Virtual Reality

Kids these days are no strangers to technology; according to The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y., more than 75 percent of kids with Internet access regularly spend time online. More and more toy makers are capitalizing on this phenomenon with products that offer combined physical and virtual play, offering online games, character customization, fan communities and virtual worlds.

One of the first toy manufacturers to recognize this opportunity was Ganz, whose Webkinz plush animals, introduced in 2005, are still a national craze. Webkinz.com was integral to the toys from the very beginning, Ganz spokesperson Susan McVeigh tells Playthings.

Mattel is also expanding online. Its hugely successful BarbieGirls.com, which launched in April, “is the result of listening to what girls want, researching how they play and fusing it with the right technology to deliver an unparalleled experience,” Rosie O'Neill, marketing manager, tells Playthings. Free basic site registrations—plus upgrades through purchase of a $59.99 customizable handheld device/MP3-player—are “growing at an unprecedented rate,” with more the 3 million members in less than three months, O'Neill says. “Girls are spending lots of time on the site because it has such a deep play experience—from fashion play to room decor to games, chatting with friends and more.” It's an ingenious way to capture the doll market as purchases of real dolls decline yet kids' use of consumer electronics is on the rise.

Montreal-based Mega Brands and Bannockburn, Ill.-based Zizzle are also betting on the 'net, with both debuting new Web-integrated toys this summer.

Mega Brands' Neo Shifters are $9.99 kits of two buildable action figures and a comic book linked to an online world. “So there are multiple ways for a child to be engaged with this product, lots of different play value between construction and transforming,” Harold Chizick, director of promotional marketing, tells Playthings.

“Based on the results of how you play the battles online, that will shape the story, so it's almost like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book ... kids are actually impacting how the story continues and how it will end,” Chizick says. “We're really trying to keep the kids coming back to take part in developing the story. That's what is magic here ... this is actually the first time that the fate and the outcome of an action figure line is going to be determined by [kids].”

For Zizzle, its new Spotz line lets girls craft their own one-of-a-kind Spotz buttons, plus chat and design online in an integrated Web environment just for them, Spotzgirl.com. “Finding a true convergence where girls can create their own toy has never been done, until now,” CEO Scott Goldberg tells Playthings.

Not all integrated online worlds need start with a toy—sometimes it's the other way around. The pioneering Neopets.com has become so popular since its 1999 debut that it was acquired by Viacom in 2005, and was relaunched this spring with expanded content. With more than 40 million accounts since its creation (80 percent are kids and teens), now is a perfect time for expanding into tie-ins, Kyra Reppen, senior vice president and general manger, tells Playthings. Offerings will include five books debuting in the fall of 2008 from Harper Collins, plush and a line of products to “deepen the relationship” between members and the site's characters and interactive features, Reppen says. “Neopets set the standard and remains the first and most successful global online virtual world community.”