Imagine that! The role of a lifetime...

Everyone can relax. The world of imagination is still very real.

Electronic bells and whistles associated with many of today's toys and the media pelting kids get virtually from the crib stage have not diminished the basic desire for tutus and tiaras, swords and superhero capes. What is innate from the time children enter the world until starting school—walking, talking, sensing their surroundings—isn't about to change anytime soon, making role play vital to development and synonymous to being a child.

While specialty retailers have known it all along, big box stores have recognized that role play is enough of a commodity to have launched their own brands. Toys “R” Us, Wayne, N.J., touts its Dream Dazzler glamour and fantasy wear, rock star outfits and cheerleading sets and accessories while Target, Minneapolis, Minn., distributes Starring Me Princess Dress, Rock Star outfit, feather boas, shoes and the obligatory diamond tiara and earrings. No slouch in the glitz area is Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Ark., with its own Kid Connection brand of Hula, Flapper and Fairy Dresses alongside tiara sets and dress up shoes.

Creative play that turns a four-year-old into a race car driver or soccer player cannot be underestimated, says Rick Tomasco, vice president of sales and marketing for Pamela Drake Inc., Berkeley, Calif. Although he admits many attempts to go outside the specialty market have been met with the question as to “when our product is going to make some sound or have that 'wow' factor that apparently is needed to get people into their stores.”

Pamela Drake's Woodkins wooden dolls with colorful fabric outfits and interchangeable faces have the components that get the creative juices flowing for kids to become anything from a skateboarder to a bride, says Tomasco. The Woodkins also attract parents as both educational as well as fun activities.

Emotionally kids are still kids, says Jacqueline Lambert, director of marketing and licensing for KidKraft Inc., Dallas, Tex. “Young children may watch videos and play with electronic products but toys that engage their imagination and creativity will always be wanted. There is little substitute for a doll or dollhouse when you are 4 years old.” KidKraft's large scale Deluxe Dollhouse with bright colors and the furnishings and characters of the Pirate Ship and Princess Castle Sets cater to open-ended play that doesn't prescribe how children should feel or react, says Lambert. “Role play toys provide a safe haven for discovery and imaginative play with no boundaries.”

Information overload and more complex concepts bombarded into children's lives at earlier ages make role play almost necessary to help children make sense of the world and to explore their feelings, says Jenna Buckner, vice president, marketing, Small World Toys, Culver City, Calif. “Role play allows a child to play out aspirations and fears, to resolve conflicts, integrate concepts and behaviors learned and to become comfortable with everyday situations.”

Small World Toys stays relevant by working with grassroots organizations active in local schools to learn how it can support educational programs with new product development. Its Small World Living Line includes a food pyramid and healthy eating and food preparation tips on the back of each package to reinforce today's healthy lifestyles. Ryan's Room imaginative play line features some “up to date” accessories like Making Muscles home gym set and Online Home, an office set complete with computer and printer.

Age compression concerns are not new in the toy industry overall and proactive toymakers and retailers are addressing the issue in pretend play while remaining confident that little girls will always want to be princesses and boys avengers of evil. For instance, A Wish Come True, Bristol, Pa. has skewed back sizes of its dress-up lines more toward extra-small and small to accommodate a market that comprises 2-6 year olds, says Betsy Skaroff, director of marketing.

“A 5-year-old will enjoy what an 8-year-old used to but who now is influenced by what she sees on TV or in a store,” says Skaroff. To try and re-capture that pre-tween, A Wish Come True added a rock star outfit to its ensemble mix—complete with vinyl pants, sparkly top and fishnet stockings—yet retailers have been hesitant to give it a go. But an overall increase in its role play has prompted the manufacturer to add an infant dress-up line and accessories it markets as affordable pick-up party items.

Small Miracles, Salem, Mo. has looked to expand the use and age range of its Let's Pretend Collection and Girls' Glamour Collection by incorporating Velcro and ties to accommodate several shapes and sizes. Mix and match dress up allows girls to combine outfits as well as accessories like boas, handbags and shoes for varied role play while Let's Pretend offers realistic firefighter, veterinarian, pilot, construction worker and hair stylist outfits.

“Maybe it's the audience we cater to and the level of style and wholesome appeal,” says president Michael de Jong, adding that the company has not had to go the route of some popular fashion dolls. “I'm not so sure that kids are as jaded as is thought and there are still parents and kids who like the idea of dress- up. It's a basic desire of humans to be something different.” While dress up will always make the second quarter (Halloween) strong, de Jong says year-round sales at specialty and mid-market stores like Fortunoff's, a Metro New York phenomenon, La Toys, Cedarhurst, N.Y. and Learning Express, Devans, Mass. prove the sales punch of pretend.

The boys' market seemed a bit sparse in role play so Aeromax, Lake Barrington, Ill. set out about five years ago to offset the large girls' segment of dress up and, just as importantly, lure children away from television and video games. “We always tell retailers they never sold boys' dress up because there was never anything out there of quality,” says President Mark Levine. Toys “R” Us has the occasional Batman Action Cape and dress up set by Thinkway Toys, Markham, Ontario and Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi Lightsaber and Darth Vader Mask by Hasbro, Pawtucket, R.I. but the pickings for boys at any retail level have historically been slim.

Doubling its 2005 offerings with 10 new items, Aeromax thinks its consumers appreciate a quality, albeit a higher priced, machine washable product that can really bring unstructured role play to life. From Jr. Train Engineer and Jr. Executive Chef to Jr. Champion Racer and Doctor's Scrubs, the authenticity makes the difference, says Levine, particularly with a captured audience in children's museums and at the Kennedy Space Center. But online buying is altering the market, making tracking demographics more nebulous in really seeing what age is donning dress up, he adds.

For Kazoo & Company, Denver, Colo., role play is a significant part of the merchandise mix where margins are great if marketed well, says owner Diana Nelson. As much as she admits to her own two young sons having outgrown their Batman capes in exchange for thumb cramps from Game Boy and text messaging, the issue of age compression can be dealt with head on if retailers think outside the box.

Within the 11,000-sq.-foot store, 200 square feet are dedicated to girls dress up in a painted display depicting a castle “and a lot of pink,” says Nelson, with another 100 square feet set aside for boys role play outfits. Clippety Clop Horse and Roaring Dinosaur plush feet and headpiece from Big Boing, Sausalito, Calif., and knight fare and fairy frills from Creative Education of Canada, Point Edward, Ontario are currently stoking sales. Kazootoys.com, Denver, Colo. has just signed on with Amazon, Seattle, in a move that Nelson, who sees the wave of the future in Internet shopping is now, hopes will spike sales even more.

The Village Toy Store, Brewster, Mass., thought it was a case of too little too late when owner Mark Kielpinski started bringing in role play toys a year ago to his 750-sq-foot store. “I thought I missed the trend train but I wanted to get more girls' items that were not dolls,” he says. Small Miracles provides a four-sided pink display piece loaded with wings, wands, feather boas and tiaras that has filled the bill. Initial concerns that little girls would insist on trying on outfits before buying have proven irrelevant. “The purchase is right off the display and into the bag,” says Kielpinski.

Some pirate fare from Small World Toys—the basic sword and eye patch—are just enough to keep young buccaneers happy at this seasonal store near the beach. Space is always an issue and right now brisk sales has Kielpinski happy. “We have to zero in on what sells quickly to keep it on the floor,” he says. “I look at square inch—not square foot.”

But the beauty of the specialty store is just that—the constant eyeballing of owners—who can keep tweaking displays. At The Learning Tree, Prairie Village, Kan., owner John Gerson says role playing will never disappear because it is as vital to a child's development as is his or her first building block. Dress up is merchandised together in a fantasy-like area with puppet theatres and puppets alongside a display of colorful fairy and ballerina outfits. “We encourage kids to try on the outfits and get lost in the fantasy in the store,” says Gerson. Nearby is a kitchen setup that attracts wannabe young chefs of both genders and close to that a selection of My Pony product that evokes the veterinarian and horse trainer in many a kid, he adds.

“There's no doubt that children have been outgrowing pretend play more quickly,” says Gerson, “but it will trend back toward role play.” There is a place for the whiz, bang and lights but The Village Toy Store's Kielpinski cautions to stay the course. “Imagination needs to be allowed to grow,” he says, “and in a subtle way you can see people are ready to come back to that.”