Mattel Inc., the world’s biggest
toymaker, is returning to an old market with its $19.99 Shield
Blaster, a triple-barrel, red and green water pistol after
sluggish sales growth in the past five years.
The Shield Blaster, Mattel’s first water toy since the late
1990s, is meant to augment sales in warmer months. Mattel, which
gets more than two-thirds of its revenue during the holiday
season, and rivals such as Pawtucket-based Hasbro Inc. are also expanding into
pharmacies and grocery stores with U.S. sales little changed from
2000 to 2002, according to the Toy Industry Association.
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“You have manufacturers and retailers looking for any niche
opportunity to increase their profit margins,” said Mike
Redmond, an analyst with Port Washington, New York-based market
research firm NPD Group.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s low-price strategy is helping drive
down toy prices, Redmond said. Sales probably dropped 3 percent
in 2003 from about $21 billion in 2002 even as the number of toys
sold increased, he estimated. The popularity of video games,
whose sales rose about 11 percent in North America last year,
according to Harris Nesbitt Gerard, are also hurting sales.
Among the few bright spots for the toy industry have been
products tied to films including “The SpongeBob SquarePants
Movie” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” that are
expected to increase sales.
As the annual American International Toy Fair in New York
opens this weekend, companies are hoping the show contains the
long-awaited next hit toy like Pokemon or Furby.
Bloomberg News
