Time Marches On

Yes, it was another tumultuous year in the toy business. At retail, the top three accounts—Wal-Mart, Toys “R” Us and Target—each continued to move and counter-move to gain an advantage over threats from the other two. Toys “R” Us made the biggest waves with an early-year announcement of dozens of store closings, the naming of a new CEO and the inevitable executive suite shake-ups that follow the installment of a new boss in a troubled enterprise. In the manufacturing realm, it was a typically busy period of supplier consolidation as companies like Jakks Pacific, CDI, Wham-O, Educational Insights, Imperial Toy, Learning Resources and Action Products got valuable practice in the art of the deal. Meanwhile, despite the best efforts of many, it was still no deal when it came to finding a new home for the industry's International Toy Center refugees.

In typical toy business fashion, 2006 got off to a fast start as manufacturers and retailers looked to shake themselves off from a hard holiday season and start anew. Hasbro got the ball rolling with the month's (and possibly the year's) biggest licensing news: securing the master toy rights to Marvel's more than 5,000 comic book characters away from former rights-holder Toy Biz World Wide. A week later, the company announces it was streamlining from two U.S. units—toys and games—down to one…Jakks Pacific purchases role-play products producer Creative Designs International, and Wham-O is sold to Jeff Hsieh's Cornerstone Overseas Investments, owner of all or part of toymakers like Grand Toys, International Playthings and Zizzle…Meanwhile, the Toy Industry Association says its fall toy show would have a new home for 2006: Manhattan's Javits Convention Center.

Target officially unveils its Time to Play! specialty toy boutiques in nearly 1,400 stores. The assortment would include more than 150 SKUs from Klutz, Schleich and Educational Insights, among others…Educational Insights purchases learning game maker Purple Pebble Games, while Imperial Toy was sold by founder Fred Kort's family to its current co-presidents, Peter Tiger and Art Hirsch…During the American International Toy Fair, a record snow fall brings the entire city of New York to a near standstill on the show's first official day. Just days before, TIA's board says it would keep key tradeshows in New York “now and in the foreseeable future” and that it would no longer actively participate in finding a new toy industry showroom building. A private group, New York Toy Tenants (NYTT), takes up the search…In other show news, the inaugural New York ComicCon is forced to close its doors briefly as attendance overwhelmed its projections as well as fire safety codes.

The family of a 22-month-old child files suit against Rose Art alleging the boy died from ingesting magnets from Magnetix building sets. Rose Art responds with a voluntary replacement offer but no recall…A New Jersey court dissolves the ecommerce deal between Toysrus.com and Amazon.com after accusations that Amazon broke the terms of a deal that gave TRU exclusive rights to sell toys through Amazon's site…K'Nex is granted North American distribution rights to BRIO's toys, leading to the closure of the Swedish toy maker's U.S. office…Wal-Mart begins taking pre-orders for the mysterious T.M.X. Elmo…and the International Toy Center officially closes, although some tenants refuse to leave.

Toys “R” Us CEO Jerry Storch tells TIA ToyCon attendees the retailer's woes “are all our fault” and outlines a “play to win” strategy to turn the company's domestic toy stores around…Wal-Mart declares a plan to make its stores “more local” and create a more specialty atmosphere…Privately held outdoor toy maker Step2 is sold to equity firm Liberty Partners. “Change is growth,” a company spokesperson tells Playthings…4Kids Entertainment announces a new subsidiary, 4sight licensing solutions inc., that will specialize in the marketing and licensing of brands geared primarily to adults, teens and tweens…With the search for a toy showroom building continuing without success in the face of a hot Manhattan real estate market, NYTT warns potential Fall Toy Show exhibitors to book space at Javits or risk getting shut out of the show.

The Bead Shop officially changes its name to Fashion Angel Enterprises in a move designed to better reflect the 10-year-old company's current product lines and design direction. “Our name under The Bead Shop had become too restrictive,” co-owner Mark Miller tells Playthings. “We are not just about beads”… Lego extends its Lego Builders of Tomorrow charity toy drive through the summer. The toymaker promises to donate one Lego brick for every Lego brick consumers send in to the company to children in New Orleans and the rest of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast region…Universal announces that Curious George will finally make it to television in the fall while Viz Media says the long-running manga series Dragonball Z will end in summer…Plan Creations sets up a Palo Alto, Calif., office to distribute its PlanToys wooden playthings following the demise of the company's former North American distributor, BRIO.

Disney/Pixar's Cars grosses $60.1 million in its debut weekend, on its way to more than $240 million in domestic ticket sales…Toys “R” Us announces a new return policy that mandates customers bring a dated receipt in order to get their money back; previously people could return most items without one…Mattel signs a long-term deal for global master toy rights to Cartoon Network's original properties for the 6 to 11 age group…Japanese toymakers Tomy and Takara combine their U.S. headquarters at a facility in Santa Ana, Calif.…The showroom building search takes a turn for the positive with an 11-story building at 636 Eleventh Ave. “We think this building works,” says NYTT's Steven Greenfield…Lego begins outsourcing a majority of its North American operations to a firm in Mexico and closing most of its Enfield, Conn., facilities…Construction toy maker Mega Bloks changes its name to Mega Brands.

Faced with continuing financial declines, LeapFrog ousts CEO Thomas Kalinske and installs board member and Internet entrepreneur Jeffrey Katz as president and CEO…Their union dissolved, Toysrus.com and Amazon.com launch their respective toy and infant/juvenile products stores…Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man's Chest takes in a record $135 million in its first weekend and keeps the pirate craze alive through Halloween…MGA Entertainment takes a stake in Germany's Zapf Creation AG and will distribute the doll maker's products in North and South/Latin America while Zapf oversees distribution of MGA's toys in certain European countries…Mattel leaps deep into the electronic toys business with the acquisition of Hong Kong's Radica Games for $230 million.

Fisher-Price unveils its secret-until-shelved T.M.X. Elmo to much media attention. The laughing plush toy quickly becomes very hard to find…Television game show Deal or No Deal inspires a raft of product and a prominent promotional campaign at Toys “R” Us stores…Parker Bros.' updated Monopoly: Here and Now Edition replaces the game's Atlantic City landmarks with more contemporary icons voted on by more than 3 million consumers…MGA Entertainment purchases The Little Tikes Co. from Newell Rubbermaid...Learning Resources buys Educational Insights for approximately $24 million…Action Products International loses CFO John Oliver…Hasbro recalls approximately 255,000 units of its Playskool-branded Team Talkin' Tool Bench following the deaths of two preschoolers who suffocated when oversized, plastic toy nails sold with the tool-bench toys became forcefully lodged in their throats. The company also celebrates Play-Doh's 50th anniversary…The deal for the toy building at 636 Eleventh Ave. quietly dissolves from a lack of signed leases.

Corgi International acquires Cards Inc. and merges with Master Replicas in a deal among makers of licensed collectibles…Build-A-Bear Workshop details plans to enter the German market by year's end with the opening of two stores in Hamburg, Germany…Tower Records, the audio, video, book and collectible toys retailer, is auctioned to a liquidator that plans to have all 89 of the chain's stores shut by Christmas…Action Products merges with a computer support services firm in a move designed to “take away quite a bit of the (financial) burden of being a public company,” CEO Ron Kaplan tells Playthings…Retailers limit pre-orders of November's next generation video game consoles, Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii…Exhibitors at the first Javits Center-based Fall Toy Show are generally pleased with the experience despite the sticker shock. At Wal-Mart, toy shoppers find prices rolled back on more than 100 toys in a move to draw early holiday shoppers away from toy-selling rivals.

RC2 Corp. sells off the stock of RC2 South, its collectible trading card business, and all of the assets of its die-cast sports collectibles business to FCS Enterprises. “Divesting of the trading card and sports collectibles business is consistent with our strategic focus to achieve sustainable organic growth and to concentrate our efforts on our higher growth infant products and children's toys categories,” says Curt Stoelting, CEO…Halloween costume maker Disguise expands its international licensing agreement with Mattel for Barbie-themed costumes and dress-up accessories to include North American rights starting in 2007...The Easy-Bake Oven and Lionel electric trains are inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play…Sony and Nintendo's next generation consoles launch just days apart, joining T.M.X. Elmo in the media's too-hot-to-have-in-stock holiday toy stories.