Spring Fair

Adventurers and fun lovers,

Amidst all of the excitement over the recent snow I have not yet had a chance to tell you about the Venture Blue expedition to the NEC last Sunday for the retailers Spring Fair, in search of products to create joy, ensure the tv stays turned off and enhance the outdoor lifestyle of our customers.

So what was hot this year?

In the toy section there were a veritable plethora of remote controlled flying machines of all different types and sizes. Lots of helicopters, a display one of which was being heartily abused and crashed by a young rascal, whilst the Venture Blue contingent tried to talk business with a rather distracted manager.
Remote controlled helicopters have been around for a bit and indeed at XSfashion .com we have a good selection; it seems there will be even more choice this year. What was new was an interesting little remote flyer with flapping wings; we'll try and get some asap as when you look at it you kinda think it will never take off, but the demo seemed to fly really well.

The Science Museum branded products were as popular as ever with some new stuff coming out under this label. We sold loads of their virtually indestructible RC planes for Christmas presents last December: just be aware of the word 'virtually' in the title. It doesn't mean you can drive Range Rovers over them!

There's a whole range of Top Gear branded products which should be available shortly. Interesting, quirky gadgets and toys which may get some free advertising and potential destruction from Jeremy and his pals on their show.

On the gift side of things VW branded products were turning up all over the place and whilst they take a bit of careful and time consuming packing the VW ceramic camper vans seem to still be going from strength to strength. Truely a volks wagon (car for the folks!).

There were some interesting rechargable items and I think this technology will continue to develop. One thing we wont be stocking however is the 2 litre thermos flask (made in China) the sample of which broke before the day was out! Pity 'cause there's hardly any 2 litre flasks on the market and for the beach they keep you in tea and coffee all day. They also create some interesting conversations with security at airports if you put them in hand luggage!

One disappointing aspect to the fair was the increase in wholesale prices, blamed uniformly on the weakness of the pound. Ouch. Gordon, we need more help! Needlesstosay however the economy turns out this year we will do our best to keep you well stocked with interesting products and gear at the best possible prices and always remember that there's no correlation between the amount you spend and the fun you have!

M