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By Annetta Miller
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For Gale Jarvis, it was just an ordinary day on the job. Greeting her at the door were a 35-foot Tyrannosaurus rex, a dog that talks back to the TV get and a hyperactive prehistoric ape named Stink. ("I Stink," he says, introducing himself. "Come right in.")
And that was just the first five minutes.
Before the day was over she would visit a talking house, play pinball with a robot, assist in the birth and feeding of several babies and do battle with troll-like warriors-all while wearing two-inch heels.
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The world of make-believe? Sort of. As the executive vice president in charge of buying at toy giant F.A.O. Schwarz, Jarvis is in charge of spotting-and acquiring-the toys that will be next year's best sellers. Over the past few months Jarvis has visited trade shows in nine cities on three continents. This stop: the American International Toy Fair, the $17 billion industry's annual extravaganza in New York.
For vendors, Jarvis's visit marks an opportunity to land a coveted display in the halls of America's glitziest toy retailer. For her, it represents a chance to pick and choose from the thousands of new products introduced every year. Jarvis does her hobnobbing in a very grown-up business suit. But all the while she is summoning the 8-year-old inside. "The key to toy buying," she says, "is to think like a child."
Today, the child within Jarvis is thinking a lot about dinosaurs--creatures that seem to have reproduced like rabbits in the show's 1,600 display areas. The likely favorite this year will be Playskool's talking version of TV's popular dinosaur, Barney. But Stink, a character from TV's "Land of the Lost," is lobbying Jarvis to buy Tiger Electronics's line of action figures based on the series. In a special deal, Tiger will let Jarvis borrow the giant Tyrannosaurus to display in the store. The dino should be a big draw, explains Jarvis. "We're not just buying a toy, we're buying a vendor's ability to package and promote it."
To impress buyers like Jarvis, each showroom is staffed with actors who demonstrate toys using scripted routines. The actors are there not only to demo the product but to "teach" buyers how to play with it. At the Tyco showroom Jarvis is treated to a scenario in which actors-turned-obstetricians remove a pregnant "mommy" doll's maternity dress to reveal a new baby girl. At Mattel she gets a demonstration of a new doll that drools and sucks up "french fries" made from food starch. The presentations are followed by a 30-second "sizzle"-industry jargon for those all-important Saturday-morning commercials.
What toys will end up on the shelves of F.A.O. Schwarz? Many will be playthings that appeal to working parents. In other words, toys that keep the kids company. Among Jarvis's picks: Tyco's Talking Family Dollhouse (suggested retail price: upwards of $100), which features a mom, dad and siblings who actually talk to each other; YES! Entertainment Corp.'s TV Teddy ($65), a plush bear that uses radio frequencies to talk back to the television set, and Toy Biz's Pinball Warrior ($100), an interactive game that teases players with such life-affirming phrases as "Ha, ha, ha, you will never win." Of course, after a bad day at the pinball machine, some children may be ready for a self-esteem boost-a need that Jarvis has not overlooked. She's planning to stock up on plenty of $35 talking Barneys. Among the 572 messages Barney utters: "You're stupendous."
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