What do you think the #dreamtoys for Christmas 2013 are?!

The list of the top 50 #dreamtoys for Christmas 2013 was published today. I was invited along to a showcase event in London for the grand unveiling, and we got to see the toys in action. 

As a previous toy buyer I am still fascinated by the industry, and even more so now that I have my own willing volunteers to test the products to the max. I wrote a post recently about the Christmas in July event, and offered up some options of what I thought were great products. I still stand by those of course, but this list is supposedly THE list - i.e. those toys which will fly off shelves everywhere and leave harrassed parents scrabbling round and having fisticuff fights in the big toy hypermarkets over the next couple of weeks (don't leave it any longer folks, these things have a habit of selling out!).

'Selected by a panel of independent buyers that represents 80 per cent of toy retailers from stores  including Hamley’s, The Entertainer, Argos, Smyths Toys, Toys R US, Toymaster and ToyTown, the Dream Toys list is independent and widely respected as the most accurate predictive list of the toys that will be most in demand this Christmas.'

So what's on it? Well the Top 10 are as follows:

City Coast Guard                                     LEGO Company
Doc McStuffins Doctor’s Bag Playset       Flair Leisure Products
Flying Fairy by Flutterbye                         Spin Master Toys UK
Furby Boom!                                           Hasbro
InnoTab 3S                                              VTech Electronics Europe
LeapPad Ultra                                          Leapfrog Toys
Monopoly Empire                                     Hasbro
Monster High 13 Wishes Doll                    Mattel
Nerf N-Strike Elite RapidStrike CS-18     Hasbro
Robo Fishbowl                                         Zuru-Geemac
Teksta Robotic Puppy                              Character Options

Of these, I'm leaning towards the Teksta (did you see the fab Space Jump I posted about?!), Doc McStuffins and the Robo Fishbowl. A Furby Boom! is also a distinct possibility.....

The rest of the Top 50 contains plenty of products under £25, which is great in these economically challenging times when we'd all still like to have a bit of fun. There's a great Moshi Monsters Poppet Secret Diary and the One Direction dolls are sure to fly off the shelves (mums buying for their daughters obviously, not for themselves....)!

So if, like me, you haven't been fed many decent ideas for what to get your children yet this Christmas (X-Box has been requested and then retracted here), maybe this would be a good place to start? You can see which other toys made it by clicking on this link and looking through the categories. Let me know what's on your (by that I mean your children's!) list!





Disclaimer: I was given a ticket for the event but not asked to write about this in any way; all views expressed are my own.