EXCLUSIVELY AT PLAYTHINGS.COM

In an exclusive interview, TIA's Carter Keithley and Marian Bossard discuss this year's reformatted International Fall Toy Show at the Javits Center, TIA's commitment to New York as a trade show location and what role the trade association should play in influencing whether there will be a new toy industry showroom building in Manhattan.

Holiday books and toys, New Orleans-inspired items, and trading cards have all recently been featured in a Playthings.com weekly Product Showcase. Showcased companies include Candlewick, Chronicle Books, Inkworks, Kids Can Press, Late for the Sky, McNeil Designs, Nickelodeon Home Entertainment, Pelican Publishing, Penguin, Putumayo, Ravensburger/FX Schmid, SBG/bEqual, Scholastic and Talicor.

Upscale specialty toy retailer FAO Schwarz plans to open two new stores in New York City, one in Union Square in Manhattan and the other in Brooklyn's Park Slope. The first is expected to open summer 2007, the second in 2008.

The Easy-Bake Oven and Lionel Trains were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play.

Tower Records, which offered a variety of collectible toys at its 89 stores in 20 states, will see all its locations closed by Christmas, according to Great American Group, the liquidation company that bought the bankrupt audio and video retailer.

RC2 Corp. sold off all the capital stock of RC2 South, its collectible trading card business, and all of the assets of its die-cast sports business to FCS Enterprises in order to better focus on its core infant and children's toy lines.