Christmas may come only once a year – but when it arrives, it is a very important time for retailers. It can make all the difference between a good year and a bad year. So it’s no surprise that so much effort goes into forecasting what the best selling items will be every year.
It’s doubly critical in the toys and games market. Every year there seems to be one special toy that is the “must have” toy of the year. In no particular order we have witnessed Buzz Lightyear, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tickle-Me-Elmo, Beyblades, Cabbage Patch Kids and Furbies claim the crown in previous years.
Usually 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 Christmas. Many of them won’t even make it into the top twenty.
However, there are some evergreen favorites which are ever popular choices year after year and have withstood the test of time across generations of children. For example, again in no particular order, might be Lego, Monopoly, Scrabble, Cluedo, Barbie, G.I. Joe and train sets. Cetainly, it’s unlikely that any of these will be the top selling this Christmas – but they will appear in the top twenty or thirty toys year after year.
Based upon the present volume of sales, this year’s best selling toy looks like being Zhu Zhu Hamsters – cute, robot hamsters which interact using artificial intelligence. However, as in previous years, demand seems to be outstripping supply. It’s already hard to locate them in the stores. You can however, find them on eBay – at prices well above the official price. This seems to happen on an annual basis 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 uncommon. If it’s a deliberate ploy by the suppliers is debatable, but it has practically become an annual event these days. Often, no more than a few weeks after Christmas, last year’s expensive top toy will become yesterday’s news. The more traditional toys on the other hand, will still be used and enjoyed for a long time to come. Many of these toys will actually be passed on from one generation to the next. That’s why toys like Hornby Dublo train sets, Scrabble, Lego etc. represent such fantastic value for money and are always a welcome addition to any youngster’s toy collection.
