Welcome back to the africast for a special guest edition as Stefan Roets – product manager at Solarpop – joins us to talk about all the card and board games in the country.
You may have heard about Solarpop from your local game store, but for those unaware this company is the distributor for most hobby products in South Africa. Pokémon, Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and more are all exclusively released in SA through Solarpop. Chances are if it’s a Trading Card Game (TCG) and it’s sold locally, Solarpop is behind it.
It’s the same for board games too as the renaissance in this space continues. Rooets reveals to us that a thousand board games are released every year, to give you some idea of how big this market is.
Before our interview, however, we have some news to discuss starting with Magneto, a popular brand of battery-powered lights in the country. Several reports of cabling issues have popped up so we spoke to maker Tevo about the issue.
Next up is Apple and credible rumours of a VR headset simply called “Reality Pro”. With a focus on more mundane aspects such as virtual meetings and augment reality – instead of gaming like other headsets – we have our doubts, especially considering the massive price of $3 000.
Lastly for news we have Builders which has a new feature called Product Finder that will allow shoppers to request that the company source them a product that may not be in stock, and may not be sold at all. With South Africa lacking a lot of stock compared to places like the EU and USA, this may be a way to get those niche items locally.
Those who stick around to the end of the podcast and our interview with Roets will hear about a tease for an upcoming giveaway. Check back with Hyptertext in the near future for all the details on that, and refresh our contests page for more.
Mentioned in this africast:
- You should check your Magneto light’s cable, lest it pop while charging
- Apple’s “Reality Pro” will finally let you be a futuristic cool guy
- Product Finder is a new online tool from Builders to help you find niche items
- Attend new card and board games through Unplug Yourself: Main site | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
- Find your next board game on the Solarpop site
