Acquisitions: Q: What Was Trivial Pursuit?

Anyone who wanted to buy the toy company Selchow & Righter in 1984 would have paid an outsize price, like $200 million or so. At that time the company was hotter than hot, thanks to the board game it manufactures, Trivial Pursuit. But last week, when the company finally agreed to be sold, it went for a much smaller price: $75 million. The firm's acquirer: Coleco, the company that manufactures another smash hit, Cabbage Patch dolls.

Selchow's value has fallen because Trivial Pursuit proved to be a fad. The manufacturer's annual sales of the game plunged from $400 million two years ago to roughly $50 million now, estimates Paul Valentine, a toy-industry analyst. In contrast, Coleco's Cabbage Patch annual sales rose 11% last year, to $600 million.