well im not privy to any sales figures from the wholesalers, and i
doubt they'd be forthcoming with the figures. even if sales were
down, they'd be hard pressed to admit it, as they dont want to throw
a wet blanket on the festivities.

the mood of the trade show was upbeat as far as i could tell, because
sales were up last year well over the disaterous years of 2001 and
2002. i know this from my own retail endevours, and from discussions
with my suppliers during last year's season as we were restocking
merchandise. i dont know how much "pushing" there will be because the
mass merchandisers are still stinging from '01 and '02.

you have to remember the mood of the entire country changed rather
suddenly last year and it didnt happen till late in the year when the
preparations for halloween were already in the pipeline, and the
merchandisers were expecting another down year.