As economy fades, toy makers stress play value

Jasmin Aline Persch • E-mail

A year ago, parents readily splurged on their kids’ toys — and the industry unleashed fancy, pricey playthings.

Hasbro brought out a talking parrot for $69.99, Spinmaster a transforming robot-helicopter for $110 — and Zizzle a pinball machine, complete with lights and sound effects, for $350.

This year, parents dealing with debt, higher energy costs and housing trouble are more reserved — and are likely to opt for budget-friendly toys that lend themselves to long-lasting play, experts say. At the American International Toy Fair, which starts Sunday, manufacturers will emphasize “good play,” said Chris Byrne, an independent toy trendspotter for thetoyguy.com.

“What’s the play experience? Not just wowing kids with technology,” he said.

At the New York event — not open to the public — manufacturers will feature toys that will hit shelves later this year and may go under the Christmas tree at year’s end. Many will showcase playthings that aim to challenge kids to think, play nice with others — and leave the couch.

LeapFrog’s $49.99 Tag Reading System reads stories aloud for or along with kids as they scan it across books; Wild Planet’s Animal Scramble ($19.99-$24.99) calls out zoo animals that young kids must identify and tag to achieve the fastest combined speed or personal record if playing solo; and VTech’s $69.99 V.Motion uses a Wii-like joystick to get kids moving and schooled in science, spelling and arithmetic.

Hasbro "Sit up and beg." Good dog! Hasbro’s $179.99 Biscuit, My Lovin' Pup is a robotic golden retriever. It can do what some real dogs can't — obey six commands.

Tight purse strings
Some toys are a continuation of last year’s lavishness. Hasbro’s $179.99 robotic golden retriever does what real dogs do, even obeying commands including “give me a paw.” Fisher-Price’s $289.99 Power Wheels, which zooms up to 5 mph, transforms into a T. rex with glowing eyes and a ferocious roar. And this one takes the cake: Nikko America’s $2,700 R2D2 projects movies onto walls with its built-in DVD player, travels and turns full circle, docks iPods, plays FM radio — and speaks the language of the Star Wars character.That's an extreme case, but in general will parents spend upward of $100 on toys?

“Parents aren’t going to be happy spending $50 or more on something their kids won’t play with,” Byrne said.

The toy industry has upped the innovation recently after years of losing kid customers to digital music players and video games. Little ones are adopting technology earlier all the time — even as young as 2.

“The toy industry is certainly good at innovation — mimicking what’s hot in the rest of the world and 'kidifying' it,” said Cliff Annicelli, editor of Playthings, an industry magazine.

Toy Fair 2008 coverage Interactive: Get a sneak peak of top '08 toys   Slide show: Photos from the N.Y. toy fair   Video: Great toys being unveiled at the fair As economy fades, toy makers stress value Newsweek: Toys go high-tech — and green Toy makers tweak lines to offset rising costs

He means kid tech like Fisher-Price’s $54.99 Kid-Tough Digital Camera, which thanks to its rubber casing can endure drops on land and 30 minutes under water. Plugged-in playthings like Webkinz and Neopets, plush toys that also have virtual lives, are a hit with the kids and popular with parents, too, since they offer a child-friendly online hangout.

But can innovation soften the economic blow on the industry? Last year’s toy recalls threw the industry a curve ball — and helped drag down sales 2 percent to $22.1 billion. This year, toy prices are inflating due to both higher costs in energy and Chinese labor — and stricter toy safety.

“People who were going to make an impulse purchase might not now,” Annicelli said.

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