Toys Blended Together, but Quality Stood Out

“Toy Fair really does give you a unique opportunity to look at a whole line all at once and get an idea of the quality.” — Peg Scholtes of Capitol Kids

Retailers were unanimous in their assessment of Toy Fair 2006: Nothing was mind-blowing, but high quality got them high. The increased number of imports from Europe, they said, helped raise the standards for both game play and workmanship.

“Companies are really scouring the world for new products and quite a few are coming from Europe,” Linda Kapnick, owner of Ambassador Toys in San Francisco, told TDmonthly Magazine. “Europeans are very strategically oriented … and have a tradition of more difficult games, rather than just license-based things.”

Kapnick is also a big fan of the German plush company, Hansa, which makes realistic animals, including large-scale replicas with titanium frames that let kids take a seat on their backs.

Joanne Farrugia, owner of JaZams in Pennington, N.J., succumbed to German craftsmanship when she saw a “gorgeous” new line of wooden dinosaurs distributed by Wonder Works (ToyShow). “It won’t sell in most stores, but it works for us because we have a big wood focus in our store,” she said.

Her appetite was whetted by Plan Toys’ new food line, which she said was “unbelievable … It’s made with this interesting plastic that feels wonderful … there’s a soft-boiled egg, where you can pull off the top and see the yolk.” According to Kay Thomson, senior product manager at Brio Corp., though, these food sets aren’t yet being offered in the United States.

“I like being able to look at the craftsmanship, the way things are made,” Peg Scholtes, owner of Capitol Kids in Madison, Wis., told TDmonthly. “Toy Fair really does give you a unique opportunity to look at a whole line all at once and get an idea of the quality.” She favored toys by the German company HABA (ToyShow), but also looked Stateside for her wooden toys, with manufacturers such as Melissa & Doug and BEKA.

Farrugia and Sherrie Cannon, owner of Discovery Depot in Cookeville, Tenn., expect great things from the strategy game Pentago by MindTwister, USA. It “won the Swedish gaming award” last year, Cannon told TDmonthly.

Dollwise, Cannon was excited by the new Trixieville line from Manhattan Toy Company (ToyDirectory) and had already brought in the new Groovy Style Beachy Keen Sand Buggy. She’d also ordered The Bead Shop ’s (ToyShow) Fashion Angels plush fashion dolls, Corolle’s (ToyShow) fashion dolls and the new Uglydolls. Denise Hoffman, owner of A Pocketful of Toys in Fallon, Mo., was also impressed by The Bead Shop’s 2006 offerings.

Sandy Friedman, owner of Accipter in Raleigh, N.C., didn’t go to Toy Fair, but he did pick up Radica Games’ Cube World at a recent gift show. Even though it’s not a new toy, Cannon also ordered it: “They’re four little men that interact with each other when their cubes are put close together.”

Cannon’s also counting on the new book and DVD movie by Carl Sams II Photography: “It’s phenomenal. I think that is going to be huge and that’s the second in the series.”

Mrs. Grafton Stine, co-owner of Toys on the Square in Hummelstown, Pa., was enthusiastic about ALEX’s new crafts and puzzles: "Nothing is ordinary," she said.

Jane Beck, co-owner of B J Beck's Toys in Cedarburg, Wis., was eagerly awaiting the new Folkmanis (ToyDirectory) peacock, which she’d ordered at the Fair. “It’s just gorgeous!” she raved to TDmonthly.

That kind of gut reaction was just what hit Casey Sartain, who runs Tutoring Toy, in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his parents, when he saw the Candy Factory from Thames & Cosmos (ToyShow). “People are really going to like that,” he predicted.

Here are the toys — many of them brand new — that got specialty retailers fired up at Toy Fair. To see what other specialty retailers had to say while at the Javits Center, please click here to watch the videos.