R2D2 Robot version complete with a projection of the Death Star, and a limited edition Tokyo Sky Tree series.

Starting them young there were a number of toys and games on show that played on different Japanese gambling games! We were surprised to see a Disney version of mahjong, a Chinese dominoes style game popular in smokey Japanese drinking dens, and even an Anpanman pachinko game, another popular gambling past time.

Of course no Tokyo Toy Show would be complete without the obligatory Pokemon exhibits, cute and fluffy characters. With the prevalence of ipads, and iphones/ smartphones in Japan right now there were a number of app related games such as the virtual pet shown below. To ensure the public purchases all the paraphernalia that also go with the app, the virtual pet pictured will actually complain of the cold until wrapped up in the “animal jacket”, nothing like a whining iphone! A simliar tactic was seen with remote control cars complete with matching sneakers, as obviously kids have to match their outfits with their toys nowadays.

Finally one of the most bizarre items on display had to be this magic exhibit. Described as a third eye, it purportedly enables wearers to use telepathy to read cards…all whilst looking particularly fetching.

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