The Stroller Has Landed

What you are looking at, ladies and germs, is the latest in fine Dutch stroller design and technology.  Winner of the 2005 European Retailers Award for Best New Baby Product, I proudly introduce to you the Quinny Buzz.  This bad boy makes the Bugaboo Frog look like your father's Oldsmobile.  And, adding upping the cachet meter a few more notches, neither the Buzz, nor any of Quinny's most excellent products, are available for purchase in America.  Yes, I carried it back with me from my trip to London last week, pretty much ensuring that we are one of the only families in the Bay Area with this Ferrari of strollers.

What makes the Buzz so special, you ask?  How about everything-friggin'-thing!  From its killer tricycle design and height-adjustable handlebar to its five-position seat (including forwards and backwards) and pneumatic auto-unfolding mechanism (yes, I said "pneumatic") the Buzz represents the latest in stroller technology.  Oh, and this video has got to be one of the coolest stroller pitches I've ever seen.  Crank the sound up and check it out.  Seriously.  *Update - the music that used to accompany the video is now gone.  Used to be that electronica remix of Elvis's A Little Less Conversation.  Damn licensing rights.*

As some of you know, I've been obsessed with strollers since we found out that M. was pregnant.  I began looking around and quickly determined that I didn't want some run-of-the-mill Maclaren or Peg Perego from Babies 'R' Us.  No sir, not for this metrosexual dad.  If I'm going to be pushing this thing around for the next several years, I want something with real style and pizazz.  As soon as I saw the Buzz online I knew that this stroller was the real deal.

Unfortunately, I discovered that Quinny didn't have distribution in the US.  Rumors circulated on daddy blogs about Buzz availability in Canada.  With little chance of making it to Canada any time soon (sorry, GCCT) I resigned myself to a life with the Bugaboo.  I figured that I'd at least hold off until the new models, the Gecko and Cameleon, came out to replace the ubiquitous Frog.

Then, lady luck struck and I was off to London on business.  (Well, I actually don't consider it lucky to be away from M. for a week at a time but bear with me.)  As soon as I knew I was going I contacted a buddy with a large brood who lives in London and asked where I could find strollers.  After being corrected that they're called "pushchairs" (whatever) he sent me a few links to retail shops that I could check out.  Last Saturday I made my way to John Lewis and the rest is history.

I wonder if I should start a Quinny Buzz Club of San Francisco, sort of like the Ferrari Club of America.  Then again that might not work as I'm kind of hoping that I'll be the only member.

Comments

[Kathleen]

Ummm...not sure I want to be around when you're car shopping for the boy! I must admit that you are the first father-to-be to express such enthusiasm over a stroller/pushchair. I can see that you have decided to not spoil the child :o) Of course, this is coming from a woman whose house looks like a toy store exploded in there!