Toys

It's going to be a zoo this weekend at Encino Community Church. For the third consecutive year, the pastor and congregation of the nondenominational church have collected teddy bears to be distributed to needy children, patients at Childrens Hospital, and nursing home residents. Hundreds of teddy bears, of all sizes, expressions and attire, are biding their time on the church's pews, waiting to be delivered as holiday gifts on Monday.

When Warren Burnette heard that a holiday toy drive two years ago wound up with too few toys to give to too many needy children, he took matters into his own hands. He and friend Roger West, who live in the same Van Nuys apartment building, began doing little things to help the Los Angeles Fire Department with its annual charity. When planning birthday parties, they would ask friends to eschew the traditional gift-giving in favor of buying a new toy for donation.

There was a time earlier in this century when the immigrant Armenian community in Fresno could have used a little charity, says Gabe Kaprelian, chairman of L.A. Triple X Fraternity, a nonprofit Armenian group. Remembering the hardships of its people, the fraternity on Thursday donated more than 100 toys to Haven Hills Battered Women's Shelter and the Domestic Abuse Center of Northridge.

Imagine this scene: Four 7-year-old girls, their tender cheeks flushed with excitement, settle down after Christmas to play a new board game. Not Parcheesi, not Chutes and Ladders, but Sealed With a Kiss. The girls choose their playing pieces--a colored pawn and a 3-by-5-inch picture of a teenage boy, a "hunk." One girl twirls the spinner to see how many places she will move her pawn around the board. She lands on a picture of a girl and boy embracing. Great! "Spin an 'X' to give a kiss."

Jim Klein and Pat Wyatt have several things in common: They've recently taken key positions at movie studios. Their responsibilities cut across nearly all the sprawling companies' divisions, from feature films and TV production to consumer products. And they both came from the same firm: Applause, a Woodland Hills-based maker of stuffed animals, figurines, mugs and other gifts bearing the likenesses of licensed characters, including Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse.

The local Soroptimists, a club dedicated to helping women and children, are sewing dozens of stuffed kittens for children at Orangewood Children's Home. Officials at the facility say such efforts warm the hearts of needy children. Cathy Van Bruggen and a dozen other members of Soroptimists International, a club dedicated to helping women and children, are working on an assembly line this holiday season.

Marketing a successful board game that features "Space Jam" stars Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny would seem to be child's play. Yet, even with an assist from Warner Bros.' heavily promoted movie, the new board game from Playmates Toys Inc.--its first venture into the $374-million board game niche--is far from a slam-dunk. The Costa Mesa-based company faces cutthroat competition at every turn from market giants like Parker Bros. and Milton Bradley.

Marketing a successful board game that features "Space Jam" stars Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny would seem to be child's play. Yet, even with an assist from Warner Bros.' heavily promoted movie, the new board game from Playmates Toys Inc.--its first venture into the $374-million board game niche--is far from a slam-dunk. The Costa Mesa-based company faces cutthroat competition at every turn from market giants such as Parker Bros. and Milton Bradley.

Disney's 101 Dalmatians Puppy Pal; "Scream," a female action figure who uses her hair as a weapon; small plastic basketballs and animal-shaped balloons--these are some of the hazardous or violence-oriented toys awaiting children at holiday time. "Toys should bring children pleasure and joy. Instead, too often toys cause injuries and death," said Janice Shields of the Public Interest Research Group, which released its annual report on hazardous toys.

Plastic dinosaurs that "bleed" in green, red or purple when pierced. "Barfnoids"--moving, mutant, half exploded latex junk-food globs with multiple eye stalks. Retro-fit teeth for your favorite doll or teddy bear. Such is the stuff that lurks in the subterranean minds of toy inventors. The name of the game may be "fun," but dreaming up the next intergalactic smash hit is anything but child's play.