What goes around comes around

Parents had little time to breath a sigh of relief after spending their hard earned cash on this year's 'must have' accessory when the extravaganza took up residence in the North Yorkshire town for five days.

Billed as a showcase for top European companies, the fair promotes decorations, cards, party goods and the all important toys which are tipped for the top 11 months hence. Reporter LISA ADLAM went along to take a look.

CALL me a big kid, but the prospect of spending an afternoon surrounded by hundreds of the best toys money can buy, was quite exciting.

I imagined those walking, talking robots, much-hyped when I was about eight-years-old becoming a reality; saw interactive Barbie dolls (no, not Pamela Anderson) speaking and doing their hair, and even maybe those space-age headsets which take you into a 3-D nether world.

That was my vision. My other half's vision was taken up with state-of-the-art computer games, walking and talking Action Men and the new Star Wars figures - he was once a fanatical collector of the original ones.

And it all started on an encouraging note. The first exhibitions transported us back a couple of weeks into a veritable winter wonderland.

Indeed, there were no toys to be seen, rather an endless sea of purple, gold, silver, red and green, complete with fake Christmas trees of all sizes and hue.

There was the silver spiral tree, the giant gold conifer tree, the purple and green glitter flecked tree and even one complete with Father Christmas and his sleigh whizzing around the top branches - taste obviously not one of that company's highest priorities.

In fact, as we wandered through corridors and corridors of sparkling lights, dancing reindeer and what can only be described as grotesque angel figures with expressions like gargoyles, we could have been forgiven for thinking that this fair was not about toys at all, but a convention for Homes and Gardens.

Moving on through the covered walkways, we passed colourful costumes by the lorry load, enough party poppers to fill the Millennium Dome and the kind of fireworks which looked more like the missiles favoured by Tony and Bill to bomb Saddam.

My other half was very taken with this particular display, prone as he is to buying the largest and most outlandish firework he can find come November 5 every year.

Obviously there was a considerable amount of emphasis on millennium celebrations as each and every display reminded us, as if we needed reminding, that the year 2000 is 'next year'.

Next year was very much on the minds of the many grey business suits milling around each exhibition talking earnestly about the value of party streamers and silly hats.

Because having fun is a serious business and this 50th fair was not so much aimed at children and their parents - not at this stage - but at the buyers with company credit cards in their pockets.

Already Christmas 1999 was being sized up, marketed and planned by these people who exert quite considerable control over what ends up in our local toy shops next autumn.

We had to go some way through the maze of stands to come across anything which might fit that description however.

And we were somewhat disappointed to find that, contrary to our toyland fantasies, there was little which stood out as being groundbreaking, new or even fun.

Much of what was on display had already been in the shops this Christmas.

If there really were the yet-to-be-released hi-tech toys anywhere in the building, they were being kept closely under wraps.

A few things grabbed the attention. The giant Buzz Lightyear toys, the snazzy skateboards and some cute cuddly bug things which are sure to catch on following the release of Antz and some other American cartoon film, due out later this year.

Other than that, there were some more traditional bears of various sizes, kiddies bikes and trikes, and some rather attractive dolls houses.

Of perennial favourites Barbie, Ken and their pals, there was little, only a stand displaying the hair slides and ribbons favoured by millions of little girls today.

We searched for the Star Wars merchandise - surely toy buyers would be quick to snap up the accessories of what will be the biggest film of 1999, if not this century?

A grand hoarding was espied by my growing-increasingly-bored other half, proclaiming the film's name in large gold letters. We rushed over. If they could create a Millennium Falcon, Ewoks and ATATs in the early 1980s, what delights would we find here?

Nothing. Natch, nil, zero. Our faces fell as we surveyed the hoarding and the empty space which stood before it - just one big advertising space.

And where were the big boys in the toy world?

Where were the likes of Mattel, Tomy, Hornby or the computer giants Sony or Sega?

Somewhere else evidently. A careful scour of the exhibition catalogue revealed their absence.

We were cheered though, by a flashing red sign telling us that 'The Wombles Are Here'.

Given that The Wombles have been granted a new lease of life by ITV this year, you would expect they might well top a number of lists being sent to Father Christmas next December.

Unfortunately the man running the stand - which also included the Teletubbies - didn't like the look of us and wouldn't let us have a nose around.

So it's hard to say if The Wombles will be a frontrunner in the Premier League of toys next season.

We decided to move on to a more accommodating stand and took a look at the numerous latex masks adorning the walls of the Dekkertoys display.

From the most disgusting harpie-style Halloween designs, to quite realistic Maggie, John, Tony and Bill latex efforts, there was just about every type of mask you could possibly want to cover your boat race with.

Bill is quite the flavour of the month, if you'll excuse the expression, according to Kieron Duggan of Dekkertoys.

Kieron said the company was expecting a boom in the sale of party gear as we approach the millennium and told us that masks were a growing feature of their business.

"Masks have always been very popular on the Continent where the whole idea of the carnival is a lot bigger," he said.

"But the increasing interest in Halloween has really got things started over here and the party theme is starting to roll - for us by about 35 per cent year on year.

"We're really expecting a huge increase in demand for things like party streamers and hats, and especially Union Jack bunting."

From there it was onward in a final quest to find that elusive end-of-the-millennium toy.

We didn't find it but were interested to discover that the tipsters were making a toy which harks back to the middle of this century odds-on favourite for 1999.

Isn't it strange to think that, given the giant strides we have taken during the past 100 years, of all the weird and wonderful things on offer today, that the hula hoop - invented in the 1950s - is being predicted to enjoy a massive comeback.

This year it was the yo-yo. Next year the hula hoop. It just goes to show that what goes around, comes around - much like the hula hoop itself, I suppose.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.