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Toy Shortage News

News from the Toy Industry

1. Industry News
   Even in this day and age there is a 90 DAY TURNAROUND for Major Orders to Factory and Arrival of Goods in the Stores. Apparently Chinas Toy Manufacturers are complaining of shortage of workers, and losing good workers to the higher paying technology companies
2. Walmart Discounting Toys
   
   Wal-Mart Stores has announced a second round of toy price cuts for the upcoming holiday shopping season.
   
   US Walmart stores are cutting prices on 100 toys by roughly 20 percent to 30 percent.
   
   At the end of September, Wal-Mart began selling 100 toys for $10 each in a promise to cut prices every week until Christmas to win over shoppers.
3. Kelkoo Warns or Toy Shortages and Price Rises for Late Shoppers in the UK
   
   Kelkoo predicts a 'Return to Retro' this Christmas as it reveals the most wanted toys list and warns shoppers to buy now to avoid price rises later
   
   With the Toy Retailer's Association (TRA) launching its top toys list on Wednesday 28th October, shopping comparison site Kelkoo.co.uk predicts the best-selling toys this Christmas and is warning UK shoppers to buy the most sought after gifts early to avoid price increases and stock shortages.
4. 20% of Toys will be Bought Online this Year 2009
   
   This is a rises of 24% on last year
5. Wii Fit Plus Already Number One Games Top Seller
   But will be overtaken by new releases
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
   This widely-anticipated video gamehas been tipped to be the biggest selling video game in history.
   
   Retailer HMV has predicted more than 1m UK sales in the first week, 20% more than previous record holder Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA4). Online shop Amazon said the pre-order sales were 50% higher than GTA4.
7. Consumers will spend $360 Billion this Christmas
   Yes that's $360 Billion
8. Associative Press The hot toys this year, according to the AP:
   
   * Zhu Zhu Pets, interactive mechanical hamsters and accessories.
   * Mattel's Mindflex, a helmet that measures brain activity.
   * Hasbro's Nerf N-Strike, a line of toy guns that shoot foam darts.
   * Barbie Fashionistas, dolls that twist their hips and strike poses.
9. Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters AKA as GO GO Hamsters flying off the shelves
   But they are flying off the shelves, with some stockists boasting that whole shipments are sold out between 30 seconds and three minutes after reaching the shop floor.
   
   In the UK initial demand was so high that Toys R Us did not even list Go Go Pets in its Christmas catalog to avoid disappointing customers.
   
   A check yesterday found they were 'out of stock' on the websites of Argos, Toys 'R' Us, Tesco, Asda and Hamleys.
   
   On the Toys R Us website parents are restricted to buying two of each item when they finally get a new delivery.
10. Zhu-Zhu Hamsters Hottest Toy in History?
    "It's the hottest toy I've seen since I've been at Toys R Us, and old-timers tell me this is one of the hottest toys in history," said CEO Jerry Storch.
11. A Good Xmas for eBay Toy Scalpers
    eBayers will have already bought stocks of populars toys to resell closer to Xmas at high prices. A list of toys mentioned, Zhu Zhus of course, Mindflex by Mattel, which is a helmet the measures brain activity. Barbie Fashionistas, which twist their hips and strike poses.Nerf N-Strike, which are toy guns that shoot darts.Tickle Me Elmo Extreme TMX can talk, laugh (of course), wave his arms, fall down laughing and then right himself
12. Black Friday Coming Soon
    This year it's Friday the 27th the day after Thanksgiving.Best Buy, Macys, Sears and Walmart apparently will be open 24 hours to satisfy demand. It signals the start of the Xmas shopping season. The expression Black Friday originates from the traffic build-ups that day and also reputedly it was the day in the year when the large retailers moved into profit.
13. New Moon Breaks One Day Record
    New Moon or Twilight 2, has broken the Dark Knights unbeatable record. I was speaking to a teenage girl this morning and can confirm the intense interest in this film.
14. Many Stores Under Ordered by Twenty Percent
    Economists and retail analysts predict that shortages of popular items will be common because retailers have scaled back their inventories to match weak consumer demand. Compared with 2007 Xmas season many large chains have 20% less inventory on hand this year. Other deny that they have under ordered.
15. Back Friday Sales $595 million
    Online retailers in the U.S. rang up $595 million on Black Friday, an 11% increase from the day a year ago according to comScore. Amazon got the highest growth 28% while Apple, Best Buy and Wal-Mart sites also experienced double-digit traffic gains. This includes all retail online sales of course not just toys, but is a great indicator. Total e-commerce for the month to date was a cool $10.5 billion.
    
    Amazon maintains it's position as market leader and shows once again that it understands the web business better than any one else.
16. Top Toys Only Available from Scalpers
    So far this year many retailers have already sold out of items such as Zhu Zhu pets, Bakugan , Mattel Mindflex, Barbie Twilight, Dance Around Dora, Rocky the Robot Truck, and many more to be sure. There are so many toy shortages this year that many parents are resorting to buying from third party retailers who stocked up before the shortages began and are now selling these toys at 5 times normal price.
    
    Safety Scare for Zhu Zhu Hampsters (Go Go Hamsters)
    
    The American Organization Goodguide claims that their tests show that Zhu Zhu Hamsters contain high levels of Antimony and Tin. The organization further stats that the Zhu Zhu's registers 4 terrible facts out of 27.
    
    The manufacturers deny this and say their toys have passed rigorous tests they are seeking contact with Goodguide to see if they can clarify the situation .
    (GoodGuide provides the world's largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home)
    Goodguide have now withdrawn this WARNING, claiming confusion in their testing method