Only 69 Shopping Days Left

Too early to start thinking about Christmas? Not at all. With the toy industry headed toward a record $11 billion in retail sales this year, spot shortages of the most popular games and dolls are already appearing. Toy stores say they cannot stock enough of Rainbow Brite, Mattel's newest line of dolls. Kenner expects to ship 9 million of its fuzzy Care Bears, yet still cannot meet demand. Some 25 factories in Japan are turning out tiny robots called Transformers that can be changed into cars and dinosaurs, but 20% of retail orders are going unfilled. Even last year's smash, the Cabbage Patch Kids, which set off near riots in shopping malls, are still in short supply.

Consumers, however, are in no danger of missing the arrival of the December gift season. Christmas editions of mail-order catalogs have already arrived, and the first signs of this year's TV blitz are appearing. For the past two weeks, cable networks CNN and WTBS have been broadcasting ads for Christmas music Reason: four to six weeks are required for delivery of the records These Yuletide commercials will be taken off the air right after Thanksgiving.