Retail is all dolled up

Unless otherwise noted, all prices listed are retail prices.

Down-home retailers concur: Groovy Girls are here to stay, Thomas and Friends are moving well (at both mass and specialty) and Hasbro is topping the charts with three hot items.

In specialty stores

Jerry Shaw, store manager at a combo Zany Brainy/The Right Start, broke down the best-selling toys into categories. He tells PLAYTHINGS, "Manhattan Toy's Groovy Girls, Barbie from Mattel, Musical Ferris Wheel from K'nex and the Pirate Ship from Playmobil are always on top!" For children ages five and six, the wooden toys and puzzles from Melissa and Doug are among the favorites. In the infant category, Shaw admits, "there is a big craze for the Baby Einstein line of products by Kids II." He also notes, "Everyone is looking forward to the holiday season when we expect Flavas dolls from Mattel to be a big hot ticket item."

Howard Dunnam, owner of Enchanted Attic, seconded the Manhattan Toy phenomenon. "Groovy Girls always do well for us," he tells PLAYTHINGS. Also of note are Thomas and Friends train sets from RC2 Corp., Breyer horses and puzzles from assorted companies. Dunnam points out, too, that currently, sales on all Lee Middleton dolls seemed to be really picking up. When asked what he thought of potential trends, the retailer quipped that he hadn't seen "any industry trends as of late. But I sure wish I did," he adds.

Steve Sanders, sales manager at Hobby Town USA, puts Brio and Thomas the Tank Engine train sets on the top of his steady sales list. He noted an increased sales volume in slot cars, cars that race on an electric track, from Scalextric. Sanders also filed R/C Micro Sizers from Hobbico on his A-list.

At mass market

In the local big boxes, Hasbro appears to be cornering the market on top sales. Birmingham survey says, three out of the top five big sellers are made by this toy giant. At Toys R Us, Transformers are doing well and moving strong on the comeback trail. Beyblades tops continue to be a hot collectible, and now, Hasbro's Radical Rollin' Rachel, an R/C skater doll, is turning heads all over town.

It seems like a few hot toy items have made the crossover from specialty store to mass market and are making the hit list on both spectrums. They are Thomas and the highly-anticipated Flavas dolls, which had launched at FAO. According to a K-B Toy Works sales assistant, Flavas are already in stock and flying off the shelves.

Jay Jay the Jet Plane from Action Products is a new big seller at this Toys R Us. But, when it comes to steady-selling standby items at KB Toy Works, it's Bratz Dolls, My Theme Barbie and the perpetually popular Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game distributed by Upper Deck.

A sales associate at Target believes Pixter from Fisher-Price is an all-time great seller, as are Mattel's action figures. Right now, the most highly sought-after figures are the "new" Batman and Justice League figures. Another blast from the past is hot at Target: Berry Best Friends Strawberry Shortcake from Bandai America.

Finally, area toy stores agree that consumers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Pokémon Pinball from Nintendo. In addition, other video games like Donkey Kong Country and 2004 Madden—both from Nintendo—along with Sony for PlayStation II's College Football are already finding a home for themselves in sweet Birmingham.

At the mass level, the same categories—action figures, trading cards and dolls—keep cropping up, while in specialty, the spotlight is on Thomas of railway fame.

In specialty stores

Sara Brennan, a new manager at Education Station in Marshall, Mo., attests that Thomas outshines all toy categories. The store runs a Thomas promotion each week featuring one particular item on sale. Brennan tells PLAYTHINGS that just before school started this year, games and books specific to Missouri were swept up by teachers, particularly Gary Grimm's Missouri Jingo ($12.95); other states and seasonal topic-related items are also available. Also popular and corresponding to the state's centennial celebration is American Historical Games' Lewis & Clark, An Epic American Journey ($39.95).

Right before the entrance to the Kid's Stuff section of Downtown Book and Toy in Jefferson City, Mo., is the top-selling Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway cars. (This retail venue is one of 10 family-owned specialty stores in the Midwest, six of which carry toys.) Directly behind it in the center aisle is a display featuring Manhattan Toy's Groovy Girls, along with sets upon sets of craft kits, including a bead maker from Small World Toys, pottery wheel from NSI, stencils from Dover, paints from Binney & Smith and Make A Plate from Makit Products.

Another big hit is the entire SpyGear line from Wild Planet Toys.

Store manager Cecelia McClure tells PLAYTHINGS that all of the shop's infant toys sell well and that she constantly orders new product in this category. The latest is by a new company, Lazy Bee, which offers soft and fuzzy interactive toys.

McClure notes three factors that determine what parents buy for their kids: longevity of the toy, whether or not it's multifunctional and its play value from an educational standpoint. For the kids, she says, it's all about what's currently out at the movies.

At mass market

The big names, according to a Kmart sales associate, are: Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! (Bandai's action figures and Upper Deck's trading cards), Hasbro's Beyblade high-performance tops, Mattel's My Scene and Flavas dolls. "Digimon card games go like hot cakes, even at $9.89," he tells PLAYTHINGS. "When a cartoon comes out, that item goes crazy."

The sales associate notes that parents flock to buy LeapFrog's LeapPad interactive books and cartridges ($14.99 each). Also popular is the Fast and Furious (from the movie by the same name) Dancing Car from RC2 Corp.

Popular toys at Target, because they are in a medium price range, are the Kool Toyz series; the plastic, voice-activated Neopets from Thinkway Toys at $10.79, as well as Bandai's Power Rangers action figures, remote control cars from assorted manufactuers and the ever-popular Play Doh from Hasbro.

At the Columbia, Mo., Toys R Us, the No. 1-selling item this past summer was Toy Biz's Hulk Hands ($17.99). "Kids can have a Hulk-theme birthday party with Hulk items," a sales clerk says. Next in line for boys are Marvel's Spider-Man figures, Hot Wheels from Mattel, and remote control cars, from Nikko.

For girls, the top sellers in the doll department are Dora the Explorer from Fisher-Price and Mattel's Barbie, with Bratz dolls from MGA Entertainment and Flavas from Mattel close behind. Bandai's Berry Best Friends Strawberry Shortcake is big for the younger set. Thinkway Toys' Neopets are very popular here, too, and Playmates' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are still hanging in there.

At KB Toys, spokesman John Reilly tells PLAYTHINGS that Bratz and Beyblades are trending well. "And look out for the George W. Bush action figure," he forecasts. "It's not out on the shelves yet, but already thousands of requests for the Elite Force Naval Aviator toy have poured in."

In addition, a sales associate at the KB Toy & Hobby Shop in Columbia noted that you can't overlook the buying power of the numerous collectors, who snatch up Matchbox and other cars from Mattel and The Lord of the Rings action figures from Play Along.