
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995                   TAG: 9502020026
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

TOY FIRM SETTLES PRICE-FIXING SUIT

Playmobil USA Inc., one of the nation's largest specialty toy companies, has agreed to stop practices that the Justice Department said illegally forced retailers to sell its toys at fixed prices. Some Pennsylvania customers will get refunds.

In a separate settlement, the company agreed to pay $275,000 to Pennsylvania, including $190,000 in refunds to its customers there, state Attorney General Ernie Preate Jr. announced.

It was the second case developed by the Clinton administration against a manufacturer for trying to fix retail prices. The first was against a maker of indoor tanning products.

The Reagan administration had halted prosecution of so-called resale price maintenance cases. The Bush administration developed one case, against a maker of hockey skates, filed shortly after it left office.

``It is our responsibility to enforce the laws as enacted by Congress and interpreted by the courts,'' said Assistant Attorney General Anne K. Bingaman, head of the antitrust division. ``Although we currently have fewer than 10 pending resale price maintenance investigations, we will continue to act when violations of law in this area ... can be proved ... under the legal standards set by the Supreme Court and the lower courts.''

Playmobil, whose parent company is Geobra Brandstatter GmbH & Co. KG. of Germany, has annual sales of more than $18 million and makes small plastic figurines, vehicles and buildings sold in sets organized around themes such as the Wild West, a Victorian doll house, a hospital or a pirate ship.

Playmobil agreed to drop the contested practices that Justice claimed eliminated competition among retail stores.

by CNB