Page 166 - Purchasing Power Black Kids and American Consumer Culture

Ethnically Corned Dolls . 151

For minority toymakers attempting to refashion the racial diversity
on the shelves of a large retailer like Toys-R-Us or Target, their task is
convincing these eight-hundred-pound gorillas that ethnically correct
toys can make money, not that stocking their stores with a multicultural
array of toys is the socially progressive thing to do. Toys-R-Us has been
very supportive of up-and-coming manufacturers of ethnically correct
toys, notably Olmec and Playmates, but this support has a conspicuous
connection to sales and profits. Once those profits began to seem solid,
large toymakers decided to enter the market, a potential blow to Olmec
and a fatal one to Shindana. Hasbro, Kenner, Tyco, and Mattel have sig-
nificantly greater resources than the smaller, minority-owned companies.
During the 1980s Hasbro stock was the best performer not just in the toy
business but in the entire market. By the early 1990s Hasbro was the
largest toy company in the world, having acquired Playskool and Milton
Bradley. In comparison, Olmec's $2.9 million in sales was a drop in the
barrel of monkeys. In a move that at once allowed Olmec to retain its
corporate identity and Hasbro to demonstrate its progressiveness, the
two companies entered into a cooperation agreement, with Hasbro pro-
viding Olmec with financial, marketing, and technical assistance while
also developing its own lines of ethnically correct toys.
Mattel launched its much-vaunted Shani doll in 1991; during the 1992
Christmas season Toys-R-Us was quietly and cautiously test-marketing
ethnically correct dolls in Atlanta and Philadelphia. Toymakers who
could not rely on the sell-appeal of the Barbie connection held their collec-
tive breath: it was only with the cooperation and backing of Toys-R-Us
that they could confidently sink the huge sums required into launching
ethnically correct lines of toys and dolls. In February 1993 the numbers
looked good enough for Ebony magazine to sponsor a special seminar
on "Black Toys for Play and Pride" at the New York International Toy
Fair. All the major toymakers—Mattel, Hasbro, Kenner, and Tyco—
rushed a variety of lines to market, and Toys-R-Us hired the Mingo
Group, the nation's largest minority-owned advertising agency, to launch
a marketing campaign aimed at African American consumers. With these
great successes, these large retailers and producers were touting the eth-
nically correct doll as a sign of their dedication to democratic values
while collectively patting themselves on their backs for the success of this
new niche-market.
Unfortunately, a toy shelf stocked with ethnically correct merchandise
does not necessarily lead to the same thing in children's toyboxes. This
was certainly the case in Newhallville, where only a couple of the children