Toy crai
By Joy Ludwig
StaffReporter
Parents fighting over dolls in the toy
aisle. People waiting hours in line hop
ing to buy that “must have” Christmas
gift. The police even being called in to
break up a fight
The holiday craze over the latest gift
has to seen to be believed.
The holiday shopping madness
started the day after Thanksgiving and
will continue to keep retailers occupied
until Christmas Eve, making it their
busiest season of the year.
Sesame Street is at it again, trying to
tickle customers’ fancy with a new
plush, talking doll this Christmas sea
son.
At local toy stores, employees are
trying to keep their shelves stocked with
the Sing & Snore Ernie, a doll that sings
‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star;” but falls
asleep in the middle of it and starts snor
ing. It seems as if the toy craze of last
year’s Tickle Me Elmo is making anoth
er comeback.
Kim Oltman, senior sales and sea
sonal employee at Shopko, 27* Street
, l?L
Twas the week before finals
and all through the street,
students were hungry and <
wanting to eat The books '
were all opened in the carrels
with care in hopes that the
Bamba man soon would be
there. The students were
restless from a long night out
while visions of burritos
danced all about
Odappy MoUdays!
QoodLud^on finals!
Jl A A .
1451 ‘O’ Street
Open 11a.m. -
After the Bars Close!
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BURRITOS A8 BIG AS YOUR HEAD!*
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and Highway 2, said as soon as they put
the doll out on the shelves, shoppers
snatch it up.
“We have three trucks coming a
week with mostly toys, but they still go
fast,” she said.
Currently, Oltman said many peo
ple have rain checks for die doll.
Scott Pettit, employee at Toys R Us,
5220 N. 27* St, also said the Ernie doll
was selling well at the store.
“What Elmo was last year, is basi
cally what Sing & Snore Ernie is this
year,” he said
Another big holiday craze involves
Ty’ls infamous Beanie Babies.
Cathy Hiemer; owner ofTeddy Bear
Express & Gift Baskets Galore, 237 S.
70* St., said selling them at her store
has been just “nuts.”
“Three and a half years ago we were
giving them away because no one knew
about them,” she said. “Now, adults
have gone overboard”
Recently, she said she had as many
as 60 to 100 phone calls from people
wanting to know when more Beanie
Babies would arrive. Now, she has an
answering machine set up to handle
these phone calls, but people have to
call after 6 pm.
In late October, Hiemer said she got
a shipment of die new holiday beanies,
“Teddy” the Christmas bear, a snow
man named “Snowball,” “Gobbles” the
turkey, “Spinner” the spider, and
“Batty” the bat She allowed customers
to buy one only of the new Beanies so
more people could have a chance at
buying one of them. She said people
still waited in line for hours.
“Most people seemed to like that a
lot better because they could at least
have one of the new ones,” she said.
During this shipment she said she
even had tQ. call the police because two
men were fighting outside of her store
about their place in line.
Hiemer now has hired extra people
to answer the phone and control how
«
People have to remember these are only '
Beanie Babies. ... It should be a fun thing.”
Cathy Hieheb
owne of Teddy Bear Express & Gift Baskets Galore
many people come through the door.
She also has placed a sign on the door
that says which Beanies she has and
how many. However, she only allows
people to buy a maximum of three
Beanies in one style.
Although she said she does buy
some of the Beanie Babies for herself
and her three daughters, she doesn’t
understand why adults are behaving he
way hey are about than.
“People have to remember these are
only Beanie Babies and that hey were
made for kids,” Hiemer said. “It should
be a tun thing. Instead jth just another
Cabbage Patch doll or Tickle Me Elmo
craze hat has lasted a bit longer”
On a quieter note, another talking
toy is marring ms marie. ine tteai
Talking Bubba, is a bear that speaks
when children squeeze its tummy or
push on his feet. Pettit said it almost
sounds like Ross Ferotk voice, but chil
dren seem to like it
Other popular toys, he said are vir
tual pets. The Nano Babies and GiGi
Pets are small; electronic animals
attached to a key chain that the children
have to take care of, clean, and feed
through a game. If they don’t, the game
starts over, he said. These small pets
cost from $13-$15.
“Little kids just go crazy about die
virtual pets,” he said.
The re-release of Walt Disney’s
“Litde Mermaid” and Fox’s new movie,
“Anastasia,” have brought on an
onslaught of dolls and other movie
influenced products to toy stores as
well. “The Lost World” toys such as the
command center have been big hits, too.
Pettit said video games are stiU pop
ular, especially for Sony’s Playstation
and Nintendo 64. But this year lias
introduced new games such as
Nintendo’s “Diddy Kong Racing” slid
Sony’s “Final Fantasy VII” and he
expects themto be big sellers.
Besides video games, computer
software games offer a similar form of
entertainment, said Jeff Eliasson, soft
ware department supervisor at Best
Buy, 400 N. 48th St. The adventure
game, “Riven,” which is die sequel to
“Myst,” Microsoft’s Flight Simulator
*98 and all qiort games are most popu
lar. He said the store doesn’t have
“Quake 2** yet, but when die game
comes in he expects it to be a big seller
Also gaming popularity is Sprintb
PCS digital phone, said Phil Prusa, .
sales manager at Radio Shack in
Gateway Mall. Although die phone’s
clarity is better than a cellular phone, he
said, it does not cover as wide an area
because there are only a few towers so
far. And, the phone does cost more than
cellular phones.
Only three varieties are offered right
now: Sony’s for $200 with a 48-hour
battery, Samsung^ for $150 and p ,$50
rebate with a 20-hour battery and a
dual-band phone that works outside the
basic coverage area for $250.
Although not a new item, Prusa said
he also has bees selling quite a few
remote-controlled cars. They tenge in
sizes and prices, starting at $20 and
going up to $200 for the huger models.
Student gifts a clothes call
ByRebeckaHyde
Staff Reporter
American Eagle, Structure, the
Gap, Dillards, Younkers, Banana
Republic and Abercrombie & Fitch
are stores students say they love to
shop in, but can’t always afford.
Fortunately, during the holiday
season shoppers pack the malls try
ing to satisfy everyone on their list.
Clothes are a common gift idea, but
some fashions are standing out from
the rest in 1997.
Wide-legged jeans and cor
duroys, wool sweaters, ski and
snowflake prints, and snow boarder
inspired clothing are just a few of the
hot items this holiday season,
according to managers at
Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana
Republic and the Gap.
“There is this really nice sweater
at American Eagle that I want; it has
a ski pattern. It was around $40-$50.
I also want a scarf, hat and gloves
with a ski pattern,” said Michelle
Kiefel, a freshman business manage
ment major.
Matt Somers, store manager at
Abercrombie & Fitch in Omaha, said
cardigans with zippers, ski caps and
cargo pants are in style. He also said
clothes and accessories, or anything
with stripes, are selling well.
“Anything wide leg is the thing,
especially jeans and cords. Any type
of wool sweater; especially ones with
a large stripe or band around the
chest or along the bottom is hot,”
Somers said.
Karli Newman, store manager at
the Gap in Omaha, agreed. The Gap
is offering a boiled wool sweater, a
wool V-neck and a lambswool
sweater with a snowflake print this
season, with prices ranging from
$38-$48. Newman said that woman’s
fashion is getting dressier, and velvet
is a popular fabric this year.
Julie Telley and Stacy Lundeen,
assistant managers at Banana
Republic in Omaha said that in
womens clothing, fabrics are getting
more interesting this season. Velvets
and velour; moleskin, a suede cotton
that feels like felt; and stretch fabrics
are filling up the store. They said the
items they anticipate will sell the
fastest are any of their wool V-neck
sweaters, their stretch suiting pieces,
and their men’s sueded crew, a soft
brushed cotton sweatshirt without a
banded bottom.
Newman said at the Gap, a com
plete casual outfit including pants, a
shirt or sweater and an undershirt
will cost about $100.
An outfit at Banana Republic!
including jeans, a sueded crew, belt
and socks will cost about $ 130-1142.
At Abercrombie & Fitch,
sweaters cost about $50-$90, jeans
and cords are $50 and carpenter
pants are $60. For some less expen
sive gift ideas, Abercrombie has hats,
ski caps and boxers for $25 and less.
When students were asked what
kind of clothing they wanted for the
holidays, fashion didn’t always dic
tate their tastes. Price discouraged
some from buying clothing frpm
many popular retail stores and some
placed a greater emphasis on com
fort >
“I just want some sweatshirts and
jeans because they’re comfortable,”
said Jennifer Hansen, a freshman
math and history major.