Playthings articles from February 2001

Playthings archives from February 2001

If this is February...
February 1, 2001... We are grounded by Toy Fair. Well, it's February! And you all know what that means, right? The obligatory reruns of Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliot cavorting and frolicking around in Punxsutawney, Penn., in Groundhog Day--day...

Happy New Year!
February 1, 2001... It may be February, but it's the start of a New Year to us. We may already be several weeks into the year 2001, but for toy people, the new year really doesn't start until February and Toy Fair. And here we are! Bring on the noisemakers,...

What'll they think of next?
February 1, 2001... It's truly amazing. Year after year, the industry puts its heads together and outdoes itself once again. The 2001 toy crop is in and some of the offerings can only Leave us with that age-old exclamation: what will they think of next? Guess...

The brick in the click.
February 1, 2001... Store of Knowledge leverages brand loyalty for online success The jury is in. Online spending grew 60 percent this past holiday season, with click-and-brick retailers making an impressive showing. So far, post-holiday numbers are also up,...

ASTRA reaches decade milestone.
February 1, 2001... When Mary DeSilva, owner of Smart Kids in Greenwich, Conn., takes over as ASTRA president in May, she'll be taking the reins of an organization a decade old. ASTRA "has hit its 10-year anniversary point and is in need of some re-energizing,"...

The International Toy Center.
February 1, 2001... The International Toy Center will host the International Toy Parade of Stars on Feb. 11 to coincide with the start of this year's Toy Fair. The 90-minute parade will begin at 3 p.m. at 24th Street and Madison Avenue.

International Center for Toxicology.
February 1, 2001... Children spend less time mouthing objects than previously thought, according to a study by the International Center for Toxicology. The study could affect the regulatory community which evaluates the safety of consumer products...

Hobby Industry Association.
February 1, 2001... The Hobby Industry Association will be promoting National Craft Month in March (www.i-craft.com) by encouraging stores to hold classes, contests and special events. Each day of the month will highlight a specific craft activity...

eToys.
February 1, 2001... eToys, which has shut down European operations and laid off 700 of its 1,000 U.S. employees, has set up a recorded message to handle phone calls from creditors. eToys has formed an informal creditor's committee made up of its eight largest...

Real estate.
February 1, 2001... Real estate analysts predict the vacancy rate for retail space will rise and rent prices will level off over the next six to 12 months due to a sluggish holiday season...

Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair.
February 1, 2001... At the Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair, Edmund Young, chairman of the Trade Development Council's toys advisory committee, predicted a reduction in the rate of growth for the U.S. toy retail market. The European market, meanwhile, is expected to...

Heading for Javitz.
February 1, 2001... Promoting one-stop shopping at Hong Kong pavilion Fresh from the largest turnout ever at Hong Kong's annual Toys and Games Fair, a delegation of 51 companies organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council are putting down stakes in...

24 years ago.
February 1, 2001... This year's holiday sales were no different than those in 1977. Retailers told PLAYTHING, "business turned soft in November and dead in December." January shelves were still so packed, many complained, that "restocking orders will be much...

Kids mag snags Klutz.
February 1, 2001... Klutz and the National Geographic Society have joined up in a bid to capture more young readers. National Geographic World, the kids' magazine of exploration, will turn over one page in every issue to the editors of Klutz. February's inaugural...

Inventors wanted.
February 1, 2001... University Games' National Young Game Inventors Contest offers kids ages 5 to 12 the opportunity to create their own board game. The contest winner will receive a $10,000 savings bond and have his or her own board game produced by University...

Correction.
February 1, 2001... A news brief in the December issue of PLAYTHINGS misstated the focus of a new alliance between Toys R Us and Scholastic Entertainment. Toys R Us is licensing the rights to the Scholastic brand name and will create exclusive products bearing...

Off the Shelf.
February 1, 2001... In the tradition of Robotech, a landmark production in the anime genre, Bandai's Deluxe Transforming Wing Gundam based on the popular Japanese Gundam Wing series, stands 11 inches and features 12 points of articulation. Senario's Scoozie...

Top 15 Selling Items Introduced in Only.
February 1, 2001... Ranked by dollars and based on November sales 1 Poo-Chi Robotic Dog/Tiger Electronics Introduced: April '00 Avg. retail price: $20.81 2 Tekno Robot Dog/Manley Toy Quest Introduced: June '00 Avg. retail price: $32.36...

TOY INDUSTRY MARKET REVIEW.
February 1, 2001... TOY INDUSTRY MARKET REVIEW Based on NPD's TRSTS report of retail sales Category Analysis: Licensed Toys Top New Licensed Items ...

Los Angeles.
February 1, 2001... If stores had ample inventory of Mattel's Diva Starz interactive dolls, Barbie Volkswagon Beetle cars and Barbie Shop with My Cash Register during the holiday selling season, it is likely they would have sold out of all of them Customers...

Twin Cities.
February 1, 2001... Moderate weather helped to spur holiday shoppers on their appointed rounds for the first half of December. But, by the end of the second week, snow started falling, accumulating to more than 30 inches as temperatures plunged below zero. But the...

Chicago.
February 1, 2001... "This was a season to remember--or forget--I'm not quite sure," commented the co-owner of four premium suburban toy stores. The consensus of most retailers was that there was no one item that stood out over the rest. Manhattan Toy's Groovy...

Atlanta.
February 1, 2001... Holiday 2000 was filled with technology and interesting characters, from Harry Potter to PlayStation. Christmas lists all over the area were filled with PlayStation possibilities such as THQ's Rugrats in Paris ($39.99), Acclaim's Mary-Kate...

Playthings finds the 'winners'.
February 1, 2001... Merchandising Achievement honorees use ingenuity, imagination to overcome lackluster toy year, retail turmoil. It may be true that there wasn't one clear toy 'winner' last year to inspire the trade. But it doesn't mean, however, that there...

TOYS TAKE NEW YORK.
February 1, 2001... Mattel revs up for 2001 Matchbox and Hot Wheels products are gearing up for Mattel's 2001 lineup, and some new play sets make their debut this spring. The Matchbox Basic Car Collection (ages 3 and up; sold separately, around $1 each;...

Wizard wars.
February 1, 2001... It is inevitable that the wake of the licensing ship known as Harry Potter be crowded by a school of generic, wizard-oriented product. Last year, several manufacturers scrambled to move their wizard merchandise before official Potter-y hit...

Dexter's lab notes.
February 1, 2001... The highest rated show on Cartoon Network in 2000 will see a big product push this year. Dexter's Laboratory, which debuted in Apri1 1996, is quite literally a boy-genius' sanctuary from his parents and intrusive older sister, Dee Dee. ...

Upper Deck.
February 1, 2001... Upper Deck will produce Ichiro Suzuki's, Japan's greatest hitter, first Major League trading card. Suzuki is expected to become the first Japanese non-pitcher in Major League Baseball. The company also just released a Super Bowl XXXV 21-card...

Playing Mantis.
February 1, 2001... Playing Mantis and 3DO have teamed up to make action figures based on a video game based, in turn, on little plastic soldiers. 3DO's Army Men, featuring the 'greens' versus the evil 'tans,' became a series. The 7-inch figures have 10 points of...

Palisades Marketing.
February 1, 2001... Palisades Marketing will produce action figures for various video game properties this year. Six- to 8-inch House of the Dead and Resident Evil characters are due out in February and May, respectively. Smaller, 3.25-inch Space Channel 5 figures...

Cartoon Network.
February 1, 2001... Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers are developing a Powerpuff Girls movie for summer 2002...

McDonald.
February 1, 2001... McDonald's will open a restaurant, Burger Invasion, at Disney's California Adventure Park. The deal is part of an ongoing alliance between the two companies. Under the alliance, Disney will license its classic characters as toys in McDonald's...

Hong Kong Toys.
February 1, 2001... Sixty percent of those polled at Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair said licensed characters will continue to play an important role in the market...For more buzz visit playthings.com.

Licensing Wizardry.
February 1, 2001... Will newcomers have what it takes? Without a bonafide hit driving the market, the licensing industry is cautiously optimistic about 2001. Nothing's a given anymore, no matter how big the budget or how popular the property. The fast-paced,...

Jakks plays to Josie's tune.
February 1, 2001... The Archie comic book series and animated TV show of the '70s, Josie and the Pussycats, gets feature film treatment with the live-action movie version from Universal Pictures and Riverdale Productions. The comedy stars Tara Reid and Rachel...

Potter bonanza.
February 1, 2001... Warner Brothers Consumer Products is brewing up a number of toys and games based on the live-action movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, that will hit theaters in November. Banking on the huge success of the J.K. Rowling children's...

Marc Brown parties with Arthur.
February 1, 2001... Celebration of Arthur's 25th anniversary kicks off in late March with the publication of Arthur's Nose: 25th Anniversary Limited Edition. The party kit includes arts and crafts projects and activities such as playing pin-the-bow-tie on Arthur,...

Fox goes ape.
February 1, 2001... Twentieth Century Fox's Planet of the Apes lands in theaters this summer and with it a comprehensive licensing program that promises to capitalize on the role-reversal theme of apes controlling the world. Director Tim Burton's action-adventure...

Elmo meets Emeril.
February 1, 2001... Sesame Street recently began its 32nd year on public television and the birthday is marked this month by Kmart's introduction of exclusive Fisher-Price Sesame Street infant plush. Sony Wonder's Elmo's Magic Cookbook video features chef supreme...

Croft to raid retail shelves.
February 1, 2001... Tomb Raider, the intensely popular video game series, gets the star treatment in a Paramount Pictures' big screen version this summer. Actress Angelina Jolie stars as Tomb Raider female action/adventure hero Lara Croft who protects antiquities...

Mummy births sequel.
February 1, 2001... The Mummy Returns takes up where the box office hit left off two years ago with the original cast returning along with WWF wrestling superstar The Rock as The Scorpion King. Jakks Pacific is putting out a line of action figures and accessories...

Nelvana boosts new, old franchises.
February 1, 2001... Cardcaptors, a Japanese anime series on Kids WB!, is gaining attention with licensees catering to the 5- to 10-year-old demographic. Trendmasters leads the way in TV-promoted toys that let kids recreate the story of Sakura, the young and hip...

Stalwart Simpsons line expands.
February 1, 2001... Those venerable Simpsons, stars of the long-running TV sitcom, will get a merchandising boost across various categories this year. Playmates is bowing action figures of Moe, Nelson, Kamp Krusty, Bart, 'Sunday Best' Homer, Milhouse and Otto...

Building on Bob.
February 1, 2001... Bob the Builder has made it to U.S. TV tubes on Nick Jr.'s preschool programming block and along with it a number of licensees are churning out preschool product. The model animation series comes to the states after launching in the U.K. last...

Gullane keeps on chuggin'.
February 1, 2001... Following the heels--make that wheels--of its Thomas and the Magic Railroad movie last summer, the Thomas & Friends franchise continues on track in 2001 with Learning Curve debuting items for the Thomas Wooden Railway System, including the...

Saban saves planet three new ways.
February 1, 2001... Action and adventure make up three new Saban properties that are slated for heavy licensing and promotional support as they hit television: Los Luchadores, WI.Z.A.R.D.S. and Totally Spies! Los Luchadores, a live-action kids' series to debut...

Lyrick to cultivate stable.
February 1, 2001... Expanding on last year's Barney for Baby, The Wiggles, Humongous Entertainment and Little Suzy's Zoo, Lyrick is dubbing 2001 as the year of "Making Friends and Building Brands." Barney expands its presence with Barney--Let's Go to the Zoo,...

Henson debuts new muppets.
February 1, 2001... Bear in the Big Blue House remains a TV favorite with the preschool set and last year's successful Love to Dance Bear is followed up this fall with Storytelling Bear. The new plush item comes with a cloth storybook and his pal Tutter. Kids can...

Sony spins web and Little sequel.
February 1, 2001... Both film and TV properties get big product roll-outs this year, starting off with a joint venture by Sony Pictures Consumer Products (SPCP) and Marvel Enterprises called Spider-Man Merchandising that will oversee the licensing and...

Hooray! embraces Huggy Buggy.
February 1, 2001... Huggy Buggy is ready to boogey as Hooray!, the consumer products division of itsy bitsy, positions itself in the children's publishing market nationwide in 2001 followed by the introduction of a clothing line in 2002. Retail promotions will...

Evergreens flourish in crowded forest.
February 1, 2001... Classic evergreen licenses will outlive gratuitously licensed one-hit wonders What do all gratuitously licensed, red-hot properties have in common? A brief, shining and very profitable moment in the spotlight that extends to all retailers...

Toy Fair: Does it really matter?
February 1, 2001... Let's face it. The prospect of attending this year's 98th International Toy Fair is not all thrills and excitement. In fact, many industry veterans regard the show as expensive, unproductive and wasteful. It doesn't help that the elevators are...

Video games think pink.
February 1, 2001... The stereotypical image of the bespectacled geek bathed in the harsh blue light of a television screen with a death grip on his joystick may be passe. Sixty percent of all Americans play video or computer games, according to the...

Forging ahead.
February 1, 2001... The most innovative and highest resolution game console in 2001 might not be Microsoft's Xbox or Nintendo's GameCube. It could be the dark horse with no DVD player, no stable of software developers, no television hook-up and a price tag under...

Microsoft.
February 1, 2001... Microsoft's next-generation console, Xbox, will not feature DVD movie playback capability out of the box, as was earlier reported. It will be available only with an expansion pack

Sega of Japan.
February 1, 2001... Sega of Japan's executive vice president, Shunichi Nakamura, posted an open letter to The New York Times on Sega's Japanese Web site in response to the newspaper's report that Nintendo was involved in talks to buy Sega. "This erroneous...

PlayStation.
February 1, 2001... U.S. government agencies are investigating the possibility of several thousand PlayStation 2s making their way to Iraq. The consoles can be bundled together for modeling applications and calculating ballistic data

Take Two Interactive.
February 1, 2001... Take Two Interactive and subsidiary Gathering of Developers have announced the production of the third installment in the Myth series for the PC, Myth III: The Wolf Age

QuickSilver.
February 1, 2001... QuickSilver is developing the third Master of Orion PC game for an early 2002 release. The series has been called 'Civilization in outer space,' and III aims to feature even more sociopolitical detail.

Wellspring.
February 1, 2001... Wellspring's Brighter Baby video, based on the book by Brenda Adderly, demonstrates techniques to stimulate babies including massage

PBS Kids.
February 1, 2001... Two new Zoboomafoo videos from PBS Kids will hit stores in March.

Violence is not child's play.
February 1, 2001... Every day, parents come into my friend Karen's toy store and ask her to recommend an 'educational' toy for their child. "I tell them that every toy is educational," she says and asks parents, what do they want their child to learn? Blocks...