WHERE THE TOYS ARE PRODUCT SHOWCASE NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES FOR MANUFACTURERS, RETAILERS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

Forget playtime - for toy makers, it's show time.

More than 2,000 manufacturers are flocking to New York this week at the American International Toy Fair, hawking their wares to the retail world. Officially beginning Sunday and stretching through Feb. 19, the event has become a multiweek scramble for the spotlight. For some, it's a chance to glad-hand old colleagues and scope out the competition. For others, it's a flat-out competition for survival.

``Being a relatively young company, we're charging full speed ahead,'' said Steven Kort, co-chief executive officer of Northridge's What Kids Want! Inc. ``We feel it's important to bring out new concepts each year, and as an aggressive company, we feel that it's mandatory to grow every year. We gulp and go forward.''

Local manufacturers large and small are spiffing up their products, trying to show off for the clients who will be buying their merchandise and carrying them through a challenging year. Kort's firm, launched in 1999, will try to interest chains in its pretend foods, using licensed brand names from Pepsi, Kellogg's and Eggo waffles, as well as a milkshake maker with the Got Milk logo. While he believes strongly in his products, he'll have stiff competition from manufacturers nationwide.

Amid all the schmoozing and cocktail parties, there's lots of serious business to be done. While companies anxiously await the winner of the Toy Industry Association's Toy of the Year Award, to be announced Saturday night, they're networking, talking up their products and pitching themselves to the media.

``It's like opening night for your company's product line where we show off for everyone, not just the buyers,'' said David Schwartz, vice president of marketing for Woodland Hills-based Funrise Toy Corp., whose firm is introducing its licensed version of Silly Putty, as well as lines tied to ``The Hulk'' and Pinewood Derby. ``It's very critical to ensure that you look as good as possible to the people who make or break it for you.''

Giants such as Mattel and Hasbro come in with a double advantage, having already shown off their lines to retail chains months ago, but still showing up armed with their premium lines and late introductions. El Segundo-based Mattel has already previewed its Harry Potter, Hot Wheels and Looney Tunes lines to its retailers but will now hold them up for media scrutiny.

``We don't showcase like we used to,'' said Sara Rosales, Mattel's vice president of public relations. ``In New York, we show our key items, the ones that are the newest of the new, the most innovative and the most creative. It's small, but it's our cream of the crop.''

Though titans of Mattel's caliber, with $4.89 billion in annual sales, can afford to relax somewhat, its younger competitors don't give in in the slightest. Malibu-based Jakks Pacific brought 4,000 products, highlighting its new Switch 'Em Up SpongeBob SquarePants, Activision TV Games controller and a candy product sold under the name Tongue Tape.

``Six months before the show starts, our core team in New York starts redesigning the showroom,'' said spokeswoman Genna Goldberg. ``One month before, two dozen designers come out from Malibu to work on each of the different product rooms. Then 30 to 40 come to staff the show, 100 percent of the executives, the communications team, licensing, finance and all our sales reps.''

This creates an odd atmosphere, celebratory and cheery at the same time each company tries to beat the others out of retail accounts. With a retail market that runs to nearly $30 billion in annual sales, everyone wants their own cut, with only so many dollars to go around.

``There's a friendly rivalry,'' said independent toy consultant Chris Byrne. ``It's collegial, because it's a small industry, but it's still fiercely competitive. Companies like MGA will fight very hard to get their shelf space.''

North Hills-based MGA Entertainment brought its latest Bratz assortment for display, including a preview of its Beauty Boom Box and its Cloe IndepenDANCE doll, a fashion-forward Fourth of July-themed dancer. The figures, which have stirred up the category enough to get Mattel to reposition Barbie as a hipper, older doll through its MyScene line, continue to be a top seller for MGA. Chief Executive Officer Isaac Larian hopes to keep it that way, regardless of the steely looks he might get from his rivals.

``The toy business is very competitive but festive, and at Toy Fair, especially,'' he said. ``We say hello and we're friendly, but its very competitive. We came out of nowhere and we're taking major market share, so it's understandable.''

Even longtime players in the business still get excited about the event. Robert Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer of Woodland Hills' Applause LLC, has been to countless fairs, talking up his plush and collector lines all over the world. This year, he's bringing his new dolls from ``The Simpsons'' and Disney's ``Finding Nemo,'' among a broad line of offerings. And though he's a dominant mover in the toy and gift world, he's still looking forward to showing up.

``I can't remember being as anxious and as excited about going to the New York toy fair,'' he said. ``I think it's going to be another humbling year for most people, since '03 is on its way to being a repeat of '02. Mass merchants are buying cautiously, so major toy corporations are forecasting cautiously. I'm going against the current and being more aggressive.''

Tackling multiple lines, from National Geographic to the latest installment of ``Lord of the Rings,'' especially in a rocky economy, is normally a daunting task. But combining the confidence that allowed him to save his company from foreclosure and the excitement of the trip to the Toy Fair, Solomon professes no worries.

``I can't tell you how much I love to sleep,'' he said. ``And I've been sleeping pretty well.''

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5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Activision's TV Games plugs into a television and plays 10 classic video games with no console.

(2 -- 5 -- color) Clockwise from left, Malibu-based Jakks Pacific continues to revamp its action figures, such as wrestling superstar the Rock. Applause LLC of Woodland Hills is peddling plush Simpsons dolls, as well as Disney characters. El-Segundo-based Mattel and Warner Bros. make Looney Tunes toys based on an upcoming live-action film. MGA Entertainment's Cloe IndepenDANCE doll is from the North Hills company's high-selling Bratz line.