Fun Market That Creates Hip ’n’ Kool Toys

the amazing Robosapien V2 with two smaller robots and their creator, UK-born former Nasa scientist Mark Tilden - one of the world’s most renowned designers of robot toys. His other inventions such as the Roboraptor dinosaur meet a need that satisfies “technically savvy kids”. High-tech toys have achieved 10 million sales worldwide in two years.

IT CAN walk, it can talk, it is intelligent and has “attitude”. It is a humanoid robot, about 70cm (28-inch) high, programmed to perform 100 functions, including picking up things - or throwing them - dancing and kung-fu.

Robosapien V2 - which can differentiate between certain colours and, charmingly, will wave when it sees you - is the toy that both children and adults want. V2 and its fellow robots, such as Roboraptor, a programmable dinosaur with different moods, and Roboreptile, a creature with a swishing tail that walks on four legs and runs on two, have achieved more than 10 million sales worldwide in two years.

The high-tech items, that have won dozens of awards across the globe, are the brain-children of one of the world’s most renowned robot scientists, UK-born Mark Tilden, aged 43, who has an IQ of 181 (100 is the norm).

Former Nasa scientist Tilden, who originates from Gloucestershire, England, produces robots for WowWee, a privately owned Hong-Kong-based company, with offices in North America and a worldwide sales and distribution network.

Tilden’s robots are meeting a growing need recently perceived by the United Kingdom toy market for more innovative, sophisticated, and interactive playthings.

Trade organisation the British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) stated in a recent report that in 2005: “300 out of the top 500 best-selling toys this year were new to the market”. Many of them used a variety of modern technologies that had never been employed before.

The BTHA has a wide membership from across the globe. To become a member, companies have to be involved in the UK toy and hobby industry and have a UK trading office.

Premier international brands such as Hasbro, Leapfrog and Mattel (whose main offices are in the United States); Lego, the Danish company that makes the inventive plastic bricks; German toy firm Zapf, and Tomy, whose headquarters are in Japan, are among the members.

In the run-up to Christmas 2006, the influential UK Toy Retailers Association (TRA) issued a list of the “dream” toys of the year. One of the top ones for boys aged over five years of age is the silver, flashing-eyed Cyberhead, a voice-changing mask inspired by the BBC TV sci-fi serial drama Doctor Who, a product from UK company Character Options.

Another hot favourite with a group of children who gathered to play with the products when the list was announced to the media is Mattel’s N.S.E.C.T., a “multi-terrain, bio-mechanical beast that can stalk, creep, seize and destroy its enemy”. N.S.E.C.T and the equally scary Roboreptile, which is distributed by the UK’s Character Group, featured in the top 12 “Hip ’n’ Kool” toys.

Young girls in the UK seem to want a lot more from their toys. One of the winning products for them in 2006 is a doll, the Zapf “baby with magic eyes” that has nine life-like functions and carries them out without need of batteries. For their older sisters there is the “Digi Makeover” by UK electronic toy and games expert Radica. Friends get together, put a picture of themselves on to a TV screen and spend many a happy hour changing their look at will with different hairstyles, make-up and accessories.

In 2005 the UK toy market was reported by the British Toy & Hobby Association to be valued at 2.1 billion pounds sterling. More recently, when drawing up their Dream Toys list, the Toy Retailers Association noted that the market for boys aged four and over had been worth 680m pounds in the 12 months to June 2006.

Sales for girls aged over four were worth 694m pounds in the same period, with a growth of four per cent, with the pre-school category (birth to three years) had shown one of greatest growth rates, with sales worth 666m pounds. The creative and games sectors had also added to the market worth.

One of the key home-grown toy concerns in the UK is the Character Group, an AIM-listed company founded in 1991. The AIM (Alternative Investment Market) is the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies.

Character’s business involves the design and development of toys, games and gifts for what it sees as the UK’s “technically savvy” kids, and the international distribution of a huge variety of toys and games by other companies.

The Character Group has won a clutch of awards for its products including Best Innovation Award for its Doctor Who radio-controlled Dalek – a robot with evil intentions. Character forecast 50m pounds in retail sales in the run-up to Christmas 2006 for a number of its Doctor Who-inspired toys including the Dalek, the Cyberman voice changer and a radio-controlled robot dog called K-9.

Vivid Imaginations is another major UK company that designs and distributes toys and that is going from strength to strength. Among its ranges for boys are Pirates of the Caribbean (toys from the Disney film), the ever-popular Spider-Man, and space heroes Thunderbirds. One of its chief products for girls are the sassy Bratz dolls, by US firm MGA Entertainment, and - for smaller children – the cuddly Care Bears, by the American Greetings company.

One of Vivid’s toys is the playful robot dog Teksta v2, also named as a TRA 2006 Dream Toy in the Hip ’n’ Kool section. Voice-activated, it has touch, vision and sound sensors and “an in-built puppy translator” to communicate with it. Teksta’s interactive features include full body articulation and, apparently, Teksta can tell its owner if it has fleas and will shake itself after a “bath”.

Traditional toys still hold a place in children’s hearts. Two hundred of the best craftspeople in the UK creating automata, dolls, rocking horses, miniatures, puppets, teddy bears and wooden toys, often by hand, are members of the British Toymakers Guild.

Up until recently, young people in the UK wanting to become toy designers were only able to look at it as a specialism in the early stages of a product design course. Now, universities are beginning to give the subject a fresh significance.

The University of Central Lancashire, in northern England, for example, is offering a master’s degree in toy design to students who have already acquired skill, knowledge and qualifications in industrial/product design. And in the south of England, Sussex University - acknowledging that the “toy and games industry is a significant sector in the market place” - is offering a course in Toy & Game Design to engineering and design students in 2007.

娱乐市场上最新潮最酷的玩具

2006年的玩具市场上，最受关注的是Robosapien V2，以及两个略小一些的机器人。他们是由出生在 英国的前美国宇航局科学家马克•特尔顿（Mark Tilden）——一名世界上最著名的机器人玩具设计 者设计的。马克•特尔顿的其他发明创造，如恐龙Roboraptor，满足了那些“具有科技头脑的孩子们”的需要。两年内，高科技玩具的销售额在全球已经突破了1,000万。

Robosapien V2是一个可以行走、可以与人交谈的智能玩具，它有自己对待事物的 “态度和看法”。这是一个具有人类某些特点的机器人，约70厘米（28英寸）高，根据编定的程序，它具有100项功能，其中包括从地上拣东西，或者是将“手中”的东西扔掉，还会跳舞、表演中国功夫。

Robosapien V2是一款可以赢得成人和儿童共同青睐的玩具，可以区分特定的颜 色，最有趣的是，在它看到你的时候会向你挥手表示问候。V2以及它的同伴们，比如根据程序控制可以表现出多种情绪的恐龙Roboraptor、一个带有嗖嗖响尾巴的走路时用四条腿而跑动时用两条腿的动物Roboreptile，在两年内已经创下了全球销售额超过1,000万的辉煌战绩。

 这些蕴含了高科技在内的产品（已在全球赢得了许多奖项）是世界最著名的机器人科学家之一、出生在英国、现年43岁的马克•特尔顿（Mark Tilden）的智力产 物，他的智商达到181（普通人一般是100）。

这位前美国宇航局的科学家出生在英格兰的格洛斯特郡，现在为一家坐落在香港、总部位于北美的私人企业WowWee服务。WowWee的产品行销全球，建立了庞大的销售网络。

特尔顿设计发明的这些机器人玩具满足了人们不断增长的需求，而近来英国的玩具市场也认识到了这一点：采用创新技术、设计精密、能和人互动的玩具越来越受到人们的追捧。

贸易组织英国玩具及嗜好用品协会（British Toy & Hobby Association）在近期的一 篇报告中表示：2005年的玩具市场上最畅销的500款玩具中，有300款是新上市的产品。其中大多数采用了各种各样的、以前从未使用过的现代科技。

英国玩具及嗜好用品协会在全球有许多会员。要想加盟该协会，各公司必需要加入到英国的玩具和嗜好用品产业市场，并在英国设立有贸易办事处。

许多世界知名品牌的企业都是其会员，如孩之宝（Hasbro）、Leapfrog、美泰（Mattel）（它们的总部都设在美国），生产拼装玩具的丹麦公司乐高（Lego），德国玩具生产商夏芙（Zapf），总部位于日本的多美（Tomy）。

在2006年的圣诞节即将来临之际，英国玩具业界具有影响力的英国玩具零售商协会（TRA）公布了“年度最具梦幻力玩具”名单。在五岁以上的男孩中间，最受欢迎的玩具是银色的会眨眼睛的Cyberhead，它是一个可以改变声音的面具。Cyberhead的设计灵感来源于BBC电视台长篇科幻剧《神秘博士》——一部由英国的Character Options公司便制的作品。

在英国玩具零售商协会向媒体公布的名单中，另一款最受欢迎的玩具是美泰公司生产的N.S.E.C.T.。这是一个要一群孩子聚到一起玩的产品，“它是一个适应多种地形的生物机械兽，可以行走、爬行，捕获并摧毁它所认为的‘敌人’。” N.S.E.C.T和另一款恐怖玩具Character Group发售的Roboreptile都在12个“最新潮最 酷的玩具”名单中。

英国的小女孩们似乎希望能从自己的玩具那里得到更多的乐趣。而在2006年胜出的产品中就有一款能满足她们的要求，它就是夏芙生产的洋娃娃“电眼宝贝”。该玩具具有九项近似人类的功能，而且它们在表现这些功能的时候不需要安装电池。而对于那些年龄再大一些的姐姐们来说，她们可以选择“数码化妆师”（Digi Makeover），它是电子玩具及游戏生产商Radica的产品。“数码化妆师”的玩法就是：朋友们聚在一起，将一张自己的照片从相机里传送到电视屏幕上，然后花数小时来对这张照片进行“装扮”，可以更换发型、美容效果和装饰。

据英国玩具和嗜好用品协会的报告显示，2005年英国玩具市场总值达21亿英镑。更近一些时候，也就是“梦幻玩具名单”出炉的时候，英国玩具零售商协会表示，在截至到2006年6月的12个月里，在适合四岁及以上男孩年龄段内的玩具销售额达到680,000,000英镑。

同期，在四岁以上的女孩年龄段内的玩具销售额则达到694,000,000英镑，增长率为4％。而在学龄前段（从出生到三岁）内的增长率也是最快的一个，总额达到666,000,000英镑。创造性和游戏领域也为市场增值做了贡献。

英国国内引起关注的一家重要玩具生产商是Character Group，是AIM列出的一家成 立于1991年的公司。AIM（选择性投资市场）是伦敦证券交易所为成长中的小型公司开辟的国际市场。

Character的业务涉及到为那些被认为是英国“具有科技头脑的”孩子们设计和开发玩具、游戏、礼品，以及为其他公司生产的大量各种各样的玩具和游戏进行国际销售。

通过自己生产的优秀产品，Character Group已经而获得了一系列的奖项，包括最具 创意奖——由于生产了无线电遥控的戴立克（Dalek）——一个总是充满了邪恶意 念的机器人（《神秘博士》中的一个人物）而获得。随着2006年圣诞节的来临，Character有许多受《神秘博士》启发而设计出来的玩具可以出售，包括戴立克、Cyberman变声器和叫做K-9的无线电遥控机器狗。预计零售额将达到5000万英镑。

Vivid Imaginations是英国另一家主要的玩具设计和销售公司，而且它的实力越来越 强。在它为男孩提供的众多产品中有“加勒比海盗”（根据迪斯尼影片中的形象设计的玩具）、永远都受到欢迎的“蜘蛛侠”、空中英雄“雷鸟”。在它为女孩提供的主要产品中，有一个就是美国公司MGA Entertainment推出的漂亮娃娃Bratz，为 小孩提供的是American Greetings公司推出的“爱心小熊”（Care Bears）。

在Vivid公司最具娱乐性的玩具中，有一款叫做Teksta v2的机器狗，它也在英国玩 具零售商协会2006“最具梦幻力玩具之最新潮最酷玩具”行列。Teksta v2是声控 机器狗，有触觉、视觉和声音传感器和“一个内嵌式的小狗翻译”——所以我们能 够和它进行交流，也因此Teksta还能告知主人它身上是否有了跳蚤，需要通过“洗澡”来将它们除掉。

传统玩具在孩子们的心里仍然占据一定的分量。在英国，200名最佳手工艺者自己动手制作自动玩具、洋娃娃、摇摆木马、微型玩具、木偶、玩具熊和木制玩具，他们也是英国玩具制造商协会的会员。

直到现在，那些想成为玩具设计者的英国年轻人在他们学习产品设计专业的初期，仅能将之看作是一个专业领域。现在，各个大学也正赋予这门专业以新的意义。

例如，对于那些已经具有了工业/产品设计专业相关技术、知识和资格的学生们，英格兰北部的中央兰开夏大学为他们开设了玩具设计专业的硕士课程。同样，在英格兰南部的萨塞克斯大学也表示“玩具和游戏产业在市场上占有很重要的份额”，而且到2007年，还将会为工程和设计专业的学生开设玩具和游戏设计课程。

滴答网在此感谢英国驻广州总领事馆提供稿件