Toy Scouting : Video games are still hot, but early shoppers are snapping up traditional dolls and toys.

Who says champs can’t repeat?

They can in the multibillion-dollar, fiercely competitive toy business--where for the third straight year the Nintendo home video game system is expected to be the holiday gift most in demand.

This year, leading the Nintendo wave is a new hand-held version called Game Boy ($90)--a paperback-size unit that will allow the nation’s army of video game freaks to play wherever they happen to be. Players interact with the fast-moving black-and-white graphics via buttons and a directional controller, while getting the sophisticated sound effects through stereo headphones. The unit takes replaceable game cartridges, which field the usual heroes meeting obstacles in a changing landscape--all made possible by the ubiquitous microprocessing chip.

Only recently released, Game Boy already is the hot new item, according to toy analysts, with some stores reporting shortages.

A competing version from Atari Corp. in Sunnyvale is debuting this week in New York. But, according to Ron Stringari, president of the firm’s entertainment division, the hand-held Lynx ($180) won’t be available in Los Angeles until late January or early February. Howver, “it will be the only one in color, and will do things graphically that can be found only in arcade games,” Stringari said.

“Game Boy is already selling extremely well,” confirmed Toys R Us area general manager Kip Power. “As for the Lynx, it looks like it will be a hit product, but it also looks like the manufacturer (Atari) won’t be getting them out in quantity soon. I don’t think we’ll have them for the holiday season.”

For those who like their video games home-based, also new this year are two standard video game units with more horsepower than available in the past. The new Genesis from Sega and Turbo Grafx from NEC (both about $200) have 16 bits of computer capacity. This compares with 8-bit units from Nintendo, and, according to the makers, means twice as much capability. However, Nintendo spokeswoman Susan Lietz countered that most game cartridges currently on the market don’t even use the full 8-bit capacity.

So video games continue to be about as hot as molten lava. As Frank Reysen, editor of the New York-based industry trade publication, Playthings, said: “Our just-released survey of over 15,000 retail operations shows Nintendo Entertainment System crowned No. 1 again (in dollar volume).” He added, however, that the victory wasn’t as resounding as in other years, and may indicate a long-expected softening of the video game market.

Children will, as always, find many things other than electronics under the tree. Some new versions of dolls are already being snapped up by early shoppers. The entire Barbie crowd, by Mattel Toys of Hawthorne--this year observing Barbie’s 30th anniversary--comprises the second most popular toy, according to both Playthings and New York-based Toy & Hobby World magazine.

“And,” said Jodi Levin, communications director of the Toy Manufacturers of America, “the old standbys will continue to sell phenomenally well. I defy you to find me a child who doesn’t own or want to own a 64-piece box of Crayola Crayons.”

Further, she said, “you can still buy for your child the Etch-a-Sketch you had as a child.”

New to the Barbie clan this year, and powering a new generation of Barbie fever, are Dance Club Barbie ($14), which comes with a cassette tape featuring such songs as “Doin’ the Barbie Dance,” and the Hollywood-themed SuperStar Barbie ($16), gowned in pink, with earrings, a ring and stars in her eyes.

Also new from Mattel is Li’l Miss Dress Up ($25), whose dress can be changed from pink to blue at the touch of a special water-filled pen.

Angela Bourdon, corporate spokeswoman for the huge Toys R Us retail chain, said by phone from its Paramus, N.J., corporate headquarters that another new doll, Oopsie Daisy ($38), shows signs of being a hit: “She is battery-operated, crawls, falls down, cries and picks herself up,” Bourdon said.

Observers of the doll sweepstakes also are watching Pretty Penni Chatterbox ($30), a doll whose conversation is caused by the stroking of her blond hair. The coif-patting results in such chatter as “Are we going to play today?” and “Please brush my hair again.”

Moving to another realm, the racer car world where 6- to 10-year-old boys seem to spend half their lives, there’s a new category called hyper racers. These are 1/32 scale, battery-operated, and run rapidly either by themselves or on tracks (about $10 per car, $60 for a set with tracks), and show signs of doing well, according to editor Reysen.

“There are 15 to 20 manufacturers rushing them to market,” Reysen disclosed. “The cars have done very well in Japan, and, since the video game craze started in Japan and caught on here, toy makers are hoping for the same thing with the cars.”

Levin (whose association doesn’t include video makers) made a point that may remove some of the stress from the weeks ahead: “A few years ago, it may have been a little scary for parents who couldn’t get their hands on a Cabbage Patch doll. Now there isn’t that pressure for everybody to get that one hot toy.”

As usual, shoppers will be faced with over-choice. “We estimate there are 150,000 different toy products out there,” Levin said. “Each year 5,000 to 6,000 new ones are introduced, and a similar number are dropped. The average toy supermarket has 18,000 different items.”

This year’s Playthings survey of most demanded toys, done every year by the magazine prior to the holidays, provides a few clues to where it may take elbows, knees and body blocks to come away with the toy in question. The magazine’s top 10:

1--Nintendo Entertainment System

2--Barbie

3--Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles

4--Micro Machines (miniature cars, planes, etc.)

5--Ghostbusters (figures related to the movie)

6--G.I. Joe (figures)

7--Oopsie Daisy doll

8--Fisher-Price tape recorder

9--Batman items

10--Little Tykes playhouse, activity gym, etc.

Regarding No. 3, maybe the Mutants weren’t part of your childhood. But they have gone over so big since they were introduced to bewildered parents in 1988 that they are still around for this holiday encore.

“They are half teen-ager and half turtle, live in sewers and eat pizza,” explained Karl Aaronian, marketing director of Playmates Toys Inc. in La Mirada. “They also are ninja warriors who protect the city from the Foot Clan, a group of evil ninja warriors.”

For further details, consult your local child.

And whatever comes of next month’s scheduled U.S.-Soviet summit meeting, American and Soviet children have already agreed on certain things. The first Duracell International Play Exchange was held last month, wherein 490 kids ages 5 to 9 from across the Unites States, and 44 of their counterparts from Moscow, played with and rated the same 25 toys and games.

Toy consultant Ruth Roufberg, who helped design the survey and analyze the results, said by phone from Kendall Park, N.J., that Game Boy was chosen No. 1 by both groups.

She added that Magic Track Train ($80), a train set which has children move a crank to create motion, was among the top five for both national groups.

“The key is action,” she said. “That is what kids, no matter where they are from, seem to prefer in a toy.”

Although there were many similarities, Roufberg said she found a one noteworthy difference between children from the two nations:

“Soviet children seem to have a longer attention span, while Americans seem to prefer toys that offer instant gratification.”

Of course, while the kids over there have snow, they don’t have access to a Hammacher Schlemmer store, such as the one in Beverly Hills where a hands-free snowball maker may be purchased for $20.

With tong-like handles and two rounded cups, the device scoops up snow and, according to the catalogue, “helps eliminate wet gloves and cold hands for safer, more comfortable winter fun.”

Also, budget be damned, the store has oversized Civil War train sets, Union and Confederate, for $1,099 each. Each electrically powered set includes a 24-inch engine and tender, four cars, 10 military figures and numerous artillery pieces, comes with a 5x7-foot oval track with brass rails.

In the wild and different category, Hammacher Schlemmer also has musical touch gloves--electronic gloves ($25) which play eight synthesized musical tones with a touch of the fingertips. Each fingertip has a built-in chip that plays a distinctive beep when pressed on a hard surface.

In Costa Mesa, the equally upscale F.A.O. Schwarz store has life-size stuffed lions, $4,800 each, and a 4-foot-long pedal-operated Rolls-Royce, only $300, for the 3-to-8-year-old of your choice.

The Sharper Image, at various locations in Southern California, offers Bytey Bird, a talking parrot ($99) (“from deep within the jungles of Silicon Valley”), which flaps its wings and moves its beak as it repeats--courtesy of a sound-recording microchip--anything you say. Its stores also are stocking Sonic Roo Roo, a plush kangaroo ($79) whose innards house a sound-sensitive microchip. When the animal hears clapping or music, it hops and boxes.

Regarding games, “There are a lot of them out there,” Reysen said, “but there is no Trivial Pursuit blockbuster. The category as a whole will do well, both with children and adults. I guess it’s the cost of entertainment these days. People are going back to cheaper entertainment.”

Some new games that manufacturers and retailers say show early promise (mostly ranging in price from $5 to $50):

Magnetic Dimensions, which has more than 100 pieces that adhere to a magnetized game board, the idea being to create as many three-dimensional doodles and designs as possible within a given period of time.

Abstracts, which requires players to guess famous people, places or things through clues.

Jake Jokes, which features cards with a riddle on one side, the answer on the other. Sample: “What does a frog say when it sees something great?” Answer: “Toadly awesome.”

Reminiscing, The Game for People Over Thirty (from the producers of the Couch Potato Game), which challenges players on their memory of events, movies, music, humor, and such from 1939 to 1979.

The Improv Comedy Game (inspired by the comedy nightclub), which offers a variety of jokes, gags, wisecracks and improvisations and requires players to use it to make each other laugh.

Hotels, a Monopoly-like game based on building, renting and buying hotels.

Although from now through New Year’s Eve, the game in general is fun, bear in mind safety when buying toys.

Just last week, Edward Swartz, a Boston trial attorney and consumer advocate, warned of dangerous toys that might accidentally strangle or cause choking, eye injury or suffocation. His list included a stuffed bear that comes with a nylon jump rope and a headband, both of which he said pose risk of strangulation.

This week the Consumer Affairs Committee of Americans for Democratic Action also cited dangerous toys, among them water balloon slingshots, which the ADA said can launch water balloons at speeds of 230 m.p.h. and have caused “hundreds, perhaps thousands” of injuries.

Assuming the toys you select bring only joy, you may be interested to know that, as Levin said: “Toys reflect society in general. The Easy-Bake Oven, which used to look like a conventional one, now looks like a microwave.”

Her association has pointed out that some originated with other things in mind:

The yo-yo began as a primitive weapon in the Philippines. It was fashioned from rock with a long thong tied to it. If a hurler’s aim was bad, at least he could retrieve his weapon.

Silly Putty was developed accidentally in a lab during World War II when scientists were looking for a synthetic material to aid the war effort.

Hot Wheels, dinosaur skeleton model kits, Koosh Balls, Flickballs, train sets, Legos, RoboCop, the Powersword that lights up, Big Bird Express, roller-skates, Sesame Street Busy Beads, skateboards, Baby Bubbles, Talking Football. . . .

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste. Strive to be happy. The stores await you.