Digital evolution displayed at toy fair

NEW YORK | Technology plays an ever-expanding role in a child’s life, and toy companies are responding by incorporating more of it in their product lineups.

The digital evolution of the toy industry was on full display at this year’s American International Toy Fair, where buyers pored over products from more than 1,000 companies and the aisles were stuffed with toys that combined technology with traditional play patterns.

The five-day event held last week at the Javits Center in Manhattan and at private showrooms throughout New York City showcased the toys that stores will be stocking next holiday season.

The continuing trend toward technology came as no surprise to Eric Levin, president of Techno Source, a Hong Kong company that specializes in hand-held gaming and innovations involving the Rubik’s cube.

Mr. Levin called today’s youth “digital natives.”

“We have to keep in context that kids are surrounded by technology everywhere they go,” he said. “From their crib, there’s a video camera staring at them and a microphone listening to them. They have no concept that there is a traditional toy or tech toy. The only thing they are looking at is it fun or not fun.”

His company is promoting toys that encourage online creativity and enhance that experience.

One toy called Printies taps into children’s love of creating digital avatars while fulfilling their desire to collect real plush toys.

The kit, scheduled to debut this fall for less than $20, lets children create a creature through an online studio. Using a color printer and special paper, they can produce their own stuffed animals.

Techno Sources’ Smiley Central Studio is a free Web site that generates customized emoticons, a staple in the world of e-mail and text messaging.

Video games continue to compete with more traditional toys for the attention of youngsters and now account for $21.33 billion in annual U.S. sales versus $21.64 billion for toys, according to 2008 figures compiled by the NPD Group, a marketing research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. Toy companies must continue to tap into a child’s instinctual knowledge of technology to capture his imagination.

“We are competing with some of the best minds in the world in the video game industry, so we have to become smarter and smarter when it comes to presenting traditional toys,” said Dodd Harris, vice president of sales for Uncle Milton, a 62-year-old company based in Westlake Village, Calif., that creates science toys with an edge.

“They have to have an electronic component that remains compelling and challenging to owners beyond what used to pass as a just-good offering.”

His company really concentrated on the mind this year — specifically, “the force” of Star Wars fame.

With a Star Wars license in hand, which Mr. Harris calls a “safe harbor for retailers and manufacturers” in hard economic times, Uncle Milton has developed the Force Trainer.

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