I am enjoying the show, volatility is good. I'm even considering some puts <ggg>.
Pokemon to have parents speaking holiday jibberish
By William Borden
NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Nothing can alter a parent's vocabulary like buying toys for the holidays.
Words like Pikachu, Poliwag, Poliwrath, and Jiggleypuff will become part of parental lexicon after kids write their Christmas lists.
Many lists are expected to feature these characters in Pokemon, which started as a video game but spawned a billion dollar industry with cartoons, a feature film from Time Warner Inc.'s <TWX.N> Warner Bros. and toys.
The craze and its accompanying lingo sounds similar to "Furbish" -- last year's holiday dialect created by Furby, a computerized plush animal with owlish-eyes that debuted last year as a hot toy.
"It's not all Pokemon, but Pokemon is by far the biggest thing this season," Gerard Klauer Mattison analyst Sean McGowan said.
"Demand is out of control. Pokemon is everywhere and it's a phenomenon," said Jonathan Cutler, a spokesman for online retailer eToys Inc. <ETYS.O>.
Cutler said he expects shortages of some Hasbro Inc.'s <HAS.N> Pokemon products to be commonplace throughout toy retailing, but the online retailer sends e-mail to customers when items are in stock.
Nintendo Co. Ltd. <7974.OS> is expecting to benefit from strong sales of its portable Gameboy video game system, which features Pokemon games, to help profits for the full year ending in March. The Japanese company reported lower profits for the first half of the fiscal year due to a strong yen and a slowdown in shipments of its N64 video game consoles, despite strong Pokemon product sales.
Shares of 4Kids Entertainment Inc. <KIDE.O>, which operates the licensing of Pokemon for Nintendo and television and film distribution outside Asia, rose $7.75 to $50.00 at midday.
While Pikachu -- the little yellow rosy-cheeked Pokemon with a lightning bolt-shaped tail -- will be a force to be reckoned with during the holidays, the video game business is expected to remain strong in other arenas with the Sega Enterprises Ltd. <7964.T> Dreamcast and new video game software for the N64 and Sony Corp.'s <6758.T> Playstation.
Over a million Dreamcast consoles have been sold in North America since the product was introduced in September, Sega said, reaching the million-console mark six weeks ahead of its forecasts.
"The video game industry is still riding a crest. It's past its peak, but they are really enjoying good software and hardware sales," McGowan said.
Some of the toy industry's tried and true sellers should also continue to do well.
Furby is not the "hot story" this year, but its sales should rise, since Tiger Electronics, a division of Hasbro Inc. <HAS.N>, has expanded the product line to include Furby Babies, McGowan said.
Also, Mattel Inc.'s <MAT.N> Millennium Princess Barbie, donning a regal blue gown with sparkling trim, is expected to perform well. The doll is presently a top seller in the 9-12 years-of-age category on the etoys Web site (http://www.etoys.com).
McGowan noticed that toymakers are shifting away from movie tie-ins, with the exception of toys connected with Walt Disney Co. <DIS.N> and Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s <PIXR.O> "Toy Story 2" and FOX Entertainment Group Inc.'s <FOX.N> "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace." Pokemon products were on the market before the movie's debut in mid-November.
"The toy industry is feeling a little burnt on movies," McGowan said, noting that toy sales of the new Star Wars film were strong but below expectations.
High licensing fees have become prohibitive to toy makers. McGowan said that strong box office results do not guarantee good toy sales, as shown by "Men in Black," "Independence Day," and "Godzilla" lines in recent years.
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