Electronic gadgets may dominate New York Toy Fair

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Preschoolers will be able to access the Internet safely, while older children might have more fun learning to play guitar, thanks to new toys due to be unveiled next week at one of the world's biggest toy fairs.

As an estimated 14,000 buyers from 7,000 retailers descend on the annual American International Toy Fair in New York over the next week, they could be forgiven for thinking they walked into the Consumer Electronics Show by mistake.

For this may be the year when electronic toys, already an important segment, become a much more dominant force.
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After years of watching children abandon their toys at earlier ages for MP3 players, cell phones and video games, toy makers should still be able to eke out some sales growth this year after deftly managing to combine elements of traditional toy play with electronics, industry experts said.

U.S. toy sales in 2006 crept up to $22.3 billion from $22.2 billion, driven by 22 percent growth in the youth electronics category, market research firm NPD Group said this week.

"One of the big trends continues to be electronics and especially music," independent toy industry consultant Christopher Byrne said. "You're looking at kids who want to be involved in music. They want to be rock stars."

Byrne said the success of Walt Disney Co.'s pop music acts "Cheetah Girls" and "Hannah Montana" bodes well for Mattel Inc.'s "I Can Play Guitar System," which teaches children to play guitar by matching colored images shown on a TV screen.