Next Year in Toys

Children are very powerful consumers – as any whine-weary parent knows. So for the more that 1,500 manufacturers, importers, salesmen, and distributors that make the pilgrimage to New York’s International Toy Fair each year, child’s play is very serious business. When the 2005 Fair was unpacked at the Jacob Javits Convention Center last week, all the “grown-up” tastemakers of the children’s retail industry were on hand, combing through acres of stuffed animals, games, gizmos, and dolls, eager to uncover the most promising products of the year. Making sense of the maze of interactive baby dolls, magnetic erector sets, singing stuffed animals, and remote-control monster trucks was a daunting task, but a few playthings stood out from the pack.