Berjuan: Toys are them

The people at Muñecas Berjuan, a toy-making company based in Onil, Alicante, have not been watching the 2018 World Cup with the usual 6-pack and pizza; they’ve been looking for a market niche, and may have found it in their genderless dolls dressed in the different kits of national teams.

The dolls are at present only on sale in Russia, as it was their distributor there who proposed the idea.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have a crystal ball or an erudite, far-seeing octopus to help them predict who would make the final four, and only produced dolls for eliminated teams Russia, Spain, Germany and Brazil, only getting it right with France and, like most people, being totally confounded by the English team joining Belgium and Croatia in the semi finals.

Outside of Russia, the only place to obtain these already outdated toys is the Hotel del Juguete at Ibi.

Another summer use for the company’s products is a series of toys which also act as a mosquito repellent, an idea developed in cooperation with the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI).

A further idea, known as los Tempitos, is a series of 15 toys based on celebrities who have ceded their image as a collaboration with the NGO Asociación Tempo de Alicante, an organisation of psychologists dedicated to providing support for terminally ill patients.

The company was founded in 1977 and makes all its products in Spain.