The Silent Controversy at Spielwarenmesse

It was in early fall I started to read about Spielwarenmesse. All the parents “in the know” were counting down until this epic toy fair in Nuremberg. They were eager to know which toys would be retired and were desperate to know the new creations coming out of Germany and Spain, amongst others. I quickly realized that this was arguably the world’s largest toy fair. I filed this knowledge away, hoping perhaps 2019’s toys would go on discount once 2020’s were announced. Spoiler alert: Doesn’t happen.

At the same time, I started to hear a rumble regarding SumBlox. The company was started out of a Utah garage in early 2013 and quickly gained steam as the “it” toy for math teachers and parents alike. The concept is simple, but life changing for students who struggle with numeracy skills. The wooden numbers are to scale with their value. So the 1 is half the size of 2, and a quarter the size of 4. If I stack a pair of 3’s on each other, they will stack only as high as the height of the 6. As Jordan Shapiro said in his Forbes article, “SumBlox is one of those ideas that seems so simple it is hard to believe nobody’s thought of it before”. And indeed, it revolutionized the market.

So much so that they won the “Startup” category at the ToyAwards at Spielwarenmesse.

Wait, no they didn’t.

Let’s back up. Numbers are international and SumBlox expanded into the world market. They hired a German distributor under the corporate name ESM Visions GmbH to handle their German market. And for awhile, nearly 2 years, the relationship was perfect, with ESM Visions utilizing Amazon and other vendors to spread SumBlox across Germany. ESM Visions attended trade shows across the country, promoting SumBlox and their two managing directors Dr. Jan Engling and Dennis Meincke added SumBlox to their portfolio of companies they had ushered to Germany.

Flash forward to mid January 2020, when the relationship was terminated. There began a rumor regarding Calculix, a brand that seemed eerily similiar.

Calculix’ branding is nearly identical to SumBlox. As I don’t own either brand, my observations are derived from marketing material. Absent the logos, I don’t believe I could tell the difference between the two toy products. Calculix, under the name ESM Vision, registered for upcoming conventions and festivals under the name Sumblox name and logo, but using their ESM Vision corporate information. Production lines for wooden toys are notoriously long and it seems likely that the managing directors of ESM Vision were registering for events using the Sumblox name, with the intention of replacing the branding with their soon to be acclaimed Calculix.

SumBlox reached out to Spielwarenmesse and advised them about Calculix, but nothing was done. And just a few days before publication of this article Engling and Meincke stood up on stage and accepted the ToyAward in the category of “Start Up” on behalf of Calculix.

It has been difficult to get any information from any of the parties involved. Both SumBlox and Calculix declined to comment for this article. Spielwarenmesse eG also did not respond to any attempts for comment, as well.

This blog post is meant to be journalistic, and as such, makes no representations or opinions. However, there should be a discussion had regarding what constitutes intellectual property and whether consumers have an ethical obligation to not purchase from companies who engage in questionable business practices. When it comes down to it, these toys are designed for our children and their enjoyment is the most important factor. That being said, what do you readers think of the information above. Does corporate behavior influence your purchasing decisions? Comment below and let’s have a discussion.