PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Pam Danziger, 717-336-1600

GIFT GIVING IS THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY PEOPLE BUY DOLLS, REPORTS UNITY MARKETING
More consumers buy dolls as gifts than for play or collecting

Stevens, PA March 26, 2002 - Vibrant consumer demand for dolls drove total industry sales to $3 billion in 2000, up 16% over previous year's levels of $2.6 billion. Consumers' passion for dolls remains strong today, as in the past year nearly one-fourth of American families bought dolls, either as gifts, for play or to collect, according to a new market research report, The Doll Report, 2002: The Market, The Competitors, The Trends, published by Unity Marketing. "While consumers in their childbearing years, ages 25-to-44, are the prime market for dolls, demand remains strong among the more mature households, ages 45-to-64. That is because dolls are an extremely popular gift. In fact, gifting is the number one reason why people buy dolls," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of the new book Why People Buy Things They Don't Need (Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing, 2002).

While the doll market is following an upward trajectory due to positive demographic trends, including the 42.8 million U.S. households in the prime 25-to-44 age group, prospects are favorable for sustained growth in the doll market through 2010. Danziger explains, "Over the next ten years there will be a decline in the number of households that fall into the prime doll-buying age group, as the Baby Boomers move out and the smaller GenX generation moves into the childbearing years. The major demographic shift we'll see over the next ten years will be the dramatic expansion of the number of mature households from ages 45-to-64 years. As long as doll manufacturers and retailers keep their eye on the gift appeal of the dolls they make and sell, they will be ready to capture more and more of the discretionary gift spending of aging boomers."

Today the majority of dolls bought as gifts are of the play-doll type, as a result they are destined to give to a child. These dolls tend to be lower priced, loaded with play features and more likely to be bought in mass merchants or toy stores. "Over the next decade the big opportunity in dolls is to exploit the gifting potential of dolls as a token of love and affection for both young and old, just like the plush industry has done with the 'teddy bear.' Tapping into nostalgia by adding finer detail, costuming and collectible features or reviving long-lost brands, as well as expanding distribution into the prime outlets for gift purchases, is the prescription for doll companies to maximize their gift potential," Danziger advises.

The results of a telephone survey conducted among specialty doll retailers nationwide enhances the value of this research report. The news from the trenches of doll retailing is that the competition for sales is becoming brutal as mass merchants, like Wal-Mart and Toys 'R Us, compete for sales largely on price, causing some independent doll and toy retailers to fold. Among the stores surveyed, dolls account for just over 10% of total store sales, lagging behind infant/preschool, plush, games and puzzles, and activity toys. Retailers report the three leading brands of dolls are Corolle, Madame Alexander, and Mattel/Barbie. The survey identifies an area of particular vulnerability among doll retailers: the Internet. Only about one-third of doll retailers maintain a website, while more and more doll consumers are turning to the Internet as a source for dolls.