Toying with the past

Associated Press

NEW YORK — As forward-looking as the toy industry claims to be, companies like Hasbro and Mattel are borrowing from the past as they try to find the top toys for 2002.

Hasbro Inc., whose decades-old Easy Bake Oven has been a perennial bestseller, is launching Boy’s Queasy Bake Oven, which makes edible "mud and crud" cakes, drinks that fizz and dog bones.

After scoring a hit last holiday season with Pixter, a hand-held electronic drawing device, Mattel Inc.’s Fisher-Price division whipped up a new version called Pixter Plus.

"A lot of new products this year are tied to past successes. This will be a strong year for line extensions," said Jim Silver, publisher of The Toy Book, an industry monthly. "This is the best way to reduce risk. Everyone is trying to play it safe."

Toy makers are still chasing new fads such as this year’s spinning tops that copy the success of Beyblade from Japan, and they’re planning plenty of products linked to this year’s movies. But enhancing past bestsellers with new technology — which became a key strategy with Mattel two years ago — is becoming more commonplace in the $23 billion traditional toy industry, analysts say.

Mattel’s girls division is coming out with Fashion Divas, collectible interactive dolls that are supposed to be even trendier than its best-selling Diva Starz.

And Spin Master Toys, which sold out of Shrinky Dink ovens during the last holiday season, has extended the line to include more accessories. It is also marketing an electronic spinoff of AirHogs, launched in 1998.

Such a safe approach comes at a time when the industry is battling a weak economy, a re-evaluation of family values and a shrinking number of retailers that sell toys. Such factors are expected to make this year a big challenge for the industry, which is preparing for the annual American International Toy Fair, a trade expo starting Feb. 10 in New York.

"Toy makers are facing fewer buyers, less shelf space and more pressure on their profit margins," said Chris Byrne, an independent toy consultant. "The toy industry is also in flux as it grapples to figure how who its audience is."

Toy makers are watching the restructuring of Kmart Corp. The discounter filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 22 and is expected to close anywhere from 200 to 700 stores. Kmart had about 7.4 percent of U.S. toy sales in 2000, according to NPD Inc., a Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm. NPD will release 2001 figures this month.

Meanwhile, Toys R Us Inc., the nation’s second-largest toy seller after Wal-Mart Stores Inc., announced Monday it would close 64 stores as part of a plan to cut costs. Regional discounter Ames Department Store Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in August, has closed another 54 stores, leaving it with 333.

"Kmart represents a very large portion of toy sales at retail," said Tom Conley, president of the Toy Industry Association, which is sponsoring the American International Toy Fair. "In my experience, it has never been proven that (lost sales) go elsewhere. Sales could definitely evaporate."

Toy retailers saw revenues plunge in the aftermath of Sept. 11, following the overall trend in retail. Sales bounced back after Thanksgiving, fed by toys tied to the movies "Monsters, Inc." and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," but the improvement came too late for most manufacturers.

Clearly, the terror attacks changed the buying habits of parents, who are less inclined to buy toys associated with violence, and are more drawn to board games and other family-oriented activities. Heroic action figures like Fisher-Price’s Rescue Heroes and Hasbro’s GI Joe, also have done well.

As always, movies are the inspiration for hundreds of new toys. The industry is particularly bullish about "Spiderman," scheduled to be released May 3, and "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones," arriving in theaters May 16.

These products should help jump-start toy sales in the first half. Hasbro is the main supplier for the toys linked to "Star Wars," while Toy Biz is the lead supplier for the "Spiderman" movie.