What does that stuffed panda your daughter brought home last summer from the Iowa State Fair have in common with the toy she won at school because you helped her sell 30 pies, or the arcade machine your son pumps quarters into at Chuck E. Cheese and the prize he got for scoring 300,000 points?

Besides the fact they were all made in China, chances are also very good that they were shipped from Manley Toy Direct’s sprawling distribution center in Indianola.

And if you happen to have any trouble with the Honda MiniMoto mini scooter you bought the kids for Christmas, the toll-free number you’ll call will ring at the same center.

Tucked away in the industrial park on the northern edge of Indianola, Manley Toy Direct and Manley Toy Network has imported about 400 40-foot shipping containers of toys this year from the Pacific Rim, distributing the merchandise to customers in 48 states.

A division of one of the world’s largest toy distributors, Manley Toy Ltd. of Hong Kong, Manley Toy Direct wholesales arcade games for the amusement center industry and recently began selling packaged toys to retailers.

In 2000, Manley Toy Direct and its sister company, Manley Toy Network, which specializes in stuffed animals, moved their primary distribution center and headquarters from New York to Indianola, occupying a vacant warehouse. A year ago, the company nearly doubled the size of the distribution center to about 400,000 square feet. It also added a national customer service center for its Toy Quest subsidiary, which wholesales toys to major retailers that include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Toys “R” Us Inc., KB Toys and Kmart Holding Corp.

After just four years in Iowa, the company has more than doubled its workforce in Central Iowa to 45, and expects further growth as it begins diversifying into new retail markets.

“Our growth has been wonderful,” said Richard Toth, president of Manley Toy Direct.

To continue to compete in an increasingly consolidated and competitive toy marketplace, the company is branching out to become a domestic retail supplier as well, Toth said.

“Party toys (bagged sets of a dozen small toys) are one vehicle that we are getting into at the retail level,” he said. The company’s line of party toys is carried by retailers that include Paper Warehouse.

“We’re doing a pretty decent business now with (selling toys as prizes for) fundraising, so that’s a market segment for us,” Toth said. “You’ll probably see us get into more rack toys, such as those carried at Kum & Go or Walgreens.” The company maintains a showroom displaying the approximately 6,000 products it carries.

While perennial favorites such as high-bounce balls and Slinkys abound, and new movies each year guarantee licensed products such as the action figures from “The Incredibles” or the Scooby-Doo movies, “the challenge is finding that winning item that makes your year,” Toth said. “This year, it was the $2 bubble gun that has the bottle that screws on,” he said.

Toy Quest, which led the toy industry a few years ago with its best-selling Tekno robotic dogs, this year also has one of the most sought-after items to put under the tree: the Honda MiniMoto line of ride-on vehicles. The company also sells a Six Flags line of inflatables and water toys designed to allow customers to create their own water park in their back yard.

This year’s high oil prices, which affect the cost of producing the petroleum-based plastics and polyester stuffing used by toy manufacturers, will have a big impact on next year’s toy market, Toth said.

“I think you’re going to see some companies tighten up their margins and try not to pass on all the expenses, but ultimately, it will be consumer that will pay for that,” he said. “They probably haven’t seen the effects of that yet. I think they’ll see it more in 2005, because now (the manufacturers) have to replenish their raw materials at the higher costs.”

As if the industry didn’t face enough risk with energy costs, there is also the potential for big flops, particularly with licensed toys. The “Scooby-Doo” sequel, for instance, was a “horrific event” that caused sales of the movie-related toys to tank, Toth said. On the other hand, “Spiderman 2” and its action figures did “incredible” this year.

“Would you call it a crap shoot? Absolutely,” he said. “Once a licensed property is dead, it’s dead; it’s very hard to get rid of. If I have a generic teddy bear or a calculator, I can find a market for it. If it’s not an ‘in’ thing, it’s just an item.”