Wal-Mart Launches $10 Toys, Stores Vow 'This 'R' War'

Toy retailers have commenced a fierce price war as a particularly tough holiday season bears down upon them, the Wall Street Journal reports. Wal-Mart cut prices to $10 on key toys including Barbie and Hot Wheels last week, a move quickly mirrored by rivals KB Toys and Target. Toys 'R' Us, meanwhile, plans to focus on choice instead of cheapness.

The targeted Wal-Mart price cuts differ from the across-the-board cuts of 2003 and 2004 that gave the retailer a huge slice of the market and drove rivals into bankruptcy. The company is aiming to "get people into the stores, but not necessarily giving away the store," one analyst said. Still, he added, any rival who matches the cuts "will definitely be losing money." (More toys stories.)