Subject:
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Article about toy recalls/cancellations in wake of Sept 11th
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.mediawatch
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Date:
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Wed, 10 Oct 2001 14:01:35 GMT
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Viewed:
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1279 times
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(Mentions the OGEL recall)
http://www.ctnow.com/scripts/editorial.dll?fromspage=all/home.htm&categoryid=&bfromind=582&eeid=5416104&eetype=article&render=y&ck=&ver=3.0
Real-Life Tremors In Toyland
By MATTHEW KAUFFMAN, from The Hartford Courant -- October 10, 2001
Look out, kids! The diabolical villain Vitriol is perched on the roof of the
World Trade Center, "blasting urban buildings to pieces by emitting deadly
energy waves from his arms!"
Teenage superhero Max Steel may be our only hope! With his bionic strength
and battle-boosted, turbo-charged MX99 Heli-Jet, "Max Steel must destroy
these powerful waves before entire cities are wiped off the map!"
"Your mission: Stop Vitriol before he destroys New York City!"
So how's that for bad timing?
The MX99 was supposed to be one of Mattel's top 10 sellers this Christmas
season. Instead, the helicopter is piled high in warehouses, and the world's
largest toymaker is issuing profuse apology after apology.
"Certainly there was no way to anticipate the events of Sept. 11," said Sara
Rosales, director of worldwide marketing communications. "Unfortunately,
with the recent attacks, the unthinkable has become reality."
The American toy business has long had the luxury of reaching for
adventure-packed fantasy when marketing action toys. But with last month's
devastating clash of fantasy and reality, toymakers across the land have
been rummaging through their assortments, looking to purge products made
suddenly inappropriate by the terrorist attacks.
The jolt from Sept. 11 will change this year's holiday buying patterns. Will
it change the toy industry forever? We'll see.
Max Steel will survive, but gone for good is the toy's "Urban Siege" story
line, which featured a tiny graphic of side-by-side burning skyscrapers. And
Mattel is hardly the only company to yank toys off the shelf or delay the
introduction of new products in response to the attacks.
The World Trade Center towers will be erased from the New York skyline in
Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Ubi Soft Entertainment has delayed the release
of a computer game that features counter-terrorist games.
Even Lego, long a wholesome-toy favorite, has stopped selling its Alpha
Team: Ogel Control Center kit after a parent complained about an image in
the instruction booklet showing a plane apparently bombing a city.
It's just as well. With the holiday season approaching, it's unlikely any of
the toys would sell well, anyway.
But other lines are getting a major boost as parents look for toys that
celebrate the heroes of the Sept. 11 attacks or help children work through
their feelings. Ames Department Stores has seen a "drastic increase" in
sales of toy emergency vehicles, construction equipment and military toys,
spokeswoman Amy Romano said. Among the big sellers: Tonka Mighty Motorized
construction vehicles and the GI Joe motorized military set.
Romano said some rescue toys Ames had stocked for Christmas have already
sold out and had to be reordered from the manufacturer.
It's the same story at retailers across the country as parents lead a run on
rescue-related toys.
Marianne Szymanski, president of Toy Tips, a Los Angeles-based research
firm, thinks it could be the beginning of a new era in which expensive,
hyped-up toys give way to healthy, developmental play.
"Over the last few years, many manufacturers have spent a lot of effort and
money marketing "must-have toys" to parents....Many times, children never
even played with these toys," she said. "Because of the tragic events and
the current status of our economy, I believe parents will be making
purchasing choices based on what their children actually play with, and toys
that are appropriate for their own development."
Will it last? Not likely. Right now, the toy industry has silenced much of
its marketing muscle. But we live in a free-market economy, and when it's
safe to jump back onto TV, toymakers will be giving kids, especially boys,
what they are pretty confident they want: action and destruction, and lots
of it.
For now, though, all those firetrucks and backloaders flying out of Toys `R'
Us are good for kids, despite a lingering irony. Max Steel's "urban siege"
was pretend; when kids play firefighter and rescue worker, they'll likely be
acting out the real thing.
Christopher Byrne, a New York-based toy analyst, says not to fret, that
playtime provides children a necessary and safe outlet for dealing with
terrorism - no matter what toys they are playing with.
"The kids are going to be acting out things relevant to the attacks; the
piece of plastic is irrelevant," Byrne said. "My guess is Barbie is going to
be pulled, basically, from under a lot of blocks. It's going to come out
through play; there's no question about it. And that's not necessarily a bad
thing."
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