Toy Fair 2010: Toys With the Most Buzz

Zhu Zhu Pets, TIA’s Toy of the Year Award winner for 2010, stands poised to cause quite a squeak this year with its expanded product line. The Zhu Zhu Wild Bunch from Cepia adds a skunk and bunny to the line of hamsters, and the new Hamster Babies promise even more cuteness than the full-sized originals. But the line is also projected to become just as fierce as it is fun.

ZHU ZHU PETS GO TO WAR

One of the most talked about Zhu Zhu Pet offerings for the year is the Rockstar lineup featuring hamsters with attitude, mohawks, and celebrity kids’ names, such as Kingston and Pax. Cepia hopes to hold the attention of young boys with its Kung Zhu line, also covered at Cepia’s press conference during Toy Fair in February. Ninja Warriors and Special Forces themes feature hamsters in boy-friendly colors that battle each other. Add-on armor sets are designed to give the hamsters a competitive edge in battle.

Priced at under $10, the Zhu Zhu Pets range is an easy sell to parents as well, and an easy sell-out, as the 2009 holiday season demonstrated.

Hasbro is one of several companies attempting to cash in on the hamster mania with its own Furry Frenzies line, which includes a $7.99 bunny, chipmunk, hedgehog and other animals that “skitter, skatter, bump and go where they want to,” according to a press release.

Although CEPIA is vigorously defending its intellectual property and corner of the market against competitors and knockoffs, it likely cannot escape unscathed from copycats (or copyhamsters, as the case may be).

Last month, TIA’s trend specialist Reyne Rice predicted decreased demand in the latter part of 2010 if supply of Zhu Zhu Pets increases. Continued sales of Zhu Zhu Pets and the performance of the new Zhu Zhu products will determine whether the frenetic hamsters are a lasting brand or a fading fad.

Also on the animal front, Mattel’s Puppy Tweets spurred plenty of online conversation before and at the show.

Combining the hot fad of Twitter with man’s best friend (see description below) has garnered the company significant reactions from the media and potential buyers. The question is, will all the talk translate into sales? With a $30 price tag, Puppy Tweets may be a bit too expensive as a gag gift but could prove popular with teens and tweens obsessed with instant communication and social contact — or adults whose pets are treated as the equivalent of children.

BRING ON THE IRON

Analysts agree that save for “Toy Story 3”, “Iron Man 2” is likely the biggest film of 2010 in terms of licensed products.

Hasbro’s line of Iron Man 2 toys ranges from a role-playing helmet to action figures based on the armored avenger’s appearances in both movies and comics.

One of the most anticipated products is also the silliest: Mr. Potato Head as Iron Man. The toy is called Tony Starch after Iron Man’s secret identity Tony Stark, and the punning name alone has been enough to set Twitter afire with posts about the Mr. Potato Head. Even Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau has been using the product as his Twitter profile pic. Like all movie-based licensed toys, the performance of Hasbro’s Iron Man line in toy stores will be influenced by the performance of Iron Man 2 in theaters.

Other products garnering massive attention at Toy Fair included:

— Hasbro’s Scrabble Flash, lauded for creative application of an innovative technology.

— Mattel’s iXL, which tech site Engadget likened to an iPhone for kids (There’s also the Kindle-like FLiP Animated E-reader by Vtech.)

— Fisher-Price’s Dance Star Mickey, whose debut was marked by a memorable special appearance by Dancing with the Stars champ Donny Osmond and the genuine Mickey Mouse

— Buildable board games from Hasbro, as well as newcomer to the game market, LEGO. The trend toward construction in board games offers children customization while offering value via replay to parents. Building components may help non-electronic board games remain relevant in the digital era.

— Hasbro’s Star Wars AT-AT, which brings to life 30 years worth of children’s dreams for an AT-AT toy so real it could have stomped off the screen.

— JAKKS Pacific's Spy Net Secret Mission Video Watch, which gives aspiring secret agents the ability to capture a half hour of video footage