Chape 1 c Becoming You Own Expe d x p COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL z 5
6 s So, you wan o be a oy expe? Tha s good. Evey child needs a oy expe in his o he life. Wha s bee, as a paen you ae bes suied o be you child s op oy expe. Thee s no one moe qualified fo he ole. Of couse, ha won sop many ohes fom ying o edge ino you spoligh. One of he fis lessons you ll lean on you oad o pesonal oy expeise is how many would-be expes ou hee would love o sell you a shocu. Pehaps he bigges gowh aea of he oy business in he las decade has been ha of oy advice. Fom op en liss o sicke awads on boxes o expes and guus, he oy expe field is gowing lage evey yea. And o a busy paen, i looks so inviing: a quick, simply packaged shocu o gea oy choices. I s an appealing sigh. Sadly, i s lagely a miage. You ae he one suied o be he oy expe fo you child. The advice make may offe nugges and idbis along he way, bu i s up o he paen o make sense of i all. As you begin you ques fo oy expeise, you can sa by undesanding wha s wong wih mos of he advice aleady ou hee and wha lile gems you migh haves fom hei offeings o make you own bes choices. The Touble wih Expes Mos of wha passes fo advice, especially duing he holiday season, is mosly makeing, all wapped up and nicely packaged fo paens. Much of i is hopelessly bi-
Becoming You Own Expe 7 ased. Some of i is jus plain wong. None of i subsiues fo you own judgmen of wha makes a good oy fo you child. The bigges misake a paen can make duing he holidays o any ohe oy shopping ime is o ely on a lis o awad sicke o make a oy choice fo a child. In many cases, hese ae nohing moe han hinly disguised public elaions campaigns designed o hed paens owad paicula poducs. They ae commecials dessed up in holiday finey. Why Liss May Be Misleading Evey yea, magazines, newspapes, and ohe media oules pu ou soies ha claim o have found he ho oys o, even wose, he bes oys fo he holiday season. These liss se ou o highligh ceain oys as bee han he es. Vey few of hem aain ha goal. Jounaliss know jounalism. Many of he edios and epoes involved ae no expes in psychology o educaion o child developmen. The opinion of he aveage jounalis even if ha individual is a paen o gandpaen is no bee o wose han he opinion of you neighbo. Magazines wan o sell magazines. So hei Ho Toys o Bes Toys liss ae going o eflec ha goal. The oys will be chosen fo he soy wih an eye owad wha he eadeship wans o see and ha s no necessaily he full univese of available oys. Any publicaion s oy soy will be shaped by he demogaphics of is eadeship. They may o may no doveail wih he demogaphics of you own family.
8 Toy Tips Wha ae hese magazine and newspape liss good fo? News. If you wan o know wha is new his yea, you wan o peuse hese liss. They don have he expeise o ell you whehe he oys ae good o bad, bu hey can eliably ell you abou new poducs he majo oy makes have o offe. Publicaions have adveises. And he adveises ae ofen oy companies. Some publicaions will handle hei oy soies sepaaely fom hei adveises. Ohes, paiculaly ade o ohe indusy publicaions, may be diecly influenced o feaue oys fom hei bes adveising cusomes. Many publicaions offe hei own awads based on hei own cieia. Take a close look and you ll see i is mos likely an opinion poll fom a nondivese sample of paens o saffes. Wha he Kids Don Know Conay o popula belief, childen ae no oy expes. They ae oy consumes. Bu ha doesn peven eveyone fom TV saions o paening magazines seing up child-ceneed oy ess duing he holiday season. They ae billed as he bes way o find he bes oys. No so. Expeise is by is naue an adul aibue. Knowledge of educaional value, developmenal appo-
Becoming You Own Expe 9 Alhough los of oy ess ae poblemaic, evey once in a while you can come acoss a good one ha eally cus hough he makeing mayhem and analyzes oys. Check he mehodology of hese child-ceneed ess. If hey ae un by qualified educaos and he esing populaion is divese ha is, no limied geogaphically, economically, o culually you may glean some good infomaion. piaeness, and hidden flaws ae complicaed conceps bes undesood by aduls. Who would us a child o look a a oy and deemine is safey o educaional value? Qualified aduls ae he bes judges of oys, jus as hey ae he bes judges of auomobiles o consume poducs. Jus because a child may ulimaely be he end use does no mean a child is he bes judge of he poduc. Whee s he science? In many cases, child-ceneed esing is done in a way ha is a bes unscienific and a wos compleely andom. Some ess ae se up in day-cae cenes. Tha aleady limis he esuls o childen of a ceain socioeconomic saus hose whose paens can affod day cae. Ohe ess ae aanged in an open play seing wih lile in he way of paamees. Tha may make fo good elevision, bu i doesn ge you any close o knowing which ae he bes oys. Who s unning he es? A ue es one designed o poduce accuae and subsanive daa should be
10 Toy Tips adminiseed by an expeienced eseache. In he case of oys, you d wan o see someone wih a backgound in educaion o child psychology o ensue ha he adul in he oom is no influencing he esuls. Wih many child-ceneed oy ess, ha s hadly he case. Tess ae un by eveyone fom day-cae eaches o individual families o publiciss fo oy manufacues. Who s Paying You Expe? These days, eveybody s an expe. We live in a sociey whee expeise is pized. And in evey indusy, individuals ae encouaged o flaun hei expeise and hang ou a shingle declaing hei willingness o shae his inside knowledge wih ohes. Fo a pice. Expeise is a booming indusy, and he oy indusy is no an excepion. The makeplace is full of people wih oy knowledge fo sale. Bu he buye should bewae. I s a business. I s no uncommon fo people ineviewed on TV o by he pin media o be posiioned as expes bu acually be paid spokespeople. Toy companies make financial aangemens wih oy expes all he ime so ha hei waes will be menioned in ineviews. You expe may have a conflic of inees in he fom of his o he paycheck. I s show business. When was he las ime you saw a dull guu on TV? Ofen, an expe ges aiime based on his o he abiliy o pefom on TV. I s a fac of he business. So he advice you e geing may no necessaily be fom he mos inelligen o well-infomed guu. Insead, you need o undesand ha wha you e
Becoming You Own Expe 11 Tue oy expes ae no necessaily limied o alking abou he newes oys on he make. Many will discuss oy choices ha include classics as well as newcomes. So by lisening o an expe alk abou oy choices, you may acually ge a boade pespecive han you migh fom ohe souces. geing is he mos elegenic oy guu. Tha s he impac elevision has had on he advice business. The Realiy of Reailing Toy soes ofen pu ou hei own liss of op oys. These ae geneally designed o boos affic ino he eail soe. Toy soes may se up hei own in-house ess o simply issue pess eleases wih hei op picks. Depending on when he oy soe lis emeges, hee may o may no be any eal sales daa behind i. A lis ha appeas ealy in he season say, Sepembe o Ocobe is pobably based on he eail buye s bes guess. Consumes may ake a diffeen pah. Toy soes mus move invenoy. Thei liss ae naually going o pomoe he iems hey hope o sell. When hey say bes oy hey eally mean oy we d mos like o see move off ou shelves.
12 Toy Tips Soes ae he bes gauges of acual populaiy. Toy expes may say a paicula playhing is ho, bu he poof comes when he cash egise ings. Toy eaile daa, especially daa based on eal eail sales and ha appea in he hea of he shopping season say, Novembe o Decembe ae going o offe you acual insigh ino wha is mos popula his yea. Reailes have specific demogaphics. A specialy oy soe may issue a lis ha encompasses he highend oys ha i socks. A discoun chain will feaue a compleely diffeen se of mass-make oys. Neihe embaces he full univese fom which a shoppe can choose. Sop he Sickes! See hose awad sickes plaseed all ove he oys in you local soe? Ignoe hem. One of he bigges gowh segmens of he oy indusy in ecen yeas has been oy awads. Alhough a few oy awads seem pesigious and wohwhile, mos ae simply anohe aemp a makeing, and hee s lile bu business inees behind hem. Wha does he sicke eally ell you? No much. No eny ules. No judging cieia. No infomaion on whehe o no he manufacue has paid o eceive
Becoming You Own Expe 13 Some awads have enough hisoy (ove en yeas) o be legiimae helpmaes in he seach fo gea playhings. If you ae able o easily uncove he awad cieia and he awad isn paid fo o biased, you have a nugge of value. consideaion o placemen by he sicke give. The oy awad business is unegulaed, so oy awad gives can devise any sysem hey like. As a consume, you have lile idea wha s behind ha sicke. And if you did know, you d be shocked. Pleny of awad pogams ae cash deals. Many equie submission fees, which biases he esuls igh hen and hee. Toy makes pay fo consideaion. Wha you envision as a deailed judging pocess may acually be lile moe han a business ansacion. Jus because someone else judged i a gea oy doesn mean you ll agee. Don assume ha a oy judge even a qualified one knows bes. You e he bes judge fo you child. Toy makes leveage hese awad sickes fo good shelf placemen. I s all pa of he eail pocess. You see he sickes because hey ae pa of he makeing pogam. Conside hem iny sicky commecials. When he News Isn News Evey yea, he media manage o come up wih soies abou holiday oys. Ofen, he soy cenes aound a ho o mus-have oy. Kids ae ineviewed asking fo he oy.
14 Toy Tips When waching he news, pay moe aenion o soies wih saisics o cedenials o back up asseions. These will give you a good idea of wha s eally going on wih hei eviews and oy ess. Paens ae ineviewed in hei haied seach fo he oy. Reailes give quoes abou how his oy is ho, ho, ho. Annual coincidence? Nah. These soies ae peennials. Is i eally news? No. I s jus he yanny of he calenda. The holiday season goes ino full swing, and media oules, fom naional elevision o local newspapes, dig aound fo a good holiday oy soy. Does i love he camea? A ealiy of he news business is ha i ofen evolves aound wha looks good on he page o sceen. Toys ha phoogaph well ae likely o un up in hese soies. Is i damaic? News oules like dama. And if hee isn much, hey ll add some. A oy may no eally be in sho supply naionwide, bu ha won sop a local news cew fom ineviewing a fanic mohe unable o find he oy. Indusy Gossip Unwilling o si on he sidelines duing he cucial oyselling season, oy indusy associaions have jumped ino he media mix, seing up hei own pess confe-
Becoming You Own Expe 15 Indusy associaion evens ae essenially ade shows. As such, hey ae good fo a boad look a he newes waes of he indusy. ences, awads sysems, and liss o geneae sales fo hei membeship. Ofen, indusy associaion evens ae billed as an inside scoop. In fac hey ae simply he consolidaed message of is membes. Look a hem as commecials fom oy companies. Associaions wok fo hei membes, no fo consumes. You e unlikely o ge any negaive spin fom an indusy even. Associaions ae fo membes only. Don bohe ying o find infomaion abou a oy made by a small company ha s no a membe of he lage associaion. Conclusion I s had o say no o so many offes of advice. Bu keep in mind ha liss and awads and expes can offe only guides and suggesions. Ulimaely, you ll need o be he one educaed and savvy enough o make oy choices fo you child. Resis he uge o follow shocus when i comes o finding he bes oys. You bes oue o oy happiness is no via a guu o op en lis. I s hough you own knowledge of you child and of wha he oy indusy has o offe.
16 Toy Tips WORKSHEET Toy Tes Red Flags Tying o deemine if he es o lis you e peusing is valid? Ask hese key quesions: Do companies pay an enance fee o have hei oys consideed? Tha s aleady a conflic. The es is elying on is paicipans fo funds. How many oys wee esed? Of hose, how many wee ecommended? If eveyone in he es ges ecommended, ha s a ed flag. If hee s an expe panel of judges, wha ae hei cedenials? Look fo people whose expeise you would us. Individual opinions fom paens and eaches aen eseach. Ae he judges paid fo hei paicipaion? Tha s no necessaily a bad hing, bu you should know who is wiing he check. Was he es conduced by an educaion o eseach pofessional? Tess un by jounaliss and publiciy coodinaos may be inaccuae. How lage was he sample of childen in he es? A small goup will yield less eliable esuls. Was he sample of childen demogaphically divese? Race and gende ae no he only facos. Look also fo economic and geogaphic divesiy in a esing sample.
Becoming You Own Expe 17 g Tales fom he Toy Tips Lab Do you like his oy? Ask a small child wih a oy in his hand, and chances ae excellen ha he will say yes. Why? Because he wans o keep playing. Tha s he naual eacion of a child and a vey good example of why child-ceneed oy ess ae ofen fa off base. Evey yea I wach wih dismay as elevision saions and magazines se up oy ess. They ound up a bunch of childen, hand ou he oys, and ask hem Do you like hese oys? Sue hey do! They all say yes. Bu he es is meaningless. The TV saions have done nohing moe han pove ha kids a play wan o keep playing and no give he oys back. Ove he yeas, I ve woked o develop eseach mehods ha uncove he value of oys and he eacions childen have o specific oys. Bu I ve leaned ha asking a child o expess like o dislike fo a oy isn a useful eseach mehodology. A oy in he hand is a good hing. Kids will nod poliely a he quesioning adul and hen go igh back o playing.