When it comes to toys, buying American is tough

— -- After recent high-profile recalls of some Barbie, Polly Pocket and Thomas & Friends products, you've vowed not to buy Chinese-made toys this Christmas.

Good luck.

Even though it's shaping up to be the "anti-China Christmas," your kid's stocking likely will be stuffed with Chinese-made toys — unless you put oranges in it. That's because 80% of all toys sold in the USA are made in China. Some internal toy-industry estimates show only about 10% are actually made here.

More important, there's mounting evidence that avoiding Chinese-made toys may not be worth it. New research shows that most of the toy recalls in the last 20 years were due to design problems by the U.S. toymakers, not manufacturing problems that were the fault of Chinese or other foreign plants. U.S. toymakers also are far from immune to safety problems and may have at least as high a percentage of recalls as China when the USA's small market share is considered.

And if you do go the U.S.-made route, be ready for limited choices and, perhaps, a tough sell to the kids. Most U.S.-made toys are wooden, old-fashioned "nostalgia" toys, such as blocks or puzzles, that may not hold the interest of kids older than toddlers. There's Slinky, the twisty-wire-walking toy from the 1950s, and some plastic toys like K'Nex construction sets.

When parents start looking for U.S.-made toys, "They'll be surprised at how few there are," says Gary Lindsey, marketing vice president for toy retailer eToys.com.

Still, retailers are scrambling to add U.S.-made toys to their shelves. And manufacturers are gearing up.

The Whittle Shortline Railroad toy company of Louisiana, Mo., has added 30 employees to meet demand. Holgate Toys of Bradford, Pa., maker of classic wooden toys like the Rocky Color Cone (stackable wooden rings on a peg), added a second shift after getting scores of e-mails and calls from parents and retailers. "We think it's the start of something big," says President Richard Bly.

Hatfield, Pa.-based K'Nex Toys has added a third shift and is paying overtime to meet demand for its often-made-here construction sets. K'Nex has put new "Made in the USA" stickers on the one-third of its toys that are all-U.S.-made. But President Michael Araten says there's more to attracting American-made toy buyers than that.

"What's important to focus on is the combination of safety, fun and innovation," says Araten, whose 6- and 9-year-old kids have many Chinese-made toys, too. "Toys can be as safe as you want, but if your child doesn't want it, it isn't any good."