Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Psst, Santa ... Bring Barbie and an Xbox
Video games, dolls expected
to top children's wish lists
By CHRIS JONES
GAMING WIRE
Nicole Carr, 9, sits Tuesday with Santa Claus for a picture inside the Fashion Show mall. Nicole's wish-list items included a Care Bear and a Fur Real Friends kitty.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.
Santa peruses Nicole Carr's Christmas wish list Tuesday at the Fashion Show mall.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.
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When trying to determine which toys have kids clamoring this holiday season, it's tough to find a more knowledgeable source than Santa Claus.
And if Ol' St. Nick's years of experience are an accurate indicator, kids should expect to find more of the same beneath their Christmas trees come Dec. 25.
Between visits with children at Las Vegas' Fashion Show mall on Tuesday, the North Pole's most-famous gift giver happily shared his latest list of popular toys in 2004, even if its contents are strikingly similar to 2003's.
"The girls still ask for Care Bears, Barbie, Bratz and Polly Pockets," said Santa, reciting a litany of prospective gifts surely familiar to anyone who's recently shopped for a young girl.
After pausing to chat with Las Vegan Noah Verduzco -- who hopes to celebrate his third birthday Christmas Day with a new Thomas the Tank Engine train set -- Santa said boys' requests have also been much in line with last year.
"They want a Game Boy, Xbox or some kind of video games, unless they're older. Then they ask me for a dirt bike," added Santa, who masquerades as Summerlin resident Bob Penn when not spending time at his arctic toy factory among assorted elves and red-nosed reindeer.
Santa isn't the only one who's closely monitoring toy trends this year. The Washington-based National Retail Federation and BIGresearch, a Worthington, Ohio-based consumer analysis firm, last month surveyed more than 7,300 shoppers to learn which items they plan to buy this holiday season.
Its survey also shows this year's favorites include several items that were popular last year, and when many of today's parents were kids, themselves.
Nearly 22 percent of girls polled said they hope to receive a Barbie doll, proving the 45-year-old plastic beauty is far from slowing with age. Bratz dolls, a 3-year-old lineup of pouty-lipped fashion divas made by MGA Entertainment, ranked second with a 16.5 percent score, followed by the catch-all "doll" category, which made nearly 11 percent of girls' lists.
One in 5 boys polled said they want video games, a ratio that easily outclassed runner-up Spider-Man's 8.9 percent score. Remote-controlled toys ranked third with a 4.7 percent score, followed by Mattel's Hot Wheels miniature cars at 3.9 percent.
Toy Wishes magazine recently released its "Hot Dozen" toys for 2004, a list that also includes Barbie (in a two-doll set dressed as Princess Anneliese and Erika from the film "The Princess and the Pauper"), Bratz (set in their Tokyo-A-Go-Go Dance n' Skate Club) and the throwback Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.
Video-related offerings include Fisher-Price's InteracTV, a $40 digital video disk player that lets kids interact with characters on the DVD using an electronic tablet; JAKKS Pacific's Ms. Pac-Man TV Games, a $20 retro video game system with five classic titles; and VTech's V.Smile, a $60 video game system for preschoolers too young to handle Xbox or PlayStation 2.
Toy Wishes' list is rounded out by:
• E-L-M-O. For $30, Fisher-Price will subject parents to endless "Sesame Street"-style versions of the Village People's disco hit "Y.M.C.A."
• Balloon Lagoon, a $20 carnival-themed game by Cranium.
• Bella Dancerella, a $30 "ballet studio" complete with costume and instructional video.
• Nitro Battlerz, a $40 kit that lets kids create -- and crash -- a customized remote controlled car.
• Tamagotchi Connection, a collection of "virtual pets" that sell for $15 each.
• VideoNow Color, Hasbro's $75 portable video player that lets kids carry episodes of their favorite cartoon or Nickelodeon television program wherever they go.
The International Council of Shopping Centers also expects a "Shrek"-themed version of the game "Operation," and a "Saturday Night Live" version of the game Trivial Pursuit, will be popular this year. Separately, a local toy retailer said products tied to the animated film "The Polar Express" have also disappeared from shelves at his store.
