The 60,616 20-foot-equivalent units arriving at ports in September, according to measurements by PIERS, marked a 7.6 percent year-to-date drop—or 30,430 fewer containers—from the same period last year. To date, 89 percent of overall inbound toy shipments this year have originated in China (including Hong Kong). China’s market share is down 2 percent compared to 2010, while toy shipments from Vietnam have grown 82 percent between 2001 and 2010. A full analysis of the JOC/PIERS findings is available online at www.joc.com.

This post was originally written by Elizabeth A. Reid and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

Mind Candy announced its “monstrous” licensing program for Moshi Monsters at Brand Licensing Europe. Mind Candy has more than 40 UK licensees on board and another 60 signed internationally.

For the UK, licensees for Moshi Monsters include Vivid as master toy partner, Penguin for publishing, Topps for trading cards, Winning Moves for Top Trumps, Ty for Beanie Babies, Activision for Nintendo DS, Mega Brands for construction blocks, E-max for claybuddies, Gemma International for greeting cards and party wear, H Grossman for wheeled products, and more. The U.S. program now has more than 50 partners for softlines, toys and games, hardlines, publishing, novelty, activity, back-to-school, and celebration, with more category announcements coming soon.

Moshi Monsters has also announced that a court injunction has banned the planned release of a music single from one of its Moshling characters, Lady Goo Goo. The injunction was granted to Lady Gaga, preventing Mind Candy from “promoting, advertising, selling, distributing, or otherwise making available to the public ‘The Moshi Dance’ or any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo.” Lady Gaga’s lawyers argued that the pop star and character singer were too similar.

Interactivity

“One of the key items we selected is Fijit Friends. You look at Fijit and the ability to put it in dance mode, and the voice-recognition and built-in responses. Also, Let’s Rock Elmo is interactive for a much younger child, but we believe interactivity is important.”

Personalization

“We also believe personalization is important, like Barbie Designable Hair Extensions. It gives the girl the ability to not only create hair extensions for her doll, but to create her own personalized hair extensions. In essence, she’s role-playing, creating, and personalizing.”

Movie Releases

“As in years past, theatrical releases, and the great toyetic content associated with that, will naturally be important. One in particular that we believe will continue to be strong is Disney•Pixar’s Cars. One of the items we have selected is Cars 2 Charge Ups Charge ‘N’ Race Speedway, which is actually a Target exclusive.”

Classic Games

“We are also seeing a trend around modernized versions of classic games. So we believe Scrabble Flash, Simon Flash, and Yahtzee Flash will continue to be strong this fall season.”

Educational

“We know when mom is making the choice to spend her money on gifts for her children she has a desire that there will be an educational component. So, another item we have selected is LeapFrog’s LeapPad.”

Walking into the toy section of a store like Target during the holiday season can be overwhelming for shoppers, who are faced with toy aisle upon toy aisle of great products to choose from. Thousands of additional products can be found online. Those that make it onto store shelves during the season are often thought of as the crème de la crème, and being chosen for Target’s shelves can bring tremendous success to a toy manufacturer.

Stephanie Lucy, Target’s vice president of merchandising, chats with Elizabeth A. Reid of The Toy Book to talk about holiday merchandising strategies, how it makes its toy selections, and what Target is doing to become a top destination for holiday shopping.

The Toy Book: Let’s paint a picture of how great toys get to Target. How far in advance do you plan for each holiday season?

Stephanie Lucy: We actually start looking for content for the holiday season in September or October the year before. For example, we are going to market right now to look for products for next holiday season.

TB: So, how do you pick the toys? When you are at market, what do you look for?

SL: First of all, it starts with us evaluating what is currently working at Target—what’s selling and what’s not—and ensuring that we understand what the guest is interested in. Beyond that, it really is strong partnerships with our vendors. We do business with the largest toy manufacturers around the world. So, it’s sitting down with them and understanding what they believe the hottest toys are going to be, and what they believe content should look like for the year to come.

TB: So after you pick the toys, what comes next?

SL: A lot of it has to do with making sure we have a focused assortment. Before we even go to market and before we look at new content, [we ensure] that we have all of the items that mom would expect. So that means the great brands—from Barbie to Nerf to Hot Wheels—and great licenses. This year, as an example, there were a lot of movie releases—Thor, Transformers, Captain America, Cars 2.

It’s also about ensuring that we have relevant exclusives. We want to make sure that we are able to offer guests something different in the brands and licenses that are important to them. Lastly, it’s having a balance with our own brands, our private label brands, like Circo and Play Wonder.

We carry at any given time about 1,800 [toy] items in our stores and about 5,000 [additional toys] online. Our dot com serves as a way to have an expanded selection on the great brands, licenses, and private label content that we offer.

TB: How do you pick which toys will be in stores and which toys will be online only?

SL: The majority of our toys that are in stores are also online, and the additional 5,000 are really above and beyond. It’s really about expanding the brands that resonate with the Target guest, and I’m calling the Target guest “mom” because that is who our average guest is—a woman who has several children and is in her 40s. It’s offering more kids’ content; for example, more assortment within Barbie, larger pack sizes, but it’s also about testing and trying out new brands that might be in the marketplace. Dot com gives us a great opportunity to see whether or not the guest is really responding to those items.

TB: Say you are a smaller manufacturer and want to get into Target. Do you think online is a great way to start a new partnership?

SL: I think it depends on the content. We are always looking for new, innovative items to differentiate ourselves from the competition. And if it’s relevant, I think it depends on how that product’s story can be told, and whether it’s more viable in our stores or online.

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At Walmart in June, Garanimals is also introducing a wide-range of toys and accessories for infants through age 2, including activity gyms, crib mirrors, finger puppets, mini o-balls, rattles, soft squeakers, teethers, wood toys, and more. The toys range in price from $1 to $12.

The new lines will be available in the infant department of Walmart.

Kids Wish Network, a 501 (c) 3 organization that serves children with life-threatening illnesses, is in desperate need of donations of dolls and toy cars. Despite the demand for high-tech gadgets, dolls and toy cars remain on the top of the list of the most desirable toys. Playing with a toy is a calming and relaxing activity for kids who are suffering from illnesses, distressed while dealing with harsh circumstances like homelessness, or trying to cope with other traumatic situations such as abuse.

Through its gift giving Holiday of Hope Gift Bank program, Kids Wish Network distributes thousands of dollars worth of toys and games directly to children within approximately 150 hospitals and child care facilities per year across the country; there are no middle men involved.

If your company manufactures or distributes any dolls or toy cars and you would like to make a donation, please contact Kids Wish Network’s Distribution Center. All donated items will be shipped via free freight within the United States. For more information on Kids Wish Network, visit www.kidswishnetwork.org, or call (727) 937-3600; toll free at (888) 918-9004.

According to The NPD Group, U.S. retail sales of toys generated $21.47 billion in 2009 compared to $21.65 billion in 2008, a decline of less than 1 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2009 (October through December), although revenues were flat, unit sales were up 4 percent compared to the same period in 2008.

Building Sets and Arts & Crafts experienced the most sales increases, up 23 percent and 7 percent respectively. Action Figures and Games/Puzzles also saw revenue gain of 4 percent and 1 percent respectively. Compared to 2008, Youth Electronics and Plush experienced the largest declines at 17 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Despite the economy, unit share for toys priced under $5 decreased in 2009. More consumers bought toys priced between $5-$10 than under $5. The NPD Group’s report also states that toys for children ages 8 and under brought in the most sales with 69 percent of total toy sales, and the only age group to gain in share and absolute dollar sales was kids ages 9 to 12.

Licensed toys represented 25 percent of total industry sales in 2009, compared to 27 percent in 2008. Top licenses for the year based on total dollar sales included (in alphabetical order) Cars: The Movie, Disney Princess, Dora the Explorer, Star Wars, and Thomas and Friends. Top properties for the year based on total dollar sales included (in alphabetical order) Bakugan, Barbie, Crayola, Star Wars, and Transformers.

Catch up on last week’s news! Read The Toy Book Toy Report for 11/24/09.

To view click here.

The items in question include the Disney Fairies Silvermist’s Water Lily Necklace sold by Walgreens and manufactured by Playmates Toys, which was found to have 22,000 ppm; the Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit sold by Tuesday Morning, licensed by Mattel, and manufactured by Bell Sports, which the state reported had a lead amount of 6,196 ppm; and the Dora the Explorer Activity Tote sold by TJ Maxx with 2,348 ppm. Spokespersons from Disney, Bell Sports, and Mattel told the Los Angeles Times that the items were previously tested for lead and passed applicable standards at the time. The discrepancies will be investigated.

The Center for Environmental Health tested the toys by using a grant from the Public Health Trust. The Public Health Trust hands out funds California received after a 2008 settlement with toy companies regarding excessive amounts of lead in products.