The toy business continues to face sales declines -- retail sales of traditional toys fell 3% in 2004, and toy companies, in general, seemed to be opting for the tried and true.

Content is King
One development that became evident at Toy Fair in 2004 was that toymakers are increasingly creating in-, on- or off-pack content to enhance toy play. That trend intensified this year. Such content might take the form of a mini-book, comic or magazine, but it often appears as a DVD featuring a short animated episode about the toy. One of many examples this year was Mattel’s Doggie Day Care line, which comes with a 22-minute DVD that lets kids discover the characters’ backstory.

Some of Mattel’s Polly Pocket toys came with an in-pack DVD last year; this year, the property will be featured on a standalone disc retailing for $6 to $7. It comes with an on-pack Polly doll and pet. Meanwhile, the Hot Wheels Acceleracers brand is supported by four hour-long animated specials that will premiere on Cartoon Network and then be distributed on VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video. Webisodes will be posted online to continue the story between each special. All of the attributes of the toy line are linked directly to the entertainment.

Mattel has had great success with its Barbie direct-to-DVD productions and has three more planned for this year. Barbie Fairytopia is the first to be based on an original screenplay; the Fairytopia toy line debuted last year. Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus is the first original fairytale starring Barbie (the others were inspired by well-known stories such as Rapunzel) and the first Barbie production to come with 3D glasses for enhanced viewing. My Scene Goes to Hollywood is for older girls and is 2D-animated. (The fairy tales have all been 3D CG productions.) Mattel also is using online entertainment to further the Barbie storyline. For example, the Website tied to Mattel’s line of American Idol Barbie dolls has a stop-motion-animated American Idol-style contest that has received over 700,000 votes.

Several companies at Toy Fair exhibited direct-to-DVD entertainment series, many with a focus on education. School Specialties, an educational workbook publisher, launched a new series called Noodlebug, starting with four animated-and-live-action DVD titles for ages 2-5. There are also CDs available; books will follow later this year. And Rainbow Valley Fire Department is a new DVD series animated by Brain Zoo Studios. It stars Tim Conway; B.J. Thomas of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” fame sings its theme music. The series is accompanied by toys, books and posters.

Several book publishers at the show had book-plus-DVD lines on display. And in the toy market, Fisher-Price introduced a joint venture with Scholastic called the Read with Me DVD! that uses the Scholastic Classic Video Collection as the basis for an interactive learning system. Nine book-based titles, including Where the Wild Things Are and The Little Engine That Could, are adapted from Scholastic’s Walden West children’s literature-based animation library.

Nickelodeon’s LazyTown and Marvel’s The Thing gets the toy treatment. © & ™ 2005 LazyTown Ent. All Rights Reserved. Photo credit: Fisher-Price (left) and ™ & ©2005 Marvel Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More players are entering the already-crowded baby education segment of the DVD market. These join established players including Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby and Baby Genius, which debuted a softer animation style that Genius Products’ evp of marketing and production Larry Balaban refers to as “2.5D.” Among the many newer brands are BabyPro, which encourages active play; Tiny Tot Sports, which markets Baby Baseball, Baby Golf and other sports-themed productions; and Zen Baby from Rounder Kids. Many of the productions combine animation and live-action footage.

The future of the New York Toy Fair is in some doubt. The toy building has been sold, meaning toy makers who prefer showrooms to Javits booths most likely will have to look elsewhere. (Some companies already rent showroom space in nearby buildings.) The Toy Industry Association (TIA) is reportedly discussing whether to move the convention out of the city, possibly to Atlanta or Orlando. The February show may even be discontinued eventually, some speculate, as the new October mass market toy show assumes more importance. The February event has been scheduled for Javits for 2006.

Karen Raugust is a Minneapolis-based freelance business writer specializing in animation, publishing, licensing and art. She is the author of The Licensing Business Handbook (EPM Communications).