US toy fair is no child's play

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2007

NEW YORK (AFP) — One of the strictest rules at this week's American International Toy Fair may sound odd but actually makes perfect sense: no children.

Billed as the largest show of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, the New York fair attracts more than 1,200 manufacturers and distributors from around the world, selling everything from talking dolls to inflatable toboggans.

And while technological gadgets have led much of the recent growth in the 22-billion-dollar market, many of the 20,000 or so buyers who attend the annual event are still on the lookout for quality traditional toys.

Alongside manufacturing giants such as Lego and Mattel are the one-man companies, like Sno-baller, set up by David Sage, a 57-year-old former US Marine originally from South...