Stock Exchanges

Kids at Heart

• Home is Where the Heart Is dollhouse ($100), Small World, Culver City, Calif.
• Terrace Dollhouse ($100), PlanToys, Bangkok, Thailand
• Home Again, Home Again dollhouse ($120), basement ($70), Small World
• My First Dollhouse ($60), PlanToys
• Preschool pounding benches, shape sorters/stackers ($15+), PlanToys
• Baby rattles ($15), Haba USA (Habermaass), Skaneateles, N.Y.
• Knights, pirates, wild animals ($0.75+), Playmobil, Cranbury, N.J.
• Wooden Sink and Stove role-play combo ($170), Small World

Dollhouses were the hottest holiday movers at Kids at Heart, says owner Sarah Green, who adds, "Home is Where the Heart Is is my favorite dollhouse because it's accessible from all sides. It's great for younger kids, because they don't have to reach in all the way to the back, and for multiple children to play with at one time." Baby toys are another key category for Green. "We always sell a ton," she says. "Plan is probably our top selling baby line." For older children, "We always do well with Playmobil—how can you not? It's good stuff!" she says, noting that knights and pirates are the most popular themes, followed by farm playsets and animals.

The Perfect Toy

• PlayFoam ($9.98), Educational Insights, Rancho Dominguez, Calif.
• Webkinz $(9.98) and Lil' Kinz ($7.98) plush pets, Ganz, Cheektowaga, N.Y.
• Blokus ($29.98), Educational Insights
• Tree House Playset ($109.98), Melissa & Doug, Westport, Conn.
• Hullabaloo ($24.98), Cranium, Seattle
• Cadoo ($19.98), Cranium
• The Amazing Labyrinth ($24.98), Ravensburger, Newton, N.H.
• Knights ($4.98+), Papo (Hotaling Imports), Sherrill, N.Y.
• Animals ($4.98+), Schleich, Ottowa
• Lego playsets ($4.98+), Enfield, Conn.
• PlasmaCar ($65), PlaSmart, Ottowa
• Calico Critters ($8+), International Playthings, Parsippany, N.J.

"PlayFoam is probably the number one thing that we sell," says The Perfect Toy owner Sara Scott. "PlayFoam is impressive—as are the Webkinz." Her shop sold nearly 1,000 packages of PlayFoam in 2006 alone, while Webkinz sales for the year number in the thousands, she says. The Perfect Toy also sells a lot of games for both older and younger kids, Scott says, adding, "The Cranium games always do really well; we sell quite a few of those." In addition, "Papo figures and Schleich figures are still big this year, and Lego is still really good," Scott says. The top theme in Lego at the moment? Star Wars, Scott says, though the Mindstorms kits were still popular big-ticket items in 2006.

Ouray Toys

• Motorized Ice Cream Cone ($8.95), Hog Wild, Portland, Ore.
• Moo Mixer ($10.95) and Supreme Moo Mixer ($12.95), Hog Wild
• Butterfly Pavilion ($29.95), Insect Lore, Shafter, Calif.
• Ladybug Land ($14.95), Insect Lore
• Antworks habitats ($19.95+), Fascinations, Seattle
• Picture puzzles ($6.95+), Ceaco, Watertown, Mass.
• Animals ($1.95+), Schleich
• Large plush ($18+), Melissa & Doug
• Keesdrow game ($24.95), Pywacket, St. Cloud, Minn.
• Blokus ($29.98), Educational Insights
• Magna Morphs ($14.95), K&M International, Twinsburg, Ohio
• Ultra Stomp Rockets ($11.95+) and refills ($3.95), D&L, Porterville, Calif.

"Dave Barry, the columnist, had listed the top funky Christmas presents and one of them was the rotating ice cream cone, 'available at Ouray Toys'—and our phone just rang off the hook," says Ray Derouin, who co-owns the shop with his wife. "Another thing we're doing an awful lot with is the full line of Schleich animals, and they have a new Western line that is absolutely beautiful. The detail is just incredible." Ouray Toys' Web site, which is linked to Amazon.com, gets a steady stream of orders for the animals as well as for Schleich's World of Knights figures, Derouin says. He also notes that Jeep-themed products are typically a huge hit in Ouray. "This is the Jeep capitol of the world," he says. "Everybody comes up here in the summer to Jeep on the little mountain roads that go up to the gold mines, so anytime we can get any little metal Jeep vehicles, we buy those by the gross."

Curious Kidstuff

• Faucet Light ($16.95), Hog Wild
• Moo Mixer ($10.95) and Supreme Moo Mixer ($12.95), Hog Wild
• Twirling Spaghetti Fork ($8.95), Hog Wild
• Uglydolls ($10+), Pretty Ugly
• Webkinz $(9.98) and Lil' Kinz ($7.98) plush pets, Ganz
• Quadrilla marble runs ($49.95+), Hape International, Sherwood Park, Alberta

Engaging store displays, a unique selection of items, and a base of quality product lines from manufacturers that she knows and trusts are key to her shop's recent success, Curious Kidstuff owner Anna Walker tells Playthings. "My store, I put a lot more inventory in it," she says. "I have a wider selection [then a year and a half ago, when I bought it from my partner]." Some current items that are fiercely in demand include impulse gifts and kid-perfect gadgets like Hog Wild's Home & Castle line of mostly food-related playthings, plus the ubiquitous Uglydolls and Webkinz that kids these days are crazy about. The various Hape wooden marble runs have also been popular, largely because they are assembled and displayed in the store for customers to see, Walker says. "We're really hands-on," she adds. "There's a lot of things in our store. We do arts classes and birthday parties" as well as play days, all of which help to drive sales, she says. Next on the horizon for Curious Kidstuff? More baby products! Walker says she intends to expand her offerings in the category in line with rising customer demand.