Toy Fair 2007: Electronic Games Gain on Dolls

Each year, more floor space at the American International Toy Fair is taken up with electronic toys for kids, and this year the trend continues. Here's why: Sales in "youth electronics" increased 22 percent between 2005 and 2006—the largest increase in all of the big toy categories, according to research firm NPD Group.

Kids like to mimic older kids and adults, and the fact is, we're tapping on, listening to, and communicating with electronics every day, and they want to, too.

Some advance stories about the toy fair say it's akin to a CES for kids as electronic toys assume a bigger share of the toy market every year. But as I strolled the show floor at the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center in New York today, it was pretty clear dolls and stuffed animals still outnumber electronics for kids.

And yet... there are lots of tech toys to take in at this year's show. A walk through the electronics section revealed various versions of kid "laptops." Oregon Scientific is showing a Barbie B-Smart Laptop, a Hot Wheels Accelerator Laptop (pictured above), and a Star Wars Darth Vader Laptop. Each has dozens of math, spelling, logic, and memory games that can be played on small screens at the center of the laptop.

The Barbie laptop has a mouse and mouse pad and full QWERTY keyboard for show; you can't tap out individual letters with it. Same goes with the Hot Wheels laptop, which has a place for a Hot Wheels track so kids can test the speed of their Hot Wheels cars. All will be available in the summer and cost about $60 each. Kidz Delight is introducing the Magic Mirror Laptop, which shows a child's reflection when she opens up the laptop toy. (Ages 12 months and up, $20)

Here are a few more trends I spotted the first day of the show:

MP3 players for the small set -- Expect to see more of them. Canada-based Peapod has a pretty indestructible, rubberized MP3 player for kids ages birth to 8 years. It comes with music-management software, has built-in volume control, and a jack for earphones for when kids get older. The sound seemed okay at best, but, to be fair, it's hard to hear anything well in a convention hall. It will be available in the spring or summer and will sell for $55 wholesale, so expect to pay a good bit more retail.

Affordable handheld games -- VG Pocket is showing off its Disney-licensed handheld games (pictured) that feature 12 games and a can be plugged into a TV to play on a bigger screen via a $15 cable. The big selling point is the price: $40. Perfect for parents who want to try out handheld games but are not ready to spend PSP and Nintendo DS Lite dollars. The quality is decent for the price.

Read on for more of my coverage of the Toy Fair this week.