• Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, March 3, 2009 10:45 AM

Bracing for a difficult year ahead, some toy makers are bringing back brands from yesteryear as a way to cut costs and reduce risks, Nicholas Casey reports. Zizzle is rolling out a doll called P.J. Sparkles, for example, that has a dress that can be transformed into pajamas. Mattel retired the line nearly 20 years ago.

Designer Mark Taylor says few companies are developing new ideas. "Right now, I have more commissions than I can possibly handle," he says, but none of them involve designing new brands. "They're going back to what worked before, not taking any chances." Old lines are also cheaper to market.

Rather than releasing new characters into the Barbie franchise, Mattel itself is reviving Skipper, Barbie's little sister, who vanished in the 1990s. An $80 Barbie camper based on a toy that was a big seller in 1971 will also hit the stores. It's about "going back to what made Barbie great," says Neil Friedman, president of Mattel brands.

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