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Playthings EXTRA for January 16, 2008

Agenda set for Kids Today’s 8th annual conference

The 8th Annual Kids Today conference, Playing for Keeps, will be held March 4-6 in Savannah, Ga. If you’re a retailer, manufacturer or supplier in the juvenile/youth industry you need to be there to find out how to better reach your customers, harness the power of the media, build a successful brand and tap into the consumer psyche. Learn what the next generation of retailers has up their sleeve and find out how other companies have grown their businesses!

Registration is open online now at www.kidstodayonline.com or by calling 336-605-1066.

Special Offer!
All Baby and Child Inc., the parent company of the ABC Show, is sponsoring attendance at the Kids Today Conference. ABC will pay the registration fee for all independent juvenile retailers planning to attend until the conference is sold out!

Toy stocks pounded, cautious days ahead
Toy industry stocks have shown weakness in the new year—showing an average decline of 14 percent as of last week, among five leading companies—and that weakness is accelerating, according to long-time industry analyst Sean McGowan, managing director at Needham and Co. Prices have dipped further since his comments. Click to continue

NRF: Retail sales to grow, slowly, in ’08
The National Retail Federation’s 2008 economic forecast predicts that U.S. retail industry sales, excluding sales of automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, will increase 3.5 percent from last year. Click to continue

Breyer inks book deal
Model horse maker Breyer Animal Creations is teaming with Feiwel and Friends, a new children’s book imprint from Macmillan, to create a series of horse-themed stories. Click to continue

New Star Wars licensees pick up where Master Replicas left off
Lucas Licensing announced deals with Hasbro and eFX for Star Wars collectibles. Both will look to fill a gap in the market created when Corgi’s Master Replicas Star Wars rights expired at the end of December. Click to continue

Wild Republic signed for NG's
Sea Monsters
Wild Republic signed a global agreement with National Geographic as exclusive toy partner for items based on National Geographic’s Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure, a worldwide IMAX film release. Click to continue

Spielwarenmesse cuts ties to Shanghai show
Nuremberg Toy Fair organizer Spielwarenmesse eG said this week it will end its involvement with the Shanghai Toy Expo as the show struggles to draw international exhibitors in the face of an increased number of competing events in China. Click to continue

Action Products retains management firm
ORLANDO, Fla.—Action Products International Inc. this week said it retained management consultant firm Exiance LLC to review its organizational structure and executive recruitment needs. Click to continue

Playthings adds e-sales manager
Playthings parent Reed Business Information Inc. hired Penny Schneck for the new position of electronic sales manager for publications in its Home Furnishings Division based in Greensboro and New York. Click to continue

Out of the Toy Box Blog: Strengthening the New York Toy Fair
This week, Playthings.com blogger Richard Gottlieb, freshly back in the States after a trip to Hong Kong, offers up his insights for increasing the importance of the American International Toy Fair among those in the toy business who feel its usefulness is on the wane. Click to continue

For daily news updates visit the "Breaking News" section of www.Playthings.com.

Have a profitable week,

Cliff Annicelli, Editor
Karyn Peterson, Managing Editor

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