Ride-on toys are returning to the classics this year, with manufacturers looking to combine nostalgic lines with today's technology. It's a product segment that continues to be a popular category for the pre-school age group; a recent American Baby survey reported that 77 percent of families with toddlers own a ride-on toy. And while ride-ons have generally been a mass-market oriented product, new introductions from high-end manufacturers and specialty-only lines have helped boost sales for many specialty toy, catalog and online retailers (see sidebar).

Ride-ons are not only ubiquitous in homes of young children, the toys are also a popular gift item; American Baby's survey found that 48 percent of moms received ride-on toys as gifts. Grandparents are especially likely to buy ride-ons for their grandchildren, and many of the major players in this category reported the growing baby boomer population was giving their ride-on sales a nice boost.

“Grandparents like to wow their grandchildren, and (ride-on toys are) usually a bigger box,” explains Rick Muraski, executive vice president of South Plainfield, N.J.-based toy maker Chicco USA.

Robert Pasin, president of Radio Flyer, Chicago, echoes this sentiment. “Grandparent purchases are huge for the whole toy industry, and become more important as the baby boomers age,” he tells Playthings. “Everybody has grown up with our brand, and a lot of kids get their first wagon from their grandparents.”

Sarah Eastman, account director for specialty stores for Prince Lionheart, Santa Maria, Calif., which recently debuted the Wheely Bug, an Australian-import ride-on, in the U.S. market, also says a lot of her sales are driven by grandparents who are “more into niche markets and more likely to shop at specialty, high-end stores.”

Jason Oliver, co-owner of Internet and catalog specialty retailer Oompa Toys, Los Angles, says a large portion of the ride-ons he sells are gifts. “It is in that kind of price point for a grandparent especially to buy as a gift,” he says.

The grandparent factor is not only helping to grow sales for the ride-on category, it's also helping dictate style trends.

“Ride-ons are classics,” says Elinor Klein of specialty Internet and catalog retailer Twilite Moon, Beverly Hills, Calif. “Parents are excited that their kids are ready to be at that stage, and they're great gifts.”

“People seem to be coming back to old styles and retro looks,” notes Heather McGlothlin, sales manager for Kettler, Virginia Beach, Va., which is launching a new line of “classic” ride-on toys. The major drivers towards that move to traditional styling are nostalgic grandparents, McGlothlin says.

To capitalize on that trend, the Kettler Classic line for 2007 includes tricycles, foot-to-floor items and wagons in classic red, cream and black, with price points from $39.99 to $149. The look is something retailers have been asking for, McGlothlin says.

Radio Flyer is also going retro, bringing back its original Inchworm ride-on from the 1970s with a hope of appealing to parents who may have grown up with the toy.

The company decided to give the loveable toy an updated look while keeping the iconic shape, look and functionality, according to Pasin, after seeing original Inchworms selling for big bucks on eBay. “One of the things our brand is synonymous with is classic toys, so we're always on the lookout for potential classics to bring back,” says Pasin.

Chicco is also updating a classic toy, adding some new technological features to its Rodeo horse ride-on. A weight adjustment feature lets parents turn a knob to change the tension load on the horse, allowing it to move more smoothly. Also included is a rocking base and new sound features like neighing.

Chicco now has five ride-ons in its lineup, and is focusing on improving the items, adding features and extending their age-appropriateness. “That's important, especially when it's not a $9.99 purchase,” says Muraski. Last year's Quattro grows with a child from 9 months to 3 years, making it a longer-term investment.

Fisher-Price has found success with licensed products in its ride-on toys in recent years, and continues in that vein for 2007, introducing a new line of NASCAR-branded toys this year.

“What a great way for kids to emulate NASCAR drivers,” says Russ Coddington, vice president of marketing. “What could be better for kids than to pretend to win the Daytona 500?” Coddington says that with 75 million NASCAR fans, 40 percent of whom are women, the sport is becoming more and more of a family activity, and he expects a winner with the new line, set to hit retail in May. It includes designs based on the race cars driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

Fisher-Price has also had tremendous success with its licensed Dora, Diego, Barbie and Ford F-150 ride-ons, Coddington says, noting that the toys have been specifically designed to help give children a better riding experience, which has boosted sales. “Ride-ons continue to be a vibrant category for us,” he adds.

Yet licensed lines aren't just for mass-market producers; Kettler added a line of licensed Caterpillar ride-ons a year and a half ago, and McGlothlin reports that they have done extremely well with the assortment's first four items and have plans to add several more.

More and more options are opening up for specialty retailers looking for unique products in the ride-on category, manufacturers say. McGlothlin reports that Kettler's biggest sales growth is coming from Internet stores, and that specialty store sales have done quite well also, with an increase in 2006 sales over 2005.

“The biggest thing they have is more product knowledge than mass market,” she says of specialty retailers' niche with consumers. “They really know the ins and outs of the products.”

Margy Pein, owner of the Cumberland, Md.-based Treehouse Toy Shop, added Kettler toys to her mix two years ago. Pein's sales associates are well-versed in the products, and she says the catalog information sheet, which she uses to explain the advantages of the line, has been so popular she's had to laminate it. And since her store is located at the end of a large bike/ walking path, Pein has used this to her advantage, displaying numerous ride-ons outside in warmer weather.

“It makes a huge difference if they can ride on them,” says Pein. Inside, many ride-ons must be stored up on higher shelves because of space limitations, but Pein says she tries to rotate them down to the floor throughout the year.

The ride-on market is not about feeling the wind in your hair, though. A growing sub-category at Treehouse Toy Shop is plush rockers for younger children, particularly models from International Playthings. These, too, Pein adds, get rotated down to floor level. “They have so many textures and sounds, it's really great to see the children touch them and react,” she says.

Marc Holcomb, operations manager for Greensboro, N.C.-based specialty retailer Toys & Co., says ride-on toys is a growing category for him, too. He says it's crucial to have as many ride-ons out as possible for customers to see, touch and take a spin on in order to clinch a sale.

“We feel like it has to be that way,” he says. “That's one thing we can do that the larger stores can't pull off. That's our philosophy in general: to provide as much hands-on play as we can, and to create an entertainment aspect to the store, so it's not just a place to come and look at boxes on the walls.”

Holcomb says he looks for products that are not available at mass market, and has had particular success with ride-ons from International Playthings and Radio Flyer.

Oompa Toys' Oliver said he looks for products with limited distribution and more unique attributes, and he's seeing more and more product that he likes in the ride-on category. “The category is increasing in the specialty brands,” he says. Oompa Toys has had particular success with the Svan Scooter, a sleek, foot-to-floor ride-on imported from Sweden that debuted in the U.S. in 2005.

Twilite Moon's Klein says that offering a breadth of unique product with different design aesthetics has proven successful in her store. In addition to classics from Radio Flyer, she offers more modern looks from companies like Sirch Rockers, Svan and Play Sam, and has had particular success with the Prince Lionheart's Wheely Bug.

The Wheely Bug is available in ladybug, bee and cow designs, and has been “a big hit with specialty stores” since its U.S. debut last year, says Eastman. “It opened up a lot of new areas for the specialty stores.”

“We did very, very well with the Wheely Bug over the holidays,” agrees Ken Goore, owner of Sacramento, Calif.-based juvenile retailer Goore's. The store's bread-and-butter product categories include juvenile furniture, children's gear and room decor, so that makes the Wheely Bug's success even more impressive to Goore. “Even in a store that's not a true toy store, it was a great Christmas gift,” he says.