July 13, 2010
Reasons You Should Select Traditional Christmas Gifts
Christmas may come only once a year – but when it arrives, it is a critical period for retailers. It can mean the difference between a good year and a bad year. So it’s no surprise that so much effort goes into predicting what the best selling items will be each year.
It’s doubly critical in the toys and games market. Each year there seems to be one special toy that is the “must have” toy of the year. In no particular order we have seen Buzz Lightyear, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tickle-Me-Elmo, Beyblades, Cabbage Patch Kids and Furbies take the “top toy” title in previous years.
Typically most of these toys will enjoy one year at the top of the sales charts. Whilst most of these toys are still around today, they aren’t going to be number one this year. Many of them won’t even make it into the top fifty.
However, there are some perennial favorites which are always popular choices year after year and have survived the test of time across generations of children. For example, again in no particular order, would be Lego, Monopoly, Scrabble, Cluedo, Barbie, G.I. Joe and train sets. Cetainly, it’s improbable that any of these will be the top selling this year – but they will appear in the top twenty or thirty toys year after year.
Based upon the present volume of sales, this year’s top toy looks like being Zhu Zhu Hamsters – cute, robot hamsters which interact using artificial intelligence. However, as in earlier years, demand seems to be outstripping supply. It’s already hard to find them in the stores. You can however, see them on eBay – at prices well above the official price. This seems to happen every year and toy suppliers have been accused of deliberately restricting supply to create a buzz on more than one occasion in the past.
This really isn’t unusual. Whether or not it’s a deliberate ploy by the manufacturers is debatable, but it has almost become an annual event these days. Typically, no more than a few weeks after Christmas, last year’s expensive top toy will be old hat. The more traditional toys however, will still be used and enjoyed for a long time to come. Many of these toys will even be handed from one generation to the next. That’s why toys such as Hornby Dublo train sets, Scrabble, Lego etc. represent such amazing value for money and are always a welcome addition to any kid’s toy collection.