Word: toy
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...hear that. And now I'm going to the toy store, to buy you a beanie with a propeller...
When Larami, a Philadelphia toy company, introduced its Super-Soaker water gun this past spring, it was a success. But sales over the past few weeks have been so overwhelming that the item is completely sold out in stores. "We've sold millions," says company spokesman Bob Lieberman. "We have three factories in China working 24 hours a day, and we still can't keep up with the demand." They're also becoming hot in Europe and Japan...
...idea for the new toy is simple: put stick-to-itself Velcro on a sphere that is roughly the size of a tennis ball. Apply the same stuff to two mitt- size disks that have a strap across the back for a handhold. Presto! A craze known variously as Magic Mitts, Scatch, Katch-a-Roo and Super Grip Ball. On streets, playgrounds and at the beach, players have added their own fancy moves, twisting into pretzel shapes to make behind-the-back catches, or getting a grip on the ball while doing a high-kick. Another trick: strapping a mitt...
...popping neon colors, Super Grip sells briskly in toy stores and at the 75-store Sharper Image chain, whose typical customer is described as a man in his early 40s. What's the allure? "When the economy gets tough, you need a diversion," says Stephen Sandberg, owner of Sanco Toy Co., in Foxboro, Mass., who has shipped 100,000 Scatch games. "You look for something simple to do. You use your imagination, and make up your own rules...
...signs that the video-game frenzy the Japanese-owned company stirred up over the past five years may be starting to fizzle. Sales of the old Nintendo system have fallen off sharply (down 46% in the first half of 1991), and discount tags have replaced SOLD OUT signs in toy stores across the U.S. "I played all the games so much, I just got bored with them," says Tomas Romano, 9, of Brooklyn, N.Y. He and his friends now prefer Little League baseball...