Our readers write

Dear Playthings,

Allow me to thank you for an excellent presentation of the toy business each month to the toy industry.

I am thankful to have held the position of Design Director for the past—wow, it's been about 30 years already!—for one of the most successful toy invention firms in the world. Although we do what we can to keep knowledgeable of the industry, Playthings has always filled so many of the inevitable gaps in information.

I would like to comment on the editorial “We See the Light” in the recent February issue.

As a company concerned with kids, we are very aware of a few good “moral guardians of our children,” with James Dobson's “Focus on the Family,” in particular being one of them. I suppose that since our company has many times rejected the development of toy themes we felt were questionable, we, too, could be considered “moral guardians” of sorts. Unfortunately, there's a lot of questionable product being developed and introduced for children, solely for profit motive and without concern over its potential impact on young minds. Given that environment, some “moral guardians” are a good thing.

The recent SpongeBob news story was a sensationalist misinterpretation of an address given by Dr. Dobson in Washington, D.C., during the recent inauguration. I refer you to the following Web site: www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0035339.cfm.

I speak for our company when I tell you that I am grateful for individuals and organizations that risk ridicule by preserving a crumbling moral awareness in our society.

In this social climate, one would anticipate criticism from many magazines and media. However, we wouldn't expect the ridicule to be coming from Playthings, whose role in part, is to maintain a high standard of ethics in the toy industry. Judging from the relationships we have accumulated over the past many years in the toy business, I think you missed the general sentiment of your audience.

Sincerely,

Rick Kamrath

To the editor,

The newest issue of Playthings is great! It looks wonderful and contains a lot of excellent info.

I loved your opening about SpongeBob and the rest of those troublemakers! It was really funny.

I hope you don't get bombarded by people who don't find the humor in it, and will make an issue out of it.

Regards,

Katherine Cobb

Maria —

I just had the chance to review the “Toy Parade” edition as all of us at Front Porch Classics prepare for Toy Fair.

Also — your editorial “We see the light” really hit home — especially the punch line about how nice it would be to see the resources spent on real childhood plagues and promoting childhood enhancements. As a writer (when I'm not a game guy), I just plain liked how you delivered the message.

Steve Edmiston

President

Front Porch Classics