Word: lego
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...this promises to be the Year of the Classic Toy. Come Christmas morning, living rooms will be spread with some new variations on some old favorites: Lionel trains snaking around the tree, Barbie waving from her red Ferrari, G.I. Joe rappelling from the chimney with care. There will be Lego castles aloft by Christmas dinnertime, cabins carved of Lincoln Logs, and portraits etched on the Etch A Sketch. Even some new hits, like Lewis Galoob's Micro Machines, are souped-up successors to such staples as Matchbox cars. "All these toys have predictable long life," says Peter Harris, president...
...takes some magic and luck, and a grasp of that most chimerical substance, a child's imagination, to make an eternal toy. The best of them are infinitely simple and endlessly entertaining. There are nearly 103 million ways, for example, in which six eight-stud Lego bricks of the same color can be joined together. An artist in Colorado has re-created part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling on his Etch A Sketch. A classic toy, says John Brandt, manager of Toys International in Los Angeles, "is something where the child's imagination is the most important thing...
Though children flinch at gifts that are meant to be good for them, it is still true that toys that teach unobtrusively have real staying power. "Children are extraordinarily curious about their environment," says Richard Garvey, vice president of marketing for Lego. "Fad items like Hula Hoops do not engage a child's innate desire to learn." That desire largely accounts for the ubiquitous plastic Lego bricks, which can now be found in 55% of American homes with children under 15. "The best thing about the Lego blocks," says Paul Matthews, 37, father of Paul Chandler Matthews...
...experts do not see a disaster for the industry as a whole. Traditional toys have not lost their appeal, however short they may be on microprocessors. There will apparently never be a shortage of buyers for Crayola crayons, LEGO blocks and roller skates. Indeed, Ohio Art says sales of its Etch A Sketch, now in its 28th year, are up 50% this year. Says Gil Wachsman, president of the 128-store Child World chain: "What we're seeing is people moving toward better quality, and intrinsic to that is better value." For parents who still have closets full of little...
...will need a division of G.I. Joes to hold their ground. When asked what they want for Christmas, most children will parrot the names of popular toys. Jennifer Been, 7, of Dallas advises that she wants a Cabbage Patch Kid, a Cabbage Patch stroller, a Fisher-Price camera and Lego building blocks. Says she: "Almost every girl in the second grade has a Cabbage Patch...