The flour hangs in the air like snow. Thick, white, everywhere. On the floor, on the shelves, on the hair of Sebastian Walter, who for the past ten years has been waking up at three in the morning to revolutionize the world of water guns for his district. He’s 41, but his hands – calloused, scarred from countless prototypes – move with the precision of a surgeon.
The Quest for the Ultimate Water Gun
“I wanted a really cool thing,” Sebastian Walter, 41, recalls. Ten years ago, he was looking for a water gun for a rubber boat trip with friends. At the time, Sebastian was earning good money as a freelance product developer, including in the automotive industry. “I was willing to spend a lot. But I only found cheap stuff, most of it worse made than what I remembered from my childhood.”
Then I’ll just develop my own water gun, Sebastian thought. Today, he heads the company Spyra, whose water guns are sold in Europe, the USA, Japan, and Australia. The conversation with DEIN SPIEGEL takes place in their Munich offices. The Simba Dickie Group, which also produces Bobby Cars and Märklin model railways, is involved in the company. In the spring of this year, the fourth evolution of the gun was released. Things are going pretty well – considering that no one believed in it at the beginning.
Overcoming Doubts and Exploding Prototypes
“The doubts were everywhere,” Sebastian says. Friends and family members thought the idea was nonsense. But three people said: We’re in. They founded Spyra. Their goal: their product should not – as is usual with water guns – shoot a continuous stream. The water in the gun should be pressurized so that it shoots out of the muzzle like a projectile. Tschk, tschk, tschk instead of pfffffffft.
Sebastian began building the prototype in his shared apartment. When he unpacked the soldering iron at the breakfast table, he recounts, a flatmate said: “Do that somewhere else.” Sebastian and his colleagues knocked on the door of the Munich University of Applied Sciences. They provided them with a room. “We flooded it several times. When electronics meet water, a lot can go wrong and explode.”
The first prototypes looked terrible. “But eventually, everything would be super awesome. I kept preaching that,” Sebastian says, “to myself, the team – and the investors.” That’s what they call the major funders Spyra was dependent on at the time. The prototype cost around 2000 euros. “But for factory production, you need a million.”
From Kickstarter Success to Shenzhen Safari
A co-founder launched a campaign on the Kickstarter platform. “That’s how we raised half a million euros from people who had never seen a finished product from us but still thought: I want that.” They received the rest of the money from other investors.
Parallel to the campaign, Sebastian went on a trip he calls the “Shenzhen Safari.” Shenzhen is a Chinese region with thousands of factories. Before Sebastian went there, he had asked German drone and toothbrush manufacturers for recommendations. He scoured the factories and found what he was looking for.
It took two years from the construction of the prototype to the delivery of the first products. The reason: regulations. “In California, but only there, you need a note that a certain chemical was not used in manufacturing,” Sebastian says. He sounds a bit annoyed when he talks about it, but those are the rules.
Battling Product Pirates and Legal Battles
What really annoys him, however, is that his water guns are copied by other companies. Spyra has already had a legal dispute with the Chinese company Xiaomi because of this. Sebastian is not allowed to say anything about it. But generally, it’s like this: “When we release a new product, we can assume that the first copies will be on the market five months later. That’s why I release a new water gun in spring, so we have the summer to ourselves.” Spyra has applied for patents. But Asian companies would not adhere to them.
The latest Spyra model costs 160 euros. It is aimed at adults who like to spend a lot of money on toys. These people are called “Kidults.” The word is made up of the English words “kid” and “adult.” But Spyra also has a gun for children in its range. “The water comes out with less pressure because we know that children sometimes shoot themselves in the face when playing,” Sebastian says. For the summer of 2027, the team is currently working on an improved children’s version. The Spyra Go+ is supposed to glow brightly when shooting and loading.
The Enduring Appeal of Water Guns: A Brief History
During the Indian spring festival Holi, it is customary to get others wet with a “Pichkari,” a water squirt gun. Temple statues from the 12th century suggest that this custom is probably very old. The first water guns appeared in the 19th century. For example, a water fight at a US college in 1858 is documented. However, the early water guns were made of sheet metal. They quickly rusted. Only with the invention of plastic could the water gun begin its triumphant march. This was thanks to aerospace engineer Lonnie Johnson, among others. He was once tinkering with a water cooling pump. Suddenly, a jet shot out. The “Super Soaker,” one of the best-selling toys ever, was invented. In the nineties, it thrilled children all over the world.
Some parents say their child should not play with water guns because they seem so warlike. Can Sebastian understand that? “I don’t think the idea is absurd,” he says. “But the products we offer are harmless and playful. We are only concerned with one thing – the joy of summer.” Nevertheless: The wars in Ukraine and Iran occupy the world. The word pistol has taken on a different meaning. “We now prefer to speak of water blasters,” Sebastian says.
Even in the eighties, there were water guns that looked very similar to real weapons. A US authority therefore determined: “The muzzle of water guns must be orange so that there are no mix-ups,” says Kilian Klepper. He is responsible for technology at Spyra. In the workshop, he is currently printing the orange front for a prototype of the Spyra Go+.
The prototypes come from the 3D printer. A muzzle is being created here. The work on the circuit boards is so small-scale that Kilian uses a microscope for soldering. Next door, Kilian’s screen shows the blueprint of a circuit board. It controls the electronics. “I’m considering whether we should replace one of these microcontrollers with a smaller one. That way we can save three cents in production. If we produce many thousands, it pays off,” says Kilian.
One wonders how much electronics are in such a gun. One part is coated with ferrite. “This prevents electromagnetic interference. The circuit board of your water gun shouldn’t open your neighbor’s convertible roof, for example,” Kilian explains. With his expertise, he could probably also work in many other high-tech companies. Why water guns? “I just never really grew up,” he says and laughs.
Source: Own report, interviews with Spyra founder Sebastian Walter and Kilian Klepper, DEIN SPIEGEL 8/2026
