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High tech taps into toy fair
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February 14, 2000: 6:54 p.m. ET
Robotic dogs, and computer keyboards for children, are poised to hit stores
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A robotic dog that acts independently and learns from you, a New York Yankees Monopoly game, and a simple stock market board game for budding teenage entrepreneurs will probably end up on a few holiday wish lists next year.
These toys are just a tiny fraction of the thousands on display Monday at the 2000 American International Toy Fair, which runs through Thursday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The show is not open to the general public.
Extreme high-tech goods grabbed much of the attention, but some new twists on old favorites also made a strong showing.
The dog robot, Sony's AIBO ERS-111, acts more or less like a regular dog, rolling on the carpet, scratching, lifting a hind leg and responding to master's scratching and petting. But its artificial intelligence brain allows it to learn good and bad behavior. Taking cues from its owner, the dog gradually learns and grows through several different learning stages.
The toy, which actually launched last May, retails for $2,500.
An unusual mix of high-tech and traditional comes with the popular game The Stone. Produced by Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Abject.com, The Stone features a simple stone marked with different characters and symbols. Each of the stones, which are sold in 10 different countries, has a unique marking. Users log onto The Stone's Web site by clicking on the matching characters. The site features intricate puzzles about science, history and other subjects. The goal is to solve each of the puzzles until the mystery of The Stone is revealed, said Rod Bruinooge, the game's creator and Abject.com's chief executive officer.
Another high-tech offering is KB Gear's Pooh Learning Keyboard, a colorful keyboard for children ages 3-8, with sturdy keys and Disney's Pooh characters on the face. The keyboard's bright color makes it easier for children to learn how to use a computer. The company also offers a sketch board on which children draw or trace with a wand. The images appear on a computer screen. Both retail for about $50, and will be available this summer.
An old favorite, Monopoly, has again proved why it remains the world's most popular board game.
USAopoly, which holds the Hasbro license to Monopoly, Scrabble and Clue, offers 50 different Monopoly titles. Among the newer titles available this year are a New York Yankees Monopoly and a Dale Earnhardt version, in which players buy up property and memorabilia of the popular NASCAR driver. Earnhardt is the first person ever to be featured on a Monopoly board.
And Stock Market Madness is a new game produced by Wall Street Toys Inc. Players buy and sell shares in different companies, go to jail for insider trading, and engage in some heavy profit-taking. The game's developers hope teachers will find the game simple enough to teach teenagers the basic workings of Wall Street. It retails for $34.95 and is currently available in stores.
Toy manufacturers look forward to the Toy Fair as a place to showcase the products they've been working on all year, and is a glimpse at their financial future as they hope retailers pick up on certain items to be the new hot toys for the holidays.
Toys put up a strong showing last year, with 1999 sales increasing 8.8 percent to $16.9 billion from the year before, said Peter Eio, chairman of the Toy Manufacturers Association, the New York City-based trade group that sponsors the show.
Action figures represented the greatest strength within that increase, with sales 23.8 percent higher in 1999 than the year before.
That Eio said, reflects the strength of licensing agreements for toys related to Star Wars, Power Rangers and the Worldwide Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. 
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