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Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

Here Come The Toys!

By Laura C. Girardi

NakNak, who's there? New stacking battle toys!

New Yorker Daniel Scarpati, 9, can't get enough Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards. "I make my parents spend money on them like crazy," he says. Upper Deck Entertainment began distributing the game, which is based on Japanese comics, in the U.S. last March. Yu-Gi-Oh! became an immediate success.

But uh-oh, Yu-Gi-Oh! is in for some stiff competition. More than 1,000 toy manufacturers from all over the world will soon introduce new toys at the American International Toy Fair. The huge annual trade show will be held in New York City February 16-19. Buyers from toy and department stores come to Toy Fair to decide which new toys to sell.

This year is Toy Fair's 100th anniversary. In 1903, seven toy salesmen set up headquarters at a New York City hotel. They wanted to show their toys to buyers on their way to and from Europe. The fair became a yearly event.

Classic Clue: An old version makes a comeback.

WHAT'S NEXT? OLD STUFF!

Some toys offered at this year's American International Toy Fair are also celebrating anniversaries: Crayola Crayons turn 100, the Wiffle ball turns 50, and the Easy-Bake Oven turns 40. "Manufacturers try to get parents nostalgic for what they played with so they will want to buy it for their own kids," says toy-trend expert Frank Catalano.

That includes board games. A company called Winning Moves is selling Clue 1949. This version features artwork and copies of game pieces from the original 1949 edition.

Other new toys put a new twist on classic ideas. For example, remote-controlled cars are now tiny and have interchangeable parts. New action figures have a computer chip in them that allows kids to choose what their figures talk about together.

Will these toys become as popular as Yu-Gi-Oh!, which is nominated for Game of the Year at Toy Fair? Catalano says it's up to kids like Daniel to decide the next big trend: "Adults can try to figure it out, but if a kid won't play with it, it won't be a hot toy."

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• The traditional 52 playing cards in a deck symbolize the number of weeks in a year. The four suits represent the seasons.
• The game pick up sticks has been traced back to native Americans, who played it with wheat stalks. They passed it on to English settlers.
• John Spilsbury, an English engraver and mapmaker, invented the jigsaw puzzle in 1767. The first one was a world map.
• The hula hoop, introduced in 1959, is based on the bamboo hoops used by Australian kids as a fun exercise.

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