Toymakers at Toy Fair focus on less expensive toys
The big Toy Fair in New York kicked off this weekend, and according to this report from the Star Ledger, the mood is reflective of the economy.
U.S. retail sales of toys generated $21.64 billion in 2008, compared with $22.32 billion in 2007, a decline of 3 percent, according to The NPD Group. Several key categories experienced significant swings: building sets and plush toys increased 26 percent and 22 percent, respectively, while vehicles, youth electronics and dolls were down 16 percent, 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
The story says toymakers are responding the economic climate by focusing more on smaller ticket items:
One sign of the economic times is toy makers are shifting away from $100-plus “big wow, big ticket” items, adding more toys in the under-$10 and under-$20 range, according to Adrienne Citrin, spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association, which represents 500-plus toy companies.
I’ve been buying more books this year instead of toys. I think they are a better value and last longer. But even when I do buy toys for my kid’s birthdays, I plan to cutback on the cheap, low-quality stuff and focus on one item that will last more than a few months.
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Aisha covered education and breaking news for nearly ten years before joining the Lifestyle staff where she writes a "Dirty Laundry" parenting column. She is the home and family editor and wastes too much time on Facebook and political blogs. 
I wonder if they considered that people are buying less toys because of the problems with defective toys from China? I hope they aren’t going to go the route of making more cheap stuff that may be recalled after poisoning children.
Don’t assume all of the toy defective issues on are simply because the toys are made in China. Responsible US toy companies (ie., KidKraft - wooden toys) have high level of production quality control on-site in the factories they work with in China. Those companies have their own personnel working in China to test & check on all aspects of safety, including lead paint, etc. As a result, those companies didn’t have recalls.
Other toy companies cut (or never implemented) production control/inspection costs to benefit their bottom line (they sure didn’t cut sale cost of toys to consumers!) This ultimately cost them in the long run, when the factories they used cut their own costs & used the dangerous materials.