The Electronic Age of Toys

Across the U.S., department store toy buyers joyfully talked about the "electronic Christmas." With hundreds of new gadgets operated by battery, remote control or miniature electronic brains, toy sales are heading for a new record. Forecast: $1,184,000,000, up approximately 4% over 1955.

The electronic toys, lifting ideas from the world of automation and guided missiles, are bound to dazzle adults as well as children. Among the startlers: "The Brain" ($11.95), a missile-shooting, robot-manned car with an electronic circuit built into the robot's head, put out by St. Louis' Jay V. Zimmerman Co., and remote-controlled buses and boats imported from Japan. "The Brain" can be preset to scoot about, turn and dodge on its preordered course, and fire its plastic missiles automatically. The buses and boats can be started, stopped and turned right or left by radio signals from more than 25 ft. away.

Other electronic toys are less complicated. General Molds & Plastics Corp. has a "Brainy Bug" ($5) that keeps on the move, automatically changing direction when its "feelers" touch an object; Bedico of Germany has a helicopter ($28.95) that is directed by a two-levered control box; Science Electronics, Inc. has an Erec-Tronic Transistor Set ($14.95) that gives young engineers a choice of nine different crystal and transistor radio circuits that can be built without soldering or tools.

Most stores expect that three out of five bestsellers in motorized toys this year will be battery-operated. But they will have tough competition from other new toys. Among the new top sellers:

P: Louis Marx & Co.'s "Tricky Tommy--The Big Brain--Tractor" ($5) is battery-operated, has a driver who appears to shift gears when he bumps into an object, changes direction and keeps rolling.

P: Kay Stanley Industries' "Bat-em Catch-em" ($10) an automatic pitcher, flings out plastic baseballs for more than 30 ft. for the young catcher or batter.

P: Wen-Mac Corp.'s "Flying Platform" ($13.95), a tiny, gas-engine replica of the Navy's one-man Hiller Platform (TIME, April 18, 1955), takes off vertically and hovers in the air.

P: Mattel Inc.'s "Burp Gun" ($3) shoots off 50 caps in seven seconds.

P: Ideal Toy Co.'s "Revlon Doll" ($11.95 to $25) is a fully-developed young siren (proportioned to 34-23-34) whose outfit includes nylon stockings, earrings, a bra. The doll is expected to be Ideal's biggest seller since the "Shirley Temple" doll of 20 years ago.

For the poor little rich boy there are some gold-plated gadgets. Mystic River Sales has a junior fire engine, "The Firebird" ($500), that a child can drive at 5 m.p.h., operating a 1 1/2-gallon pressure water tank that squirts water 25 ft. The Charles Wm. Doepke Mfg. Co. has an electric locomotive, "The Yardbird" ($225), that can transport a young engineer from room to room on an eight-inch gauge track. F.A.O. Schwarz has a wooden stockade ($75) with corner peephole boxes through which young pioneers can see the "attacking enemy."

For the not-so-rich, Marx has a "Space Satellite Launcher" ($3) that propels the plastic satellite skyward by a hand-crank mechanism; Irwin Corp. a "Skeet Shoot" ($4) that throws targets into the air, for a rifle loaded with darts; and Carrom Industries, a boxing game ($6.95) in which players manipulate toy fighters until the knockout. Of the traditional dolls, stuffed animals, soldiers, and games, there are hundreds of new variations. Madame Alexander has a new doll, "Lissy" ($10 to $15.95), that walks, sits and kneels; the Bonomi Italian dolls ($17.98 to $24.98) feature straight Audrey Hepburn haircuts, come equipped with skating and riding outfits. Stuffed animals, especially the big ones, are selling better than ever. They range from a Teddy Bear in Borgana fur to a hound dog inspired by Elvis Presley, and Steiff's life-size reindeer ($250). For the military minded, hot sellers are Marx's "Rin-tin-tin Fort Apache" and "Captain Gallant" ($6 apiece) and, among games, Parker Brothers' "Scoop" ($4).

Despite the upsurge in electronic toys, manufacturers are only beginning the new age. For next year, one company promised to have a junior-size Univac ready. And the time seemed not far off when every little boy and girl could climb aboard a $1.98 rocket for the moon.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.