Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
Check Out Line: Landfill, homage to vending machines mark Toys R Us “hot toy list”
Check out the hot new toys list from Toys R Us for the holiday shopping season. The “2010 holiday hot toy list” shows the industry’s creativity in finding new ways to capture children’s imaginations. That includes looking for inspiration to landfills or the annoying coin-operated vending machines in groceries that all parents detest. Toys R Us comes out with the annual list, which this year features 36 new items — some exclusive — to give parents ideas for what to buy their little ones as they head into the holidays. “We don’t want to miss anything,” said Lisa Harnisch, vice president and divisional merchandise manager at Toys R Us. The list includes a Fisher-Price made landfill that allows fans of the Disney-Pixar movie “Toy Story 3” to relive the scary climax scene where the hero toys head toward incineration. It’s not every day that your kid will thank you for giving them a garbage dump. At least there’s no batteries required. Then there’s “Squinkies,” squishy pencil-topping toys that allow kids to “take home the excitement of a coin-operated vending machine.” Evoking imagery of the gantlet every parent dreads because those machines are filled with useless, cheap, money-wasting junk may not be the way to go. Again, no batteries required. Longtime favorite Playmobil offers a small schoolhouse “featuring everything needed for a full curriculum”, including a skeleton for the science class. This could do well as kids love to play with structures and also are fascinated by the human body. And, you guessed it, no batteries required! Finally, there’s the Calico Critters Luxury Townhouse. These toys live better than I do. The house boasts a “balcony and an outdoor patio” and includes chandelier fixtures. Unfortunately, there is a price to be paid for such high living and that’s the electric bill as, yes, this toy requires two AA batteries. The best gift for little ones may be IOUs for stock in Toys R Us, which is counting on the new products to boost sales as it looks to go public. A successful IPO would surely pay for plenty of batteries.
Also in the basket:
Clorox to sell auto-care brands for $780 mln
Asda relaunches own brand in bid to catch rivals
ConAgra profit misses; full-year outlook lowered
US clothing firm Urban Brands files for Chapter 11
(Photo courtesy of Toys R Us)
Toys “R” Us issues holiday “hot toys” list
It’s that time of the year again.
Specialty toy retailer Toys “R” Us issued its take on what this holiday season’s hot toys will be, as it prepares to attract toy shoppers one year after what was the worst holiday sales season in nearly 40 years.
This year, retailers and toy makers alike have focused keenly on prices, understanding that consumers may not be prepared to shell out hundreds of dollars for toys since caution rules their spending.
The Toys “R” Us list this year includes a mind-control game by Mattel called Mindflex, Disney’s netbook Netpaland Hasbro’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Constructicon Devastator action figures.
But who knows what parents will choose this year as prices remain on top of their minds.
Here’s Toys “R” Us’ “Fabulous 15″ in the group of 36 hot toys:
Bakugan Battle Brawlers New Vestroia Maxus Helios 7 in 1 from Spin Master ChixOs Pink Design-A-Luxury Loft from Spin Master Color Me a Song from Crayola Beginnings Disney Netpal Disney•Pixar Toy Story Interactive Buddies Talking Action Figures (Buzz and Woody) from Thinkway Disney Princess: Just One Kiss Princess Tiana Doll from Mattel Fast Lane JLX Over Drive Radio Control All Terrain Vehicle from Toys”R”Us Laugh & Learn Learning Farm from Fisher-Price Little Mommy Baby Ah-Choo from Fisher-Price Mindflex from Mattel NERF N-Strike Raider Rapid Fire CS-35 from Hasbro Star Wars Fan’s Choice Anniversary Edition Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser from LEGO Transformers;revenge of the Fallen Constructicon Devastator from Hasbro Wii Sports Resort from Nintendo Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster from Cepia
I agree with Jane, the list is biased a bit. However, looking at some other sites like http://www.TopChristmasToysThisYear.com and Amazon, there are some that are on both lists.
Either way, this Christmas season is going to be tight for some Americans, which is why I think inventory is lower than past years.
I predict that eBay will be the place to go to get that hard to find Christmas toy this year.
Wake Up! It’s Hannah (prank) calling
On July 23, Shop Talk wrote about Wal-Mart teaming up with Disney to offer free wake-up calls from Hannah Montana, (a.k.a. Miley Cyrus), as part of its back-to-school marketing push.
Parents can use the service to send their child a wake-up call — as early as 5 am — to get them ready for the new school year.
While some readers wrote to Shop Talk to say the service was a great idea, others told us recently that they found an unusual way to use the service — to send prank wake-up calls to their friends or coworkers at 5 am.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Shannon Frederick said the retailer was not hearing of any widespread issues with the service. She said Wal-Mart has sent more than 80,000 calls as part of the promotion — far more than the 25,000 it sent last year as part of a High School Musical promotion.
Disney spokesman Aaron Hunt also said Disney had not heard of anything about prank calls.
“We haven’t had any feedback and we’ve been watching it closely,” he said.
Both Wal-Mart and Disney said the service is limited so only five phone calls can be sent from a phone number.
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