A SPECIAL REPORT: TOYS

BOOMER TOYS: There’s talk of a recession-induced “back to basics” trend in toy purchases. The most obvious example: the rebirth of the Erector set, which can even produce a 7-foot Eiffel Tower. . . . The girder-and-bolts toy disappeared more than a decade ago when the American manufacturer went belly up and imitators failed to keep the Nintendo generation’s interest. . . . Now it’s back, thanks to a French firm, and baby boomers with long memories are snapping them up for their own kids, says Bob Selignan of Toy & Hobby World magazine.