(Toys, Hobbies and Crafts- July 1980): Within the broad range of subcategories tucked under the boys' toys heading, it seems that, in line with retailer re­ports, manufacturers are skew­ing some product to a mixed audience, yet other items re­tain their "boys only" labels. Among traditional boys' toys, Ben Franklin's Jerry Dickson sees good sales in die­cast, particularly. "Small wheel toys are doing very, very well. It's good, solid, basic goods - they're low-end enough so people can afford them on a regular basis."

In guns, the effects of space and some resurgence of west­ern interest are helping to boost sales among boys. "Guns were very quiet for the past few years," says Don Williams of G.C. Murphy's/Murphy's Mart. "Last year, there was a bit of an upsurge, and they are a bit stronger this year, witba little action in Western. As long as little girls play with baby dolls, boys will play with guns."

"Western guns seem to be doing real well," says Toys By Roy's Mike Stetson. "Die-cast trucks seem to have slowed down, but they still are steady. " Male action figures are prominent in this year's intro­ductions from several major manufacturers.

"Historically, dolls have always been girls' toys," says Mego's marketing manager, Paul Pressler. "With the emergence ofG.I. Joe, they fell into the boys' toy category. Since then, the licensing has played them up to be boys' toys." Pressler says 8-in. "Chips" figures are "selling incredibly well. We've had a very strong response." Mego, later in the year, will introduce an 8-in. "Dukes of Hazzard" figures collection. There will be some accessories for "Dukes," as well as a motorcycle accessory for Chips, which Pressler calls, "an extremely hot license." Another hot ticket is the 3% in. poseable figures in "Buck Rogers" and Pocket Superheroes, plus vehicle accessories. "They're strong now in the spring because they're low ticket," Pressler explains.

Remco is introducing a line of 9-in. Superheroes, including The Incredible Hulk, Spider­man, Superman, Captain America and Batman. All have powerized function for climb­ing action, according to Jack Forcelledo, executive vice pres­ident at Remco/AHI.

Also new at Remco is a line of 9-in. Monsters, licensees of Universal Studios. Franken­stein, Dracula, The Mummy, and Wolfman are exact replicas of the men who made them fa­mous: Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi.

Remco accessory items in­clude the Monsterizer, a rack with gadgets including lights that activate the glow-in-the­dark figures. Forcelledo re­ports a good initial reception for these.

In Mattel's male action fig­ures department, several novelty and action characters are new this year. Crusher, a foam-filled, collapsible mon­ster, "looks real good for us now," says Paul Cleveland, product manager. Another strong number is Gre-gory the Bat, who has a transparent stomach filled with blood. Giant Rodan, a monster with 40-in. wing span, "has probably the best play value of any of them, but Crusher is getting better response," says Cleveland.

In action figures, Mattei will introduce Flash Gordon characters later in the year. Sales are expected to be "pretty cold" until the December movie-opening nears. Six figures plus accessories are slated.

As far as the novelty items go, "Girls don't like those," Cleveland states. "We may get some girl purchases on Flash Gordon, but I don't think little girls would like Gre-gory." Cleveland believes these boy-focused toys deserve a re­tail section of their own. "It's one of our problems to convince retailers it needs its own sec­tion. It's a hard category to work within, but it's making money. "

Mego's Pressler notes a lot of crossover play between various licenses in male figures. "In our research, we've seen boys playing with different category toys together. They're very willing to play with a Luke Skywalker and a Captain Kirk (in the same play situation}." Pressler prefers license grouping, because, "You get much more product identification." G.C. Murphy's Williams disagrees with manufacturer enthusiasm about male action figures: "There's been so many out, people are tired of them. They're very soft, almost dead." Nevertheless, new movie licenses seem to pop up to justify more figures.

At Ideal, boys' toys encompass much ofthe market, as Stu Syms, vice president-marketing says: "If it's not a game and not a doll, it must be a boys' toy." But "after certain obvious categories, it's almost an arbitrary assignment."

Syms reports that the Mighty Mo truck line is doing very well, as are the new Team America motorcycles and the TCR road racing line. He notes a higher percentage of girls in Ideal's audience as well. "There's a more mixed audi­ence now. Yes, it's true in some categories more than others. Girls are more interested in sports than they used to be, and in action vehicles, too." Remco's Forcelledo agrees about the increase of female interest in traditionally male categories. "There's no reason why little girls can't play base­ball or football," he says, and the company's Reggie Jackson Bat-A-Way; new All Pro Pass, Punt and Kick, and Reggie Jackson Junior Batting Trainer are aimed toward little girls as well. Outdoor recreational ac­tivities like these are growing in importance this year, notes Toys By Roy's Stetson. "A lot of people are buying them more than this time last year. Travel has slowed and sports games aren't that expensive, it's good exercise and it keeps the kids busy."