Made in America Toys - Continuing Trend?

Reading about the new tomato scare this week helped me to recall (no pun intended) last year's lead paint, Chinese toy controversy. Last year, our toy distributor Gile Toys dedicated the first 40% of our Christmas catalog to toys made only in the USA. It was interesting to discover all the manufacturers that still make product in this country. We were able to find great selections of wooden toys (Maple Landmark), games (Hasbro, Briarpatch, Gamewright, etc. - none of these three manufacturer exclusive in America, but all three have quite a large selection of USA made games), puzzles (Great American Puzzle), and even traditional plastic toys (American Plastic Toys). Of course, it was nearly impossible to find any electronics made in the USA, but that is another story for another time.

Interestingly enough though, we sold a lot more Chinese made goods last Christmas season than we did American made. Of course, there was less selection of USA toys -- and we sold much more American toys than we had the previous year. But, for instance, we did a toy show for a local hospital to help them raise money. When setting up the show, we filled up much of the prime real estate in the center with Made in USA goods. Still, people bought the Chinese made goods in droves. Even products targeted at pre-K age and younger.

This spring, we tried again with a flyer that features only items made completely and exclusively in the USA. We added Step2 products for the first time, it was amazing to me to discover how many of their products are made here. You can see our choices at the Gile Toys web site. The response to the flyer has been OK, but I do think the consumer's interest in buying American has died down. One benefit I do see is that there truly now seems to be a niche market for American manufacturers and distributors of such. Even if it is a small portion of the populace, their definitely seems to be a segment out there. Hopefully, the American toy makers can remain innovative enough to build this market.