NEW YORK — Big success has come in small packages for Lewis Galoob Toys Inc.

The South San Francisco firm's tiny vehicles have been zooming off store shelves. Micro Machines have ridden onto Toy and Hobby World magazine's monthly lineup of fast sellers all year, consistently finishing in the top 10 places and frequently in the first, second or third slots.

David Galoob says the company is headed toward being a major player in the toy business in the 1990s. Analysts are impressed with its progress so far.

Galoob provided an early look at next year's toys Friday in a tour of the company's New York showroom.

"Miniature has worked for Galoob and we believe that it can work again," the president and chief executive officer said in an interview. The company is named for his father, who founded it more than three decades ago and died in 1971.

Many of the new toys that Galoob will roll out next year continue the small-size theme that has helped the company stage a strong comeback from a 1987 industrywide slump. Galoob lost almost $25 million that year but returned to profitability in 1988 by earning more than $6 million.

New models of the thimble-sized Micro Machines will be added to the hundreds already available. Some will have a magnifying lens in place of a sun roof so that children can peer into the tiny interior. New play sets are being added to the carwash and service station already on the market.

Ultrasmall vehicles inside regular-sized Micro Machines will be brought out in 1990. A motorized train and track set also will be unveiled.

The existing collection, which appeals to children's acquisitive instincts, includes commonplace and fancy cars from diminutive Rolls Royces to souped-up Dodge Vans. The line also has ambulances, fire engines, trucks, boats, tanks, planes and trains.

One 1990 addition to Galoob's miniatures for girls is Secret Places, a series of dolls in rooms with furniture and appliances. New offspring of the successful Bouncin' Baby miniature doll line will make their debut.

Galoob started thinking small in 1987 when consumers soured on high-priced, high-tech toys.

Keeping prices down--a package of five Micro Machines can be bought for under $10--proved wise over the past two years when so much money was being spent on home video games. Children and their parents haven't had much left over for other toys after buying Nintendo games.