Mattel rolls out Elmo that 'knows your name'

NEW YORK - This holiday season, the latest toy version of Elmo, the furry red creature based on a "Sesame Street" character, will do much more than sing, dance or giggle when tickled.

This week, Mattel's Fisher-Price unit is undergoing a full rollout to store shelves of its "Knows Your Name Elmo," a doll that can greet a child by name when it is unwrapped this holiday season, even before being taken out of its box.

The new Elmo comes with a CD-ROM and a USB cable that lets parents download personal information about a child - like his or her favorite color or birthday - into the plush doll.

"It is pure magic for a child because it gives the parent or grandparent the opportunity to take the product home, before the child even gets it, and be able to programme it," said Neil Friedman, president of Mattel Brands.

The doll, also available in a Winnie the Pooh version, shows how toy makers are using increasingly cheap and sophisticated technology to extend sales of their brands.

The "Tickle Me Elmo" doll, which included a computer chip that made it giggle and shake when its stomach was touched, became one of the hottest toys of the 1996 holiday season, flying off retailers' shelves in the face of overwhelming demand.

With kids outgrowing traditional toys at an increasingly young age, toy makers are hoping that adding advanced technology to traditional toys will boost sagging sales or lead to a blockbuster "must have" item of the season.

Tech toys dominated Toy Wishes magazine's "Hot Dozen" list, unveiled at a New York news conference earlier this month. The annual list forecasts which toys will be the most popular during the holiday season - and perhaps the hardest to find.

This year's "Hot Dozen" selections include a bilingual talking kitchen based on "Dora the Explorer," the popular Nickelodeon TV character, also from Mattel's Fisher-Price unit, and an updated version of Furby, the 1990s craze, this time with facial expressions, from Hasbro Inc, the No 2 US toy maker. The Leapster L-Max Learning Game System, a dual-screen handheld educational video game system from LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., also made the list.

The latest incarnation of Elmo can be programmed to speak a child's name, tell stories, sing songs, or even remind a child when it is time for breakfast. There is a list of more than 15,000 names to choose from to download.

If a child's name cannot be found, the toy's prospective buyer - parents, grandparents or someone else - can submit the name to Fisher-Price to request that it become available for download.

The "Knows Your Name" dolls, targeted at children 18 months and older, are priced at US$39.99 ($57.88).

"For the amount of things that this toy does, we think this is a very, very good price," Friedman said.

Some other high-tech toys hitting toy store shelves this season are priced much higher. For instance, Amazing Amanda, an interactive baby doll with voice-recognition technology, is listed at US$89.99 on ToysRUs.com. The doll, designed for girls age 5 and up, is marketed by Playmates Toys Inc, a division of Playmates Holdings Ltd, of Hong Kong.

"We think it'll be a total sell-out," Friedman said of the "Knows Your Name" Elmo and Winnie the Pooh dolls, adding that response from retailers to the product had been "fantastic."

That would be good news for Mattel, the No 1 US toymaker, which posted a 12 per cent decline in quarterly profit earlier this month, with US Barbie doll sales falling 30 per cent. Barbie has lost some market share in the past few years to the pouty and multicultural Bratz dolls, introduced in 2001 by privately held MGA Entertainment.

"We're always optimistic that the business will be strong as we go into the holiday season," Friedman said. "But it's been ... a very difficult year so far." As for how well consumer spending will hold up for the holidays, Friedman said it was tough to predict -- given the economic disruption caused by the recent hurricanes and rising energy prices.

- REUTERS