Electronic toys now child's play in major cities

By Sona Vora Blessing

JAKARTA (JP): It is a sunny Tuesday afternoon. A toy store located in an upmarket North Jakarta mall is deserted, quite unlike itself on weekends and most evenings. But for four-year- old Jason, and his brother, who is almost three, it is indisputedly the dream place to be.

They dart into the toy shop, maid in tow, and head straight to the all-new and trendy Star Wars toy shelf. Jason's brother, who is but a shelf away, admires his favorite Star Wars heroes in figure form.

Andy, a six-year-old expatriate who lives in Jakarta, prefers to hack around and plays games on his dad's computer at home. A big Nintendo fan, he also enjoys impersonating Batman. Never mind that the cape is made from his mom's scarf.

Nita, aged nine, refuses to go anywhere without her recently acquired cyber pet. All her friends at school have a Tamaguchi or at least some form of virtual pet. What about Barbie? Oh, she is very important in her hierarchy of possessed toys, but for now she is at best second to the attention-grabbing electronic egg.

Welcome to the kids of the electronic age, but more importantly, welcome to their new generation of toys.

At the moment, electronic toys are definitely the trendsetters, and are expected to remain so into the near future, industry sources say.

Umi Parmasi Setyastuti, a public relations executive at Toys 'R' Us, said: "Electronic toys are presently doing very well and their projected growth rate at our outlets is 70 percent whereas, but for other toys it is 40 percent."

These forecasts clearly show that the major cities of Indonesia are in synch with the latest toy trends anywhere in the world. And although there are no reliable figures to go by and most industry sources refused to hazard a guess, the market for popular toys in the big metros of Indonesia is estimated at between US$200-$300 million this year. Roughly 40 percent of this will be generated by the sales of electronic toys. The remainder will be raked in collectively by popular toys, merchandised toys, stuffed toys, plastic and educational toys.

Neither should it come as a surprise to note that the Indonesian toy industry has consistently clocked in a growth rate averaging 40 percent over the last few years. And according to Edward Sumarli, president director of PT Asiana Multikreasi, one of Indonesia's leading toy companies, it will continue to do so for at least the next few.

"Domestic demand for toys is expected to increase substantially, thanks to the entry of large international retail toy chains like Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us.

"Additionally our GDP has reached the $1,000 per capita mark, which means that the Indonesian consumer is likely to become a more aggressive buyer."

But according to him, what really seems to send toy sales soaring is the guilt factor that drives dual income families to pamper their kids with all the goodies money can buy.

Peter Darmawan, president director of Toys 'R' Us Indonesia, said parents spend an estimated Rp 20,000 to Rp 25,000 per visit to the store at Puri Indah Mall in West Jakarta.

Toys in Indonesia range in price from Rp 5,000 to easily a few million at the upper end, with an electronic toy averaging Rp 40,000 to Rp 70,000. Toy manufacturers clearly seem to be addressing and targeting the middle and upper class buyers.

But what about the other kids who can not afford such pricey playthings?

"Toys are not a necessity," said Peter Darmawan.

Dr. Seto Mulyadi, creator of popular stuffed toy SiKomo and dean of the School of Psychology, University of Tarumanagara, believed that children would not be at a loss if their parents could not afford the pricey playthings.

"Children are very creative and have the instinctive ability to make up or find something to play with."

That said, why do electronic toys like virtual and cyber pets, the Tamaguchi, Nintendo and their ilk, continue to be chart toppers?

"In a world driven and dictated by technology, electronic toys are important as they do help in stimulating the cognitive aspect of a child," Seto said.

But he added that these toys must be complemented by emotion- initiating toys to maintain a balance for a child's overall character and personality development. He reasoned that toys like the Tamaguchi were popular because they were good substitutes for pets.

In fact, that is how the concept was born. Such toys teach a child to be more responsible, but he cautioned that it made children believe that if the electronic pet died, it could be revived or replaced.

"That robs the child of realizing and expressing true feelings for what happens in the real world," he said.

Edward Sumarli believed the other major shortcoming of electronic games and toys was that they were here and everywhere one day, but almost nowhere and forgotten another.

Peter Darmawan agreed, saying "they are throw-away toys". Understandably so, as these toys change as soon as the technology that drives them does.

Despite all the shortcomings, these toys continue to reign quite simply because they entertain, and they do train children, albeit it in a convoluted way, to adapt to an electronic world. Moreover, parents recognize and appreciate that supervised play with computer games such as the Spelling Bee presents a challenging and exciting learning opportunity for their children.

But what sells best are not electronic toys. Peter Darmawan said Lego toys remained "one of our most consistently sold toys. Perhaps attributable to Lego's rare quality of being timeless, ageless and never ceasing to appeal".

Sumarli said that what children look for, need and want was something more permanent and familiar. Something they can relate to. Something they have been exposed to on TV, in movies, cartoons or seen at theme parks such as Disneyland.

"They often regard a toy as a substitute for a perennial friend -- someone they can share their emotions with and someone they can count on," Sumarli said. That is where a stuffed toy like a cuddly teddy bear, the SiKomo, Mickey Mouse and his friends come into the picture. As do other creative toys and games.

"They also educate. A stuffed toys like a Mickey or SiKomo for example, is a constant reminder, encouraging children to do as their favorite characters do."

As Dr. Seto Mulyadi said: "SiKomo stories and cartoons help inculcate good moral values, like telling the truth, that are so essential for a child at a formative age."

Children do not think very far ahead. For them, at the end of the day, a toy is but a plaything. But for those that create it, manufacture, market and promote it, setting a toy trend is no child's play, but an unpredictable and tough game.