Kinder Surprise, also known as a
Kinder Egg or, in the original Italian,
Kinder Sorpresa, is a confection manufactured by Italian company Ferrero. Originally intended for children, it has the form of a chocolate egg containing a small toy, often requiring assembly. "Kinder" is the German word for "children".
Each Kinder Surprise egg consists of a chocolate shell, a plastic
capsule, the contents of said capsule, and an external foil wrap.
The chocolate shell is shaped like a chicken's egg, and is of similar
size. It is only about a millimeter thick, and consists of two layers: a
milk chocolate layer on the outside, and a white chocolate
layer on the inside. The shell is not a singular piece of material, but
rather two identical halves split down a vertical line. These are
lightly fused together just before the egg is wrapped, to prevent the
halves from splitting apart under 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 from thin, flexible plastic, and is often yolk-yellow
(though in the past it was also manufactured in a variety of colors).
The capsule is made of two non-symmetrical, overlapping pieces: its
bottom piece is almost as long as the entire capsule, and has two ridges
protruding along its outer rim; the top piece is about half as long as
the entire capsule, and has two corresponding ridges along its inner
rim. When the pieces are pushed together, the ridges interlock and do
not come apart without manual manipulation. To separate the two pieces,
it is often necessary to apply pressure to the interlocking region at
its opposite ends, bending it and causing the ridges to separate inside
so that the halves can be pulled apart. Once the capsule is opened it
can be re-closed effortlessly by pushing the two pieces back together.
The plastic capsule contains the toy itself (either in a single piece
or in several pieces requiring assembly) and at least two pieces of
paper. One paper lists the "choking hazard" warnings in multiple
languages. The other paper shows assembly instructions for the toy and a
picture of the assembled toy (if applicable), and/or an illustration of
all toys belonging to the same line as the one contained within this
particular capsule. Furthermore, many capsules include a small page of
adhesive decals that may be placed on the assembled toy after
construction.
Once the egg is assembled in the factory, it is wrapped in a thin
metal foil bearing the Kinder Surprise brand name and various production
details. The eggs may then be sold in any of a number of forms, often
either individually or as a boxed set of 3 eggs. Some retailers will
sell a tray of eggs containing 24 eggs in total.
Assembly of the toys requires no additional tools, as the pieces will
simply lock ("snap") together. Assembly rarely takes more than a few
simple steps. Most toys can be disassembled and reassembled freely,
while a few cannot be disassembled without causing permanent damage.
Over the years, Ferrero have also created a variety of no-assembly toys,
whether more complex toys that can be used immediately or simple
character statuettes made of a single, pre-painted piece of hard
plastic.
During the 2000s, Ferrero redesigned the Kinder Egg's internal
plastic capsule. The new design is visually and functionally similar to
that of the original capsule, but it now consists only of a single piece
of plastic with a hinge on one side. The size and specific design of
each half of the capsule have also been slightly altered accordingly.
The new capsule design is always made from yolk-yellow plastic.
Read More : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise
