Collectors in Training

As the primary collecting generation continues to age, enticing younger collectors becomes the top priority for manufacturers and retailers alike. By targeting the youth market, they can create customers for life. However, with crowded shelves and crowded schedules, today's collectors want collectibles that do something instead of just sitting there. Pam Danziger of Unity Marketing, Stevens, Pennsylvania, explains: "There is a bright future for companies that understand the dramatic shifts in the collector market brought about by younger collectors. The younger collectors are shopping for collectibles in new ways and in different types of retailers, they are buying and collecting different types of items, and they have a whole new range of expectations about the items they collect and the companies and retailers they buy from." At a seminar during the 2001 American International Toy Fair, Danziger identified "link with youth and play" as the top trend in the collectibles market. Entertainment, interactivity, and emotional bonding appeal to all ages. Here are four companies using those techniques to create the next generation of collectors.

Lee Middleton Original Dolls in Westerville, Ohio, has manufactured a line of collectible baby dolls for many years. To attract young collectors, the company recently built a line of play dolls as well. It started by introducing the Small Wonders infants, dolls that have simpler clothes and fewer delicate details than the collectible Artist Studio lines; this both lowered the price point and made them suitable for younger children. The company has since gone on to add more play dolls — one for every age group. The hope is that the dolls will bridge the gap between childhood and adult doll collecting, with girls progressing up through the play dolls as children, becoming a natural market for the company's extensive collectible baby line in their tween and teen years, and then finally developing into serious collectors as adults.

But that's not all. This year the company is also extending an adoption center program called the Newborn Nursery (previously only available at its Belpre, Ohio, factory) to 50 of its retailers. Retailers who apply must be willing to commit resources for a room that's at least 10-by-15 feet, and an employee to act as "nurse." Construction must match Lee Middleton's specifications concerning carpet, wallpaper, and custom signage. Some 20 babies with any one of five faces will be displayed in isolettes, as in a hospital. With the assistance of a "nurse," customers will fill out a form, receive a birth certificate, and have their picture taken with the baby. According to Craig Smith, director of dealer sales, there are no fees for the program. Apart from the construction and employee costs, which will vary, the start-up expenses for a nursery include about $6,500 in an initial order of product, and about $2,000 worth of accessories. Some of these, such as isolettes, wallpaper, and signage, can be purchased through the company and some of them, such as lab coats, a changing table, small dresser, lamps, and a rocking chair, can be bought locally.

Director of marketing Mark Putinski explains the broad-based appeal of the nursery: "We get just as many adults as children. Mothers and grandmothers and daughters, husbands and wives — both collectors and those who play with dolls. That's the neat thing. It's a wonderful way to introduce people to our dolls. It can create a whole new group of collectors. It's more than just buying a doll. It's a very personal experience for these folks. And that draws them in to want to collect. We firmly believe that this is going to be a destination for our dealers. It will attract people to their stores who wouldn't ordinarily come, if they promote it in local newspapers and tourism brochures."

The North American Bear Company in Chicago manufacturers Muffy VanderBear and friends. Muffy originally started out as a play line before consumer demand turned her into a collectible, according to Sarah Rhodes, vice president of marketing. And while North American Bear is by no means neglecting the line's loyal collectors, these days the company is again focusing on the bear's play value. The company is emphasizing its Muffy ClothesLine, with outfits for occasions ranging from birthdays to weddings. It also has a separate Muffy Kids Club, which offers T-shirts, charms, barrettes, and temporary tattoos as benefits, in addition to The Muffy Club, which is geared toward adults. A coordinating line of Muffy Stuff fashion accessories lets kids coordinate their own outfits with their doll's. The result, says Rhodes, is a new hybrid model of collecting, in more ways than one. New collectors aren't interested in gathering every piece or playing the secondary market. "It's a different drive." Rhodes explains. "They are far more focused on decorating with Muffy and picking and choosing the pieces that speak to them." The most common Muffy collector these days is a team of mother and daughter, who each value different aspects of the doll and use the activity as a way to spend time together.

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company is also extending a popular tourist attraction, previously only offered at its headquarters, to its retailers. The Make A Friend For Life bear-making program is now available as a non-exclusive license to qualified retailers. To participate, a store needs at least 400 square feet to hold the Huffin' Puffin' stuffing machine and other essentials of the process, which mimics the real-life manufacturing process at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company factory. An initial investment of $60,000 is required. Customers personalize their purchase by choosing a "fat free" bear in any one of several fur types and colors, then by deciding how chubby it will be and how it will be dressed. A felt heart is placed inside and a "bear surgeon" stitches it up on the spot. Then the bear is named and its birth certificate is completed. An undressed Make A Friend For Life bear retails for $15.95 to $24.99.

Planet Rascals, a manufacturer of collectible plush animals, uses educational value and modern technology to add a new twist to the adoption method of forming personal connections. And this one doesn't need a lot of floor space — except in virtual reality. Each piece in the line is based on a particular animal in a zoo or animal sanctuary. When kids buy a piece, they also get a CD containing two hours' worth of "edutainment": information on the feeding, conservation, habitat, and vet care of the animal's namesake, as well as themed games, puzzles, and activities. Collectors can launch the company's Web site from the CD to register themselves as Junior Zookeepers in the Adoption Center and get their names listed on the site. Once there, they can also view constant updates on the animals, find more games, and see new releases. Each purchase includes a contribution to the zoo or sanctuary that houses the animal. Of the line's first six animals, three come from the Los Angeles Zoo and three from Acton, California's Shambala Reserve. Planet Rascals president Nancy Cordaro says that the company is working with other organizations and expects to expand the line to 18 animals over the coming year.

Retailers who can spare the space and the capital can apply to host a Lee Middleton Newborn Nursery or a Vermont Teddy Bear Company Make A Friend For Life station in their stores. But your options don't stop there: Check with your own suppliers to see what programs and events they offer that will create excitement about your lines. And let these stories inspire you to invent new ways of presenting collectibles in your store, to tempt kids with entertainment, emotional connection, and functional appeal.