• Washington Post , Monday, December 22, 2008 11 AM

Surprise, surprise. Here's one that has child development experts lining up on the opposite side of market forces: Feed the $59.99 the animatronic Baby Alive some "bananas," put her on her potty, press her bracelet and listen to her say, "Sniff, sniff. I made a stinky!" (Sometimes she has an accident before she gets to the toilet, which is why, I suppose, the attorneys lined up on the side of including the following warning on the back of the box: "May stain some surfaces.")

"For us, the peeing and pooping is pretty magical," said Kathleen Harrington, senior brand manager for Hasbro's Baby Alive dolls. "This toy is shocking enough that it's going to be noticed. But at best, this toy is unnecessary," says Susan Linn, professor of child psychology at Harvard and director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "At worst, it's really gross."

Baby Alive nonetheless is listed as one of the Hot Toys of 2008 by Hottoys2008.com, and was sold out at Wal-Mart, eToys.com and the AOL shopping site a week before Christmas, Brigid Schulte reports.

The AP's Mae Anderson writes in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that retro toys like Lincoln Logs, Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots, Slinky and Colorforms are striking a chord with parents trying to cut back.

"Parents remember how much they loved those toys and want that same happiness for their children," says Ken Moe, GM of Backtobasicstoys.com, a Web site owned by Scholastic Corp. So, while the kids are wiping Baby Alive's butt Christmas morning, dad and mom can build her an outhouse with Lincoln Logs .

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