Buyers, Sellers Gather for Fun and Games at Toy Fair

Reality and make-believe mingled Monday at the annual American International Toy Fair as hundreds of toy makers touted their 1989 offerings to buyers from stores around the country.

As usual, many manufacturers recruited colorful characters to catch the eyes of buyers and grab some free publicity.

A rifle-toting George Bush look-alike hawking a new board game was only a few feet from authentic protesters airing gripes against war toys, while real-life Olympic star Florence Griffith Joyner pitched a new “Flo Jo” doll and developer Donald J. Trump made a publicity-seeking appearance on behalf of a new board game bearing his name.

Nearby on the 5th Avenue sidewalk, a unicycle-riding clown and a life-size green turtle--that’s human life, not amphibian life--were among the crowd patrolled by police.

Elaborate promotions have become a tradition at Toy Fair, where each year an estimated 5,000 new toys debut. Countless items on display here will never make it to store shelves, and many much-touted toys of 1988 were absent as the 10-day trade show opened its doors Monday.

Business Improved

Amid all the hoopla, the industry reported business improved modestly in 1988 after several disappointing years.

“I believe I speak for many in the industry who feel encouraged by the performance of manufacturers in the past 12 months and are optimistic about prospects for the future,” said Thomas J. Kalinske, chairman of the Toy Manufacturers of America Inc.

One of the best omens is that publicly held toy companies seem to have reversed their bad fortunes of 1987, Kalinske said at a news conference.

Together, those companies lost about $120 million in 1987. Last year, the same companies probably earned profits of around $120 million, according to the trade association.

Retail toy sales rose to an estimated $12.75 billion in 1988 from $12.5 billion in 1987. The association’s figures don’t include the roughly $2.3 billion in revenue for video games last year, most of which are foreign made.

3.9% Pickup in Sales

Although retail toy sales were virtually flat, the industry reported a 3.9% pickup in sales at the wholesale level. Manufacturers’ shipments rose to $8.55 billion from $8.23 billion.

Another good sign is that retailers are finding more customers shopping for toys all year, instead of only during the pre-Christmas buying binge, Kalinske said.

A perennial problem for toy makers has been the reliance of their balance sheets on seasonal shopping: if economic activity temporarily falls off ahead of Christmas and causes consumers to spend cautiously, toy makers’ revenues are endangered.

In an effort to coax customers into buying toys throughout the year, manufacturers have emphasized items that appeal to adults as well as children. Sociologists say this is an astute marketing strategy because families increasingly seemed to be staying home and engaging in group activities.

Last year’s popular games such as Pictionary, or previous successes such as Trivial Pursuit, benefited from this trend.

Aging Population

Manufacturers also have had to account for the aging of the U.S. population, which is shrinking the market for children-only toys.

But among the biggest challenge for the U.S. toy industry is competition from video games, by far the biggest selling items over the past 2 years.

While stores have reaped handsome returns from video games such as the Nintendo game system, the sales steered money away from other toys, mostly boys’ items.