The Toy Retailers Association (TRA) have drawn up their annual ‘Dream Toys’ list, which offers predictions for the 12 best selling toys this Christmas. 70 toys in total are put through rigorous testing every year since 2005. So what do children of today want this Christmas; games, dolls or computers etc?
It seems like parents won’t have to spend a fortune this Christmas at retail commercial properties, as the average cost of a toy on the list is £50. So what toys do the experts predict that children want?
Gary Grant, the ‘Dream Toys’ selection panel’s Chairman, expressed: “This year we’ve seen some amazing technological advancements from the toy industry. This doesn’t mean to say that the toys are ‘techy’; rather that technology has been used to enrich the whole experience of play.”
Also this year TRA have revealed the top 12 toys, as voted by the ‘real experts’, children. The children put 70 toys through some vigorous testing and were asked to score them on the following factors: boredom rating, breakability, coolness, fun to play with friends.
Mr Grant, said: “Angry Birds app and classic characters such as Mickey Mouse brought bang up to date for today’s savvy kids. All proving that the industry continues to be incredibly forward thinking, innovative and adaptable.”
Mothers of the children were also asked to vote for their top two toys. They voted for:
Nifa Mclaughlin, who assisted with the mothers judging, stated: “As mums, we were looking for a combination of things from the winning toys. Firstly that our kids were excited about the toy and loved playing with it, but also that the toy lived up to expectations, was quick and easy to get started with and would hold the interest of a lively toddler for more than five minutes! All the toys were fantastic but we found the girls especially loved the Kidizoom Twist and the boys couldn’t get enough of the Imaginext Batcave.”
So are the TRA’s predictions any good? In 2009, nine of the 12 toys came first or second in their categories (e.g. games, creative, construction etc). Furthermore, in 2010, eight of the 12 toys were in the top ten in their categories. So their predictions are pretty much spot on.
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