All They Want This Year Are Electronics

Toy makers say it’s the year that tech stole Christmas.

With kids more electronics savvy than ever, traditional toys are getting the small cold shoulder. This year, the holiday gifts of choice for the very young are CD players, video games, DVDs and DVD players, analysts and retailers said earlier this week. For the slightly older, wish lists also include the Nintendo DS gaming system, iPods, digital cameras and cellphones.

“The electronic era has now even hit the 6-, 7-, and 8-year-old,” said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for NPD Group, a research firm. “And it’s expensive.”

Sandy Suarez knows what he means. The Moorpark homemaker remembers how much simpler Christmas was even just a year ago, when her oldest son, Alex, was 11.

“The only thing he wanted last year was Legos,” Suarez recalled. Now, both Alex and his 9-year-old brother, Steven, want several Nintendo Game Boy and Sony PlayStation 2 games. And Steven is clamoring for an Xbox.

“I tell them that Santa can’t afford to buy all of those toys,” she said, “and have them ready in time for Christmas.”

Kid-size electronics are pushing the price tag envelope beyond $50 -- once the high-water mark for a toy.

Among the hottest sellers, according to retailer Toys R Us, is Hasbro Inc.’s Video Now Color Personal DVD Player, which retails for $74.99. But that isn’t terribly expensive, considering what else is on the shelves.

AT&T; Wireless, for example, has introduced a Blackberry-like instant messaging gadget for kids called the Ogo. It costs $129.99, and the youngster (or more likely Mom or Dad) has to pay a monthly service fee of at least $17.99.

Analysts said that other popular “toys,” for lack of a better word, included Disney Consumer Products’ line of personal electronics for kids, such as the $39.99 Disney Princess CD Player & Jewelry Box combination and the 13-inch pink Disney Princess television, with tiara-shaped speakers and a remote designed to fit a small hand. The TV retails for $109.99.

Of the 10 bestselling toy items on Amazon.com, seven are electronic or meant to be enjoyed in front of a TV.

“We are in a technology world, and what entertained a child 10 years ago doesn’t work anymore,” said Jim Silver, publisher of Toy Wishes magazine. “Traditional toys make up a certain part of the market, but that marketplace shrinks a little bit more each year.”

Toy makers can blame themselves for getting kids started so early. Even some video game systems, like the $59.99 V-Tech Industries V.Smile TV Learning System, are targeted at preschoolers age 3 and older.

Most players in the toy industry are on the bandwagon. Mattel Inc., based in El Segundo, has licensed the Barbie name to a couple of electronic products, including a 35-millimeter camera. Van Nuys-based MGA Entertainment Inc., maker of Bratz dolls, has licensed their names to a host of electronics, as well as furniture and sleeping bags.

“We think we need to be a consumer entertainment product company, not only selling toys but CD players, televisions, bikes and furniture,” said Isaac Larian, chief executive of MGA. “If you go to Wal-Mart they have 150,000 square feet and only two aisles for toys. We need to make things for all of the departments.”

Jill S. Krutick, a toy analyst with Citigroup Smith Barney, said though many young kids find Disney or Barbie gadgets appealing, many more want the grown-up electronics their parents or older siblings have, such as iPods or digital cameras.

And, of course, video games. A slew of new kids’ titles, such as the “SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” game, and “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” are hitting stores along with more mature titles, including “Halo 2” and “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.”

“We are really in the sweet spot for video games this holiday,” Krutick said. She added that many people were buying games this year and holding off on equipment purchases because Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Portable gaming system and Microsoft Corp.’s new Xbox are due out next year.

Not every middle-schooler is willing to wait a whole year. In fact, Kim Wizer, a mortgage representative from Westlake Village, said her 11-year-old’s demands had gotten out of hand.

“My son wants an Xbox and an iPod and a cellphone,” Wizer said. What he wants and what he’ll receive are two different things. “He’s getting greedy,” she said. “He’s going to get one of those electric scooters and he’s going to get some clothes” and perhaps a baseball pitching trainer.

When Charis Mansur of La Crescenta thinks about what her two sons want for Christmas -- and about the price tags -- she’s overwhelmed. Both Stephen, 9, and Phillip, 12, are hankering for the $149.99 Nintendo DS with two video screens.

“There is so much out there to want and to have,” Mansur said, adding that she had to draw the line. “I told them not to get their hopes up.”

She doesn’t always say no. “My older son got an MP3 player for his birthday,” she admitted. “I don’t even have an MP3 player.”

* (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Hot toys

Here are the top-selling toys in Los Angeles on Amazon.com earlier this week.

Price Product Description 1 $59.99 VTech V.Smile TV Learning System Educational video game system for preschoolers 2 39.99 LeapFrog LeapStart Learning Table Electronic musical table for toddlers 3 19.99 Spin Master Aquadoodle drawing mat Mat that uses water and a special pen to create colorful images 4 24.99 Cranium Hullabaloo Game Electronic repetition game

5 79.99 LeapFrog Leapster Multimedia Learning System Hand-held education video game system for preschoolers 6 17.99 LeapFrog Fridge Phonics magnetic learning game Electronic phonics letter set

7 9.99 Hasbro Star Wars 2004 Figure: Silver Action figure Darth Vader

8 19.99 Hasbro Whac-A-Mole Electronic talking mole game 9 21.99 Fisher-Price Little People: A Little Nativity figures People Christmas 10 39.99 Fisher-Price InteracTV DVD system Interactive learning system using DVDs of childrenÕs shows Source: Amazon.com; Times research