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The Sharper Image, a San Francisco-based retailer with a high-end, off-beat reputation and designs on global market, is facing a sharper learning curve overseas than in the United States.
Consider the "Saucer Launcher an aptly named device that lets children propel toy saucers through the air. The Sharper Image sold 80,000 of the $22 items in the United States in 1995, but watched it crash-land in Scandinavia, where parents thought it wasn't durable enough. Likewise with a pinball machine that was a hit here but flopped in Norway, where folks are steadfast in...