What's Selling

If you're a retailer and would like to take part in PLAYTHINGS' monthly survey of what's selling, e-mail the editors at dgerardi@cahners.com.

Unless otherwise noted, all prices listed below are retail prices.

At Novi's Twelve Oaks Mall in the northwest suburb of Detroit, Mich., toy shoppers were able to find something for just about all tastes. Cheri Sims, manager of White Rabbits Toys, reported that many Groovy Girls had found new homes for the holiday season. "Groovy Girls did really well," she said, "along with Douglas Plush."

Science toys were also steady movers for White Rabbit Toys with Geo-Safari and globes leading the way. This was a trend also seen at The Learning Tree, located across the street at the West Oaks Mall where LeapFrog's Leap Pad and the books that accompany the popular teaching toys were the other notable hot items for the educational toy specialty retailer.

Many a bear had been adopted by lovers of the cuddly creatures from Build-A-Bear Workshop in Twelve Oaks. The store, which was crowded the week following Christmas, had many happy customers redeeming their "bear bucks" gift certificates. Patriotism was in the air, and as firefighter outfits remained popular accessories for newly adopted bears (and other plush animals).

Games were selling well across the mall at Wizards of the Coast, the largest of their stores in the state of Michigan. Products tied in to the popular TV series The Simpsons were available in all shapes and sizes with Simpson's Monopoly one of the steadiest movers. The store, which holds weekly computer game tournaments, had also done well with PC software. Across Twelve Oaks Mall the one ring truly ruled all at the Games Workshop store. Sales associate Quinn Fox told PLAYTHINGS that, "40 to 50 boxes of Lord of the Rings miniature figures had sold before the movie was released and then double since then."

The seasonal Lego kiosk in the large suburban mall continued to draw shoppers looking for building sets, but the magic of Harry Potter couldn't bring in any additional products as the toys tied to the young wizard had long since disappeared. Bionicle was the other hot Lego line for the holidays but sets based on Star Wars seemed to need the Force as they lingered on the shelves.

Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings continued to clean up at the box office as the films raked in the profits with repeat viewers. The trend was also apparent at the West Oaks' Toys R Us where many of action figures and toy sets were increasingly being swept up by post-holiday shoppers. Barbie's shelves were noticeably less than filled and the large toy retailer had many shoppers, including children, looking for post-Christmas bargains. Perhaps no creatures were stirring the night before Christmas but that certainly wasn't the case the day after—customers were stirring and shopping for toys of all sizes.

Because GameCube, Xbox , et al., were among the brightest lights at Christmas, it is a sure bet that video games will follow. Some anticipated recent and upcoming releases include Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for Xbox, Sega's Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for GameCube and Jet Set Radio Future for Xbox, Sony's Parappa the Rapper 2 for PS2 and LucasArts' Star Wars Obi-Wan for Xbox.

A Desert Hot Springs model train dealer expected a re-order of Bachmann's Harry Potter Hogwarts Express set to reach his store this month. "That train, the three-car version, sold out in October," the owner told PLAYTHINGS. He forecast that his large store will have radio-controlled airplanes from Hanger 9 in April and active rockets from Quest and Estes in May.

Easter plush will claim front-end display in many toy stores this month, as the holiday arrives early. Children's books made the January ordering list of a toy store located in a mid-California tourist destination. The owner said that while December sales were good, "that hardly compensates for the remainder of 2001."

Folkmanis puppets, Stuff Designs' BeamO Flying Hoops and Lunastix (or juggling sticks) from Liston Concepts launched this retailer's list of current sellers.

William Mark's Air Burst Rockets, Ty's Beanie Boppers (which the owner regards as "charmers") and GeoMag Italian magnetic construction sets continued the list, with Smethport Specialty's magnetic playsets and, Schylling's small, under-$5 toys such as harmonicas completing it.

It is well known that January's shoppers lean toward lower-priced merchandise. At a downtown San Diego mall toy store, we watched a little girl buy a Blue Sabre personalized license plate. Another girl examined Mattel's Barbie Dazzle long pink gown with faux fur. This store also featured small wind-up toys at $1.99.

Even though it was January, outdoor toys were moving well at a coastal retailer that had opened only six months prior. Items included Radio Flyer's wagons, tricycles, bicycles with training wheels, scooters and racecar pedal cars. Xylo's flying gyroscopes, William Mark's Air Burst Rockets and Lunastix juggling sticks from Liston Concepts were also moving, according to the owner. As for indoor hits, she mentioned a big pink plush bunny from Amela, Lego's Bionicle and Progressive Trading's Magz construction sets.

Manhattan Toy's Groovy Girls and their wealth of accessories topped the current seller list of a two-store Danville owner. Learning Curve's Thomas the Tank Engine and accessories as well as Aurora's plush animals—such as winged cats called Catapillers—were both sellouts; as were Mud Pies ceramic baby gifts.

In Cambria, a retailer told PLAYTHINGS her customers were buying Color Workshop's BloPens ($6.95 for the five-pack) and Lego's Bionicle. Applause's Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, Woodkins from Pamela Drake and Klutz craft books—especially those with fairies—were also selling well at the store.

At a West Los Angeles model train store, Lionel's New York Central Flyer with realistic rail sounds and its Penn Freight set were current leaders. Additional notables included Lionel's Christmas train set, LGB's American train set and its European set along with the Walthers HO-scale set and the Athearn set.

Asked if the demise of Amtrak—its fate rests with the U.S. Congress this year—would impact model train retailers, the store's spokesperson conceded, "it might."

New York might be the city that never sleeps but Las Vegas is a town that never stops, and this playground for high rollers has also never been more family friendly. Even business travelers and couples looking for a short getaway have nearly endless opportunities to pick up gifts for the kids that were left at home.

While the Las Vegas Strip is like a fantasyland with themed hotels, the aging Circus Circus Hotel and Casino remains the most family friendly. Fittingly the Houdini Magic Shop had plenty of items to appeal to children of all ages. Masks and magic cards remain year-round steady sellers, and where else can you find a full-size gorilla suit when you need one? Also located in the hotel is the Circus Kids, a shop that has nearly a zoo full of plush animals looking to snuggle with children lucky enough to join mom and dad in Vegas.

The Fashion Show Mall, located at the mid-way point on the Strip, caters more to the high roller with shops like Neiman-Marcus, and the large and friendly Disney store is welcoming with numerous Winnie the Pooh activity toys and a large sampling of Monsters, Inc. products. Disney Monopoly and Toy Story figures also greeted visitors and continued to appear to be steady sellers in the post holiday season.

Across the mall at Brats the focus was on the younger consumer. Sanrio's Hello Kitty offered greetings to shoppers and Groovy Girls remained well into the groove with young girls looking for that alternative to Barbie. The fashion plush toys were still very popular reports Yvette Mouer, manager of the store. For younger boys, mechanical animals and RC skateboards were among the constant sellers.

At Electronics Boutique, the video game console war was in full swing, but the staff admitted that Microsoft's Xbox, Nintendo's GameCube and Sony's PlayStation 2 were still neck and neck (and neck) for overall sales. Hot titles were the action-based Halo (by Microsoft) and Dead or Alive 3 (by Tecmo) for Xbox and Rockstar's gangster-themed Grand Theft Auto 3 for PS2. "We're almost sold out completely on Xbox and GameCube, and they are still selling," a sales associate at the store told PLAYTHINGS.

The consoles were also continuing to sell out at FAO Schwarz in Caesar's Palace. The second largest FAO location saw strong sales for numerous versions of the Monopoly board game—with the Las Vegas edition being the most popular, of course—while Barbie continued to be a shopper favorite. The sales staff was happy to report that all things plush, including Steiff and Douglas Cuddle Toy, were year-round crowd pleasers. Harry Potter and SpongeBob-related products rounded out the other must-have items for visitors, and the surprise up-and-coming item for the spring were the new line of off-road skateboards.

From the reports of the various retailers, even if their parents didn't have luck at the tables, sales of toys suggested that their kids were scoring big around the Las Vegas Strip.