Classic Games Make A Comeback

It might all seem like fun and games to the consumer, but for the toy industry, it's anything but.

Miss a hot trend, and you miss cashing in on the motherlode. Saturate the marketplace and, like the recent scooter craze, a once profitable commodity finds it's way to the bargain aisle.

Hundreds of hours of product testing and research are still no match for the whims that peak a childs interest, making the development of the next big thing on the toy shelves anything but an exact science.

Furby, that animatronic wonder from a couple of years ago was a must-have, but no amount of color, size, or character variations could keep the talking robotic toy's sales from sputtering as newer, more technically advanced interactive gizmos passed it by.

Less fleeting than Furby, It's the simpler playthings that remain the tried-and-true perennial favorites that toy makers crave.

Duncan yo-yos have enjoyed incredible staying power throughout the years and Hot wheels, the No.1 selling toy across all categories still outlasts other challengers as a bench mark of how to build a best-seller.

Taking a page from a turn towards nostalgia, Mattel has re-introduced a trio of cool classics that baby boomers are sure to fondly remember as much as their kids will enjoy as a change from current techno-heavy toys.

Culled from the company's vast portfolio of games, Mattel has brought back the Magic 8 Ball, the mystical fortune telling toy that's celebrating it's 55th anniversary.

Originally made by the Alabe Crafts company and billed as a novilty item and paperweight, the Magic 8 Ball's humorous answers to 'yes or no' questions that pop up into it's 'Spirit Slate' window has won over children as well as the inner-child in adults ever since it's introduction in the 1940s.

Tyco took over production of the all-knowing oracle until that company was absorbed by Mattel. Also available in a miniature key chain size, the new roll-out also coensides with the introduction of an accompanying Magic 8 Ball board game.

Also making a comeback is the toy that was a real knockout - literally.

Rock'em Sock'em Robots, the game that pits players against one another at the controls of two brawling robots - the Blue Bomber and the Red Rocker - was a favorite among boys when it first hit toy shelves in the 1960s. Kids could manipulate their robots punches and movements from outside the squared circle with levers until a match concluded with a jaw-shattering jab that would sent the losers head flying up.

Go To Page: 1 2