Kinder Surprise
Kinder Surprise, also known as a Kinder Egg or, within the original Italian, Kinder Sorpresa (Kinder is the German word for “children”, sorpresa is Italian for “surprise”), is a candy made by Italian company Ferrero and invented by William Salice (1933–2016). Originally meant for children, it’s also well-liked by adult collectors and has the form of a chocolate egg containing a small toy, usually requiring assembly.
Description
Each Kinder Surprise egg includes a chocolate shell, a plastic container, the contents of said container, as well as an external foil wrap. The chocolate shell is shaped just like a chicken’s egg. It is only about 2 millimeters thick, and includes two layers: a milk chocolate layer on the outside, along with a candy layer on the inside. Girls Pop The shell is made of two identical halves, which are lightly fused together just before the egg is wrapped, to prevent the halves from coming apart underneath the light pressures expected during transportation.
During the egg’s production, before the halves are fused together, the plastic capsule containing the toy is placed inside. This capsule is made of thin, flexible plastic, and it is often yolk-yellow. The capsule consists of two non-symmetrical, overlapping pieces: its bottom piece is almost as long as the whole capsule, and has two ridges protruding along its outer rim; the top piece is about half so long as the whole capsule, and it has two corresponding ridges along its inner rim. When the pieces are pushed together, the ridges interlock and do not break without manual manipulation. To split up the two pieces, it is usually essential to apply pressure to the interlocking region at its opposite ends, bending it and resulting in the ridges to separate inside so that the halves could be pulled apart. Once the capsule is opened it may be re-closed effortlessly by pushing the 2 pieces back together.
The plastic capsule provides the toy itself (in both a single piece or in several pieces requiring assembly) and a minimum of two bits of paper. One paper lists the “choking hazard” warnings in multiple languages. The other paper shows assembly instructions for that toy and a picture of the assembled toy (if applicable), and/or an illustration of toys of the same line because the one contained in this particular particular capsule. Many capsules likewise incorporate a little page of adhesive decals that may be put on the assembled toy after construction.
When the egg is assembled within the factory, it is covered with a skinny metal foil bearing the Kinder Surprise brand and various production details. The eggs will be sold, either individually or in a boxed group of 3 eggs, or in some cases in a tray of 24 eggs.
Assembly from the toys requires no additional tools, because the pieces will simply lock (“snap”) together. Assembly rarely takes lots of easy steps. Most toys could be disassembled and reassembled freely, while several can’t be disassembled without causing permanent damage. Over the years, Ferrero have also made a variety of no-assembly toys, whether more complicated toys you can use immediately or simple character statuettes made of just one, pre-painted bit of plastic.
During the 2000s, Ferrero redesigned the Kinder Egg’s internal plastic capsule. The brand new design is visually and functionally similar to that of the initial capsule, but it now consists only of a single piece of plastic with a hinge somewhere. The size and particular style of each half of the capsule have also been slightly altered accordingly.
