It took the erotica industry a decade to turn the sex toy from seedy gadget to sassy lady's accessory, from vibrating rubber ducks to dolphin-shaped dildos. But men were largely left out of the fun -- until now that is.

Once the stuff of garish sex shops, vibrators underwent a small revolution in the mid-2000s, as quirky, colourful playthings flooded the market and the rotating "Rabbit" was immortalised in the US series "Sex and the City".

These days dildos in cheerful hues of pink or blue, picked up in lingerie shops or department stores across the West, nestle in the bedside tables of suburban pensioners or trendy urban singles -- barely raising an eyebrow. But now the industry's creative labs have taken on a mightier challenge: the male sex toy.