NEW YORK (AP) — Which toy maker has the most hit toys this holiday season? Mattel has more out-of-stock toys than Hasbro, according to an analysis by an analyst on Wednesday.
Although no "hot toy" on the level of Tickle Me Elmo in 1996 or the robotic hamsters Zhu Zhu Pets in 2009 has emerged this year, toy retailers are still running low on or are out of stock on some popular toys.
Mattel toys appear to be outperforming Hasbro, Sterne Agee analyst Margaret Whitfield said.
The hardest-to-find toys included Mattel's Hot Wheels Wall Tracks Starter set, a car track set that can be mounted on walls, and Fijit, an interactive robot that comes in several bright colors. Barbie Designable Hair Extension, a Barbie doll with customizable hair, was also hard to find, she said.
Hasbro's Beyblade Metal Fusion Stadium, a spinning top game, Rescue Bots Transformers Bumblebee action figure and its FurReal Friends interactive puppy called "Cookie" were also sold out in some places.
LeapFrog Enterprises also appears to have a hit on its hands, with its child-friendly tablet device the LeapPad hard to find, Whitfield said.
Whitfield surveyed five major retailers, including Toys R Us, K-Mart, Walmart, Target and Amazon.com to see which toys were out of stock.
Sales of the most popular toys "appear to be brisk this year, as the number of out-of-stocks has been rising and is significantly higher than for Holiday 2010's top toys," she said.
On Wednesday, Mattel's shares fell 9 cents to $27.92, while Hasbro's fell 56 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $34.25. Leapfrog shares fell 7 cents to $5.58.
