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Toy Fair 2003 - Behind the Scenes
Interesting moments wandering the floor at the American International Toy Fair 2003:
These were difficult lists to come up with, because most of these games I've never played. But here are...
The Top 5 Strategy Games from Toy Fair 2003 I'm Most Excited About, in alphabetical order.
Board Games Survivor Island - Amazon Edition
Five games were eliminated from BGSI Amazon in the first round -- Die Macher, High Society, Lord of the Rings Risk, Monopoly and Rage. This week, five more games will be eliminated -- take a look at the remaining tribe members and cast your votes today.
Games I Can See While Sitting At My Computer
This week, a trio of card games sits atop my computer while two board games are also nearby.
From Chris Brua:
Boardgames Poll of the Week
What's your favorite Lord of the Rings board game?
Last Week's Poll Results
Have you ever played Sid Sackson's Kohle, Kies & Knete?
It's never too late to add your vote!
Toy Fair 2003 - Getting There and Back
Plenty of new board games were on display at the 2003 American International Toy Fair in New York City. But some of the most memorable moments during my first-ever visit to Toy Fair were related to the snow storm that began on opening day and didn't stop until it dumped more than 20 inches of snow in Central Park.
The plan was simple. Drive to New York City for the opening day of Toy Fair (Sunday, February 16), spend the day taking photos and talking to people, then drive back home on Sunday night and write about the show.
Bob Schwartz, owner of Games Unlimited in Pittsburgh, Drew Kail, who works at the store, and I met around 6 a.m. on Sunday to drive up in a caravan (they were planning to spend one night in NYC). The drive to New York was uneventful, and we found a parking lot close to the Javits Convention Center. At that point, the temperature in the city was 10 degrees, with a serious wind chill factor. Once we made it inside Javits, we had to split up as they went through the retailer registration process and I looked for press registration.
The morning went smoothly: saw lots of new board games, talked to some great people, no complaints. At lunch, I checked my Blackberry (wireless email) to see if my wife Beth had any news about the snow storm. She did. "Snow," read the subject line. "Uh-oh," I thought. Beth reported that 3 or 4 inches had already fallen at our home, and that it was piling up quickly.
When I read that forecasters used the word "historic" to describe the storm, I knew that I was destined to spend at least one night in New York City. It turned out to be two nights at $130 each in the smallest hotel room I've ever seen.
On Sunday night, dinner was found at a pizza place between our hotel and Times Square. After dinner, Drew and I continued to Times Square while Bob went back to the hotel for some sleep. Drew kept walking when I decided to catch a movie -- despite the fact that Shanghai Nights and Kangaroo Jack were the only ones starting around the time I arrived. Bottom line: Shanghai Knights sucks.
Monday was another great day at Toy Fair, and then I wandered back to Times Square to grab dinner at Applebee's.
Tuesday morning, my alarm goes off at 4 a.m. and I walk out of the hotel by 4:15 a.m., planning to get home no later than 8 a.m. so I can shower, change clothes (I am still wearing the clothes I arrived in; I hadn't planned for an overnight stay) and drive to work, arriving there a little late but not much.
I walk around the block to the parking lot, and check in with the guy running it (let's call him Guy). We find my car, which is parked directly behind a red Volkswagon Beetle. Because of the layout of the parking lot, there is absolutely, positively no way for me to get out without first moving the Beetle.
First, we dig out the Beetle. Guy works around the side of the car while I use a shovel to move the modest amount of snow that's blocking the front of the car. (The parking lot as a whole has been plowed very well.) He climbs inside and attempts to start the Beetle. He cannot do it.
It's important to point out that Guy speaks, as best I can tell, four words in English: key, my, friend, and Visa.
He gestures and says "key" a couple of times, indicating that he can't get the car started. I ask for the key, get it, and contort my 6' 2" body into the Beetle. I can't get the thing started either.
Examining the key, I see that it actually comes apart. Literally. (A picture is available, along with more about this allegedly high-tech key.)
I don't know if the key is supposed to come apart, but it does. The black plastic end separates from the metal part. And the metal part is not at all large. At most, it's three inches long and three-eighths of an inch wide.
By separating the key, I'm actually able to get the car to engage enough that it can be shifted into neutral. I'm thrilled, because the two of us can easily push the Beetle out of the way and I can get going very soon. The current time: approximately 4:30 a.m.
Guy is back at my car, digging it out. I tell him, hoping that he understands, that I have the Beetle in neutral and all we need to do is push it a little and the path will be clear for my car. We push the Beetle for just a couple of seconds, and I realize we need to dig out in front of it just a tad more to make our lives really easy.
At this point, Guy makes a fateful decision. He asks for the key.
I have no idea why he wants the key -- or why he thinks it's a good idea to remove the key from the ignition since we already have the car in neutral. But he wants it, and I give it to him.
He walks across the parking lot, about 25 feet, to his little wooden shed. I wonder what he's doing. Seconds later, he comes out and says, "Key! Key!" And I think, "No. Please, God, no."
But it's true. Guy has lost the metal part of the Beetle's key. It is a nightmare.
Over the next hour-plus -- 75 full minutes -- we look for the key. Guy and me, in a New York City parking lot, from 4:45 a.m. to at least 6:00 a.m. (Just so the record is complete, I should point out that for two minutes, give or take 10 seconds, we have assistance from a man who drops his car off and then quickly leaves the scene. I don't blame him -- I was grateful for the two minutes he put in.)
We shuffle our feet around all over the slushy path that Guy walked from the Beetle to his little wooden shed. Anytime something glistens in the light generated by the few lights in the area of the parking lot, we freeze and excavate it like a precious fossil. But it's never the key. We use flashlights to go over the area a second and third time. We check our pockets repeatedly.
At one point, I think that I'll be stuck in New York City until at least April, when all of the snow has melted. I try to call AAA to see if they'll tow the Beetle out of the way for me, but all circuits are busy. I secretly hope the Beetle belongs to a deputy mayor so that when he comes for it, the police will find a way to get it started -- or at least arrest Guy.
Finally, I admit to myself what my heart has known all along. The metal part of the key must have dropped right when I gave it to Guy. Which means that it's in an area of two-foot high snow.
I move to that area, and scoop out snow into the plowed area of the parking lot. I get on my knees and reach under the car, scooping snow that has slid under it out into the plowed area. This goes on for about 5 minutes.
Then I take the snow shovel, lifting small bits of the snow I just moved into the air. I toss it high, toward the area of the parking lot that's plowed the best. My theory is that if the key is in the snow I toss into the air, it will make a "ching" noise when it lands.
I toss one, two, three, little piles of snow into the air. Nothing. Guy is watching me with some interest. The fourth pile flies into the air. Also nothing. I'm quickly growing discouraged.
The fifth toss goes up, it comes down. "Ching, ching."
Whoa. Guy and I look at each other, our eyes filled with excitement. He says, "Key!" I respond, "I hope so!"
Guy pulls out an ice hockey stick -- I have no idea where he got it, but there it is. He uses it to gently move the snow from pile number five around. He swishes back and forth. "Ching, ching."
He reaches down into the pile and pulls out... the key!
We cheer and I give Guy the warmest embrace any Norwegian-American ever gave a parking lot attendant in New York City. "My friend!," he yells. I pat him on the back.
Guy takes the key, puts it back together, and sits in the Beetle again. This time, he manages to get it started. I wonder why he couldn't have done that an hour and a half ago, but now is the time for joy, not bitterness.
It is an emotional moment when the Beetle moves out of its parking spot, and I think I might cry.
Then Guy hops out and says to me, "Visa?"
About Something Else Site of the Week
Being a gamer doesn't do much for my waistline. So I really should take some of the advice at About.com's Exercise site, where Guide Paige Waehner has put together a great resource for exercise neophytes.
Other Off-Topic Thoughts of the Week
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! is even more painful to watch than The Surreal Life. And that's saying something.
What's That You Say?
Talk back to SMG in the About Board Games Forum.
--Erik Arneson
22 February 2003
Boardgame Top Picks Lists of the Week
And the Top 5 Party Games from Toy Fair 2003 I'm Most Excited About, in alphabetical order.
(Keep in mind that although I visited dozens upon dozens of game booths, I didn't have time to make it to every game company's booth. And these lists both leave off plenty of games I'm very interested in playing. Be sure to keep tabs on our coverage of Toy Fair 2003 for more information on the games displayed there.)
About Board Games Forum Post of the Week
My initial reaction [to Dungeoneer, an upcoming game from Citizen Games] was "hooray!", because I love dungeon crawl games. But then I got to the "expandable" part, thought of CCG's (or Mage Knight Dungeon, for that matter) and quickly became disinterested. It's too bad, really. Why companies think they can take a $30 board game and convert it into a $100+ board game is beyond me. I guess because MtG was so successful at it...
Post your response in the About Board Games Forum.
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