TWELVE TOYS OF CHRISTMAS : CATALOG LISTS THE MUST-HAVES.

Byline: Dave McNary Staff Writer

Couldn't find a Furby in December for your child's stocking? Didn't even catch a whisper of Talking Elmo the previous winter? Worried that this holiday season will come and go and you'll still be searching for the hottest toys?

Don't fret, frazzled parent. An expert on toy trends - and father of three daughters himself - is letting people know three months before the holiday season what this winter's hot toys will be.

Jim Silver, head of the industry publication Toy Book, will release a holiday-season crib sheet for anxious parents later this week, dubbed the Toy Wishes catalog.

``I think that the stress of looking for the right toy during holiday shopping season can rival an IRS audit,'' said Silver, who is co-publisher of the $5, 232-page catalog. ``Our idea is that this will get parents and children on the same page.''

Even though it will be several more weeks before many of the hottest toys are available, Silver believes there's one key word for parents to remember: electronics.

Talking toys with computer chips are expected to drive 1999's holiday toy buying past last year's $22 billion domestic take. The key ``I want it'' group is likely to be children between 8 and 12 years old - that tough-to-please category of miniconsumers who have been more interested in Game Boys than board games the past few years.

``We think this could be the year that the industry will bring back a lot of the older kids, 8 years old and above, that had gone away in the last few years toward electronic games,'' Silver said. ``They've gotten a big share back so this year will definitely be better than last year.''

Toy analyst Sean McGowan of Gerard Klauer Mattison said toy producers have been forced to re-define their marketing to adjust to how older children have changed in recent years.

``Traditional toy companies are waking up to the fact that kids have been spending a lot more on electronic games - computer, video and online - and they're going after this group,'' McGowan said. ``Toy companies still have the distribution, ad dollars and licenses, so now they have to put that kind of product out there for that group. My daughter, who's 13, has not had a Barbie since she was 7.''

Sliver's list of the ``Hot Dozen'' toys is heavily weighted toward electronic gizmos; only two of the 12 - Pokemon Fossil Cards and Pokemon Pikachu Plush - fall into more traditional nonelectronic categories.

Eight of the other toys on the catalog's ``hot dozen'' list can talk and most are highly recognizable entries: Working Woman Barbie, Interactive Yoda and Toy Story 2 Flight Control Buzz Lightyear, among them. The quartet of WCW Tuff Talkin' Wrestlers - Goldberg, Sting, Diamond Dallas and Kevin Nash - have infrared sensors that recognize each other (``Goldberg, you're not gonna slam me.'')

Rock and Roll Elmo can sing two songs (``ABC'' and ``Shake, Rattle and Roll''); Jakks Pacific's WWF Net Wired Stone Cold Steven Austin delivers daily commentary from the WWF Web site; and the Intel Play QX3 Computer Microscope operates while hooked up to a personal computer.

Silver stresses the ``hot dozen'' do not necessarily representthe most entertaining toys but simply the ones that are going to be hardest to find, much like Tickle Me Elmo in 1997 and last year's Furby.

``There are some great toys that are not on the `hot dozen' list,'' he added. ``The ones we've named are the ones that are mostly likely to generate the biggest demand. If you try to get one of them at a store after Dec. 15, you probably won't be able to find them.''

What toys will be the hottest of the hot? Silver said there are five of the 12 that could be especially difficult:

The Pokemon fossil cards, which will be a complete new set complementing the widely sought collector cards that have become the must-have item for the 8- to 12-year-old set. ``Pokemon is so big right now in schools and the Pokemon movie will be out in November, so these will be very hard to get,'' Silver said.

Interactive Yoda, which will speak lines from the ``Star Wars'' movies on how to become a Jedi Knight, is certain to draw young boys and collectors. ``This one is a no-brainer,'' Silver said. ``It's going to be scarce.''

Rock and Roll Elmo, successor to 1997's super-hot Tickle Me Elmo.

Toy Story 2 Flight Control Buzz, which will receive a boost from Disney's much-admired marketing machine and the hype surrounding the Nov. 24 release of the sequel. The toy, likely to hit shelves in late October or early November, was previously called Smart Flying Buzz and has been re-named several times.

Working Woman Barbie, which comes with a briefcase, laptop computer and a business suit that reverses into a party dress. ``She's really set up to be a role model for girls,'' Silver said. ``Barbie hasn't done that well the last few years but we think this is going to be a big comeback. My daughters loved the fact that Barbie's outfit could be flipped around for a new look.''

His key bit of advice to toy buyers looking toward the coming season is simple: Don't despair if you can't get the most sought-after items.

``If the hottest toys are not available, don't stress out,'' Silver said. ``There are so many good toys available that don't get a lot of publicity. Don't get frustrated and go to 30 stores.''

Some of his favorites include Crayola No Drip Gel Paints, an Easy Bake Oven Pop Tart set and Harley-Davidson Power Wheels. ``I think we're seeing an unbelievable level of innovation,'' Silver said.

Toy Wishes, a joint venture between The Toy Book and publishers Wizard Entertainment that catalogs toys from more than 200 different companies, will be available in stores Oct. 5. The catalog will be available for a week starting Tuesday exclusively through the toysrus.com Web site.

THE HOT DOZEN

The Toy Wishes Book has predicted the following will be the hardest-to-get during the coming holiday season. Listing is alphabetical:

Name Company Type of toy

Amazing Amy Playmates Talking doll

Furby Babies Tiger Electronics  Talking animals

Intel Play QX3 Computer Microscope

Mattel

Microscope with PC display capability

Interactive Yoda Tiger ElectronicsTalking movie character

Pokemon Fossil Cards Wizards of the Coast  Collector cards

Pokemon Pikachu Plush Hasbro Eight-inch plush toy

Rock and Roll Elmo Fisher Price Singing plush toy

12-Inch Talking Darth Maul Hasbro Talking movie character

Toy Story 2 Flight Control Buzz Mattel Talking movie character

Working Woman Barbie Mattel Talking doll

WCW Tuff Talkin' Wrestlers Toy Biz Talking TV characters

WWF Net Wired Stone Cold Steve Austin Jakks Pacific 

Talking TV character connected to Internet

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, chart

PHOTO (1 -- 4) no caption (assorted toys from story)

CHART: The hot dozen (see text)