Phelps Toy Company
The Phelps Toy Company was
considering the advisability of adding a new
product to its line. Ike Barnes was in charge
of new product development. Since the
founding of the company in 1995, he had
seen sales grow from $150,000 a year to
almost $40 million in 2015. Although the
firm had initially started out manufacturing
toy trucks, it had diversified into such items
as puzzles, stuffed animals, wall posters,
miniature trains, and board games. In 2009,
it developed the third most popular board
game for the year, based on a popular
television quiz show, but the show was
youngsters but also among adults who
were trying to recapture the experience of
their youth.
A market survey by Ikes Barnes
indicated that the Topps Chewing Gum
Company was the largest competitor in the
industry. The company actually had a
public distribution of its common stock in
2001. Other major sellers in 2016 were
Upper Deck, Fleer, Leaf, and Donruss. All
produce millions of baseball cards on an
annual basis. The cards can be purchased
in packs of 15–20 cards for $3.00–$8.00 at
drug or convenience stores* or in boxes of
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CASE
