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NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT -- First there were Batman and Robin, then there were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and now in the '90s there are the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. These back-flipping, high-kicking heroes are tops with kids and are bound to be just as popular with toy retailers this holiday season.

Just how hot are Power Rangers toys?

So hot that Wal-Mart is having trouble keeping up with the demand.

In the Sunday, Oct. 30 edition of the St. Petersburg Times, Wal-Mart ran an ad stating that certain items in its November circular, featuring Power Rangers' White Tigerzord with White Ranger, would be in short supply for the holiday season.

"Due to our manufacturer's inability to manufacture adequate quantities, we are unable to supply the demand. While quantities are arriving in our stores daily, we do not anticipate sufficient quantities throughout the holiday season. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience."

While this apology represents an unfortunate circum-stance for Wal-Mart, communicating directly to shoppers to let them know that supplies are limited could also prompt customers to visit stores early.

After the ribbon cutting at the opening of Hills' two Richmond, Va., stores a few weeks ago, shoppers ran in the front doors of one of the stores and headed straight to the toys department to snatch up Power Rangers supplies. Hills had plenty in stock.

"This time, we won't run out," said Bob Stevenish, executive vice president, referring to Hills' opening in Reading, Pa., in October. Regardless, that store sold out of Power Rangers products during the first day of the grand opening.

Other individual stores haven't been so lucky. One shopper in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was told by an associate at Kmart that she missed the recent delivery, but could put her name on a list for the next shipment. "I guess I'll have to do that," the shopper said.

Obviously, short supplies or no, Power Rangers merchandise is sure to drive holiday toy sales this year. (This will probably hold true even in Canada, where two television networks will cease airing the show due to the amount of violence depicted.)

But Power Rangers aren't the only hot products in '94. Among the others are Barbie, now with a talking version and one with articulate limbs, Lion King products, Jurassic Park, Snow White, electronic learning toys, construction sets, arts and crafts, action figures from an assortment of programs including Star Trek and Batman, Tyco's Dr. Dreadful and Fisher-Price's Triple Arcade.

The '94 holidays should produce retail sales gains between 5% and 10% over '93, according to the Toy Manufacturers of America, which is predicting that toys sales will top $18 billion this year. Sales were $17.5 billion in '93.

Helping to push those annual sales totals higher is Toys "R" Us. On Nov. 6, the world's largest toy retailer unveiled its Christmas toys catalog, The Big Toy Book, which it distributed to more than 58 million homes. It is an 84-page book of toys that includes $610 in savings coupons for a total savings to consumers of $1,013. Some of the coupons may be valid on more than one item.

TRU's commitment to the catalog/couponing program helped push the company's same store sales up by 7.3% for the '93 holiday season," said Michael Goldstein, ceo. "We had to think big and give our customers more -- more choices and more savings." Last year's catalog, TRU's first effort, featured over $500 in savings.

The Big Book follows up TRU's first Pre-Holiday bonus book that offered $309 in coupon savings.

TRU predicted what its hot items will be for Christmas '94, which included 40 toys from 20 manufacturers. Although the chain provided its list in no specific order, the toys included:

* All Power Ranger Products by Bandai;

* Gymnast, Bedtime and My Size Barbie Bride, Floam, Polly Pocket Light Up Houses, Jenny Gymnast and Lion King Plush by Mattel;

* Explorer Wagon by Little Tikes;

* Dr. Dreadful food and drink labs, Radio Control 6-Volt Triple Wheels, Puppy Puppies and Kitty Kittens by Tyco;

* Talkboy by Tiger;

* Adventure Castle, Radio Control Raceway, Triple Arcade, Moun-tain Trike and Big Things by Fisher-Price;

* General Earthworm Jim, SNES Earthworm Jim and Skeleton Warriors by Playmates;

* R/C 9.6-volt Ricochet and Easy Bake Oven by Kenner;

* Intermediate set by K'NEX;

* Writing Desk by V-Tech;

* Jenga, Maniac Mouse and Crack the Case by Milton Bradley.

Others include Lion King Deluxe Sound Story by Western Publishing; in-line skates by CCM, Variflex and Roller Derby; Big Jake by Power Wheels; Exersaucer by Evenflo; SNES Donkey Kong Country by Nintendo; Sonic and Knuckles by Sega; Bumble Ball/Buddies by Ertl; Big, Big Loader by Tomy and Pods by Sega.

"Christmas is going to be strong," proclaimed Byron Davis, president of toys for Fisher-Price. "Everybody is going after the business."

The season is getting an early kickoff with the flood of toys catalogs -- JCPenney threw its hat into the ring -- and circulars and the early start of Chanukah, which begins on Nov. 27.

Davis predicts that his "red hot toys" -- Triple Arcade, Dress & Dream Dress-Up Vanity, Great Adventures Castle and Radio Control Raceway -- will be completely sold out this year, making '94 one of the best holiday season's ever.

"It's going to be an excellent Christmas," declared Dan Shure, president of Strombecker Corp., maker of Tootsietoys. Seen frequently in the news recently concerning the toy gun issue, Shure expects that his lead items, Big Builders Castle Block -- corrugated bricks printed to look like castle scenes -- and Sesame Street wooden activity railroad, to be big sellers.

At Rose's, John Freise, vice president, general merchandise manager, hard lines, expects his toys business to benefit from hot selling toys this season. Already this year, toys is up "in the high double digits from last year" with year-end sales expected to be up by "high, high double digits."

"Toys is turning out to be a real huge win for us, and I'm excluding Power Rangers," said Freise.

In addition to Power Rangers, he said that this season's toy winners will be the entire doll category, action figures, learning aids, bicycles -- which is "absolutely off-the-wall and off-the-charts" -- Power Wheels, especially Big Jake, go-carts and the Little Tikes Salon.

At Kmart, corporate communications spokesman Steve Pagnani said that the discounter is expecting Power Rangers merchandise to lead the way this holiday season with strong activity in Barbie (sepecialty Barbies and Barbie sets), activity sets (paints and crafts) and construction toys. Also, Pagnani said that Kmart expects to do well with the Kmart holiday bears, Hasbro Street Fighter action figures, Kenner Batman action figures, Jurassic Park dinosaur and people action figures, Tyco's Dr. Dreadful food and drink lab, Vac-Man, Stretch Armstrong and Fetch Armstrong and karaoke.

Kmart is driving toys sales this year with its Toy Mania program that features particular categories of toys each week in its circular.

Kmart kicked off Toy Mania on Oct. 30 with TNT (Totally Now Toys) such as big bulk toys, dollhouses and trucks. Next was HOT (Hands on Toys) like activity toys and crafts. After that was BIG (Build it Great), or construction toys -- "Which are all doing extremely well so far this year," Pagnani said -- and TLC (Totally Lovable Characters) such as plush and dolls.

"It's a way of setting the toy department apart during the toy season," he noted.

Target's toys department features a small section of classic, generic toys that spice up its mix with something special. For between $5 and $10, Target created a small line of toys in plain blue boxes with a cellophane window. The 10-sku line includes a wooden train, puzzles, Barbie clothes, plastic horse with either a cowboy or a cowgirl, and an English riding girl. All of the boxes carry the Target label.

A beefed-up toys section is also available at Venture.

"Venture wants to be a kids store," said Michael Hamilton, senior vp, stores. Venture's expanded toys department covers the store's back wall, talking advantage of important adjacencies such as juvenile products and children's apparel.

"Toys is something close to a franchise for us," said Hamilton. "Our strategy is to be competitively priced on identifiable items."