As we are going into convention season I am reminded of the first time I heard about the NY Toy Fair on The Board Room. I didn't realize that it existed, and was excited to hear this report that comes in from Rob Placer of the Gamer's Realm. This episode originally ran in February 2000, and it was interesting to hear about the new titles from Mayfair Games - Including Quo Vadis? (from Reiner Knizia). The NY Toy Fair tends to run very mainstream, so it's a little challenging for hardcore gamers to find things they are interested it, but Rob mentions that "took home more product than he should have." Bob and Drew are on hand to conduct the interview with Rob - and ask a lot of interesting questions about the industry.
The episode titled "German Games" ran in October, 2000 and featured and interview with Keith Ammann who had recently authored a FAQ on German Games. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.games.board/eNAx...
Keith goes into a summary of German Games versus mainstream market games, he also talks about the impact of CATAN, Torres & RoboRally (which is not a German Game, but features elements of the "German Game" aesthetic).