Grown-up Kid Stuff

What drives this trend? It’s really pretty simple. Consider that much of children’s play is imitative, says Sean McGowan, a toy industry analyst with Harris Nesbitt. Children play what they see.

So, to respond to modern play patterns, manufacturers have created a bright array of glittery, smooth, stepped-down “toys” for today’s kids, a trend probably enhanced by the ever smaller nature of electronic components and a perpetually competitive market for the next biggest — or next smallest — thing.

Hasbro has entered the electronics market with its “Now” line which includes the ChatNow phone, the VideoNow XP Personal video player, the VCAMNOW Personal Video Recorder and the PLAYITNOW Personal Digital Music Recorder plus all the accessories. Some accessories enhance functionality, like the VIDEONOW Media Wizard software. The Fisher-Price subsidiary even has junior “Now” products.

Toys “R” Us carries Craig electronics for kids — pink or blue portable CD players, boom boxes, MP3 players and the Snap Mini Digital Camera. The latter is the size of a large pendant and can be kept on a chain around the neck.

At least three companies offer cell phones for younger kids: Firefly Mobile, Wherify’s Wherifone and Enfora’s TicTalk. The Firefly Mobile and the TicTalk share the same feature of heavy parental control. There’s no keypad for text messaging and parents can program the phones to approved phone numbers and to reject unknowns. The Wherifone is unique in that it has GPS technology so parents can track their children when they’re not at home. They are all very smooth, round phones that fit nicely into a kid’s hand. (Click here to read last month's articles on kid cell phones and cell phone accessories.)

The electronics stores, suggests McGowan, might become the new toy stores. Prices will go down and functionality will become more affordable. It’s a weird trend, adds McGowan, as toy companies try to compete with electronics companies.

Meanwhile, Mattel isn’t weighing in much on this one. Spokesperson Keith Wiley says that the company would prefer not to comment on the issue at this time. Another Mattel spokesperson, Wes Robinson, referred not to company strategy but to other electronic products, such as the Juice Box Portable Media player and the Pixel Chix. Both of these are clearly tween items.

Seems like everyone is meeting the challenge by making more tween stuff. Tek Nek marketing manager, Chris Folmer, understands the importance for tweens of toys that “look and function like [the products that] their older siblings and parents” use. Price is also very important. At $29.99, the CoolP3 downloadable music player “keeps us in the toy category,” said Folmer. Internet gadget bulletin board sites suggest that it is used by kids as young as 4.

Tek Nek may also be part of another wave of the future — classic toys enhanced with materials made for adult admiration rather than for sticky hands. The Rock 'N Ride Pony comes in high-end “nontraditional fabrics,” said Folmer, and as an interior decoration, makes “a perfect prop.”

The following products exemplify this growing trend: