Popular Christmas Toys 2011

parahandy

Been thinking about this Christmas, so to start with I've quoted the first post from last year - hope you don't mind monkeyboyadams...

monkeyboyadams wrote: »

Hi all.

I see there is a thread for Toy Story Toys, which look likely to be one of the top Xmas toys this year, so I thought why not add to that and have a thread dedicated to the most popular and hard to get hold of toys for Xmas 2010. I know last year I struggled to get hold of Go Go Hamsters & a few other bits so maybe with this thread we could keep one another up to date with what's HOT on the toy front & also where to find them.

Thanks in advance :beer:

The following has kindly been put together by Maximouse....

Hi All

Well I was going through my notes from last year and thought it would be useful to post information about all the websites we used to find toys last year (think I’ve got most of them plus added a few from this year although I haven’t put stock checker websites as the links block when you post them – wonder how many normal links I will have to fiddle about with once I press submit reply!) and on the tips for getting that elusive toy that I put together from our experiences. Many sites and high street shops didn’t have whatever we were looking for in the early days but soon started to stock the must have items as demand increased although they soon sold out (I remember people queuing outside Toysrus and being given tickets for one Go Go hamster each in December and Argos stopping people reserving Go Go hamsters online!).

So even if there is nothing you want in stock now, you can ‘favourite’ these links, along with your own links, if you want so you can regularly check yourself for whatever you are looking for – don’t always rely on others to do the work for you (how many times did we get new comers to the site, who couldn’t be bothered to check through previous posts, or search for themselves, who just thought they could do one post and get all the info we had spent months acquiring through our hard work – a few even posted to say get me a whatever and I’ll pay you for it!).

Always read the small print before buying anything – is it really in stock? does it say due in *** weeks?, is the picture just an example of the product and does it say ‘colours / models may vary’, or something along those lines which means you could get any of whatever selection is shown in the picture. For example, when there is a picture of a Monster High Doll, is it that doll they are advertising or could you be sent any of those available. Check the P&P as this varies – some offer free post over a certain amount and some offer free delivery to your local store such as John Lewis, Boots and Wilkinsons.

Everything ‘at a price’. Read the descriptions very carefully to double check whether the items you are ordering are actually in stock. Try to find out what the RRP is before deciding whether you want to pay the price on whatever website you are viewing and remember to factor in the P&P. However, as many found last year, there is always a personal cost to finding the cheapest item and sometimes ordering something that is a bit over the RRP and includes P&P actually balances out the effort you will have spent trying to locate the item trawling around the local shops, including parking costs and petrol - not to mention the stress of it all.

Stock in shops vary from store to store even in chains so if someone sees, for example, a Chatimal in a certain supermarket, it doesn’t mean all branches of that supermarket will stock the same items. Ringing the store before you set off is always a good idea. Also many 24 hour supermarkets stock up in the early hours so many found a very early morning trip enabled them to get the items they were looking for before the ‘normal’ shopping hours when the products were sold out in minutes. Also some stores don’t have the product online, but have it in some stores (we particularly found that in Sainsburys last year) or have it online, but not in store. On the high street, stores such as these are always worth checking: Toymaster shops, local small toy shops like Smyths, Boots, Wilkinsons, Makro, Sainsburys, Tescos, Asda, TJ Hughes, John Lewis, Hamleys and Harrods. And of course, Toysrus and Argos.

As Christmas nears as stock becomes really hard to find, many online retailers will suddenly list stock, someone will report it on this forum, the whole world will suddenly go onto the other website and crash it (we took down some of the biggest known retailer’s sites last year!!!). So if someone does post about some site suddenly getting stock, and you are not actually wanting to buy anything, don’t click on the link just for a nosey because if everyone does that, the site will crash and those that genuinely are desperate to get whatever the product is, won’t be able to get it. However, best to be prepared just in case you may want to order from any of the websites. When hundreds of people are trying to get items into their online basket, they often find that the items disappear from the basket before they get a chance to check out – Toysrus was one example of this. Pre-registering with these websites with your details not only enables you to subscribe to newsletters which may give you pre-warnings about new stock being listed, but it also enables you to log in quickly and your address details will already be there, and you'll save time and reduce the risk of your basket emptying whilst you are madly trying to type your details in. If you have pre-warning that something is going to be listed at a particular time, go onto the site beforehand and log in, then just keep refreshing (press F5) until the item appears then grab it. If when you look at your basket, there is only one item and you ordered 2, don't waste time going back to try and add another as the likelihood is that there is only one in there because there is no longer 2 left as someone else has managed to check out before you. If you don't check out then, then that will also disappear. Some people got things in their baskets thinking they were secure and then went back onto the website to have a mosey around to see what else was there, of course whilst they were moseying, things were disappearing out of their basket! Also, take note of any things in the description that say, for example, only 2 per order, or 1 per address etc, as if you try to add more or do multiple orders, and think you've got away with it, your order may well be cancelled and you’ll get nothing. Many online retailers cancelled people’s orders last year because people ignored specific instructions about how many could be ordered.

Also, if websites and retailers start giving approximate dates that products are expected in, and all these dates are similar, then you know that a big order is probably coming into the country around that time to the main distributor(s), so many high street and online stores will list stock shortly afterwards so best to keep checking around that time.

Also if anyone wants any further information about dates, times, stock etc etc in online and normal stores, then the best thing to do is go onto their website and get their telephone number and ring them up yourself, then you get the info direct from source - that's how I got all my info last year. And don’t get carried away to quickly inform others, if you find something in stock that you want, make sure you place your order and / or get it first before posting the info on MSE. Because whilst you are kindly posting the info, someone else will be ordering and you could lose out. Although some retailer customer service departments may be able to shed light on when a particular product is expected, many of the big stores like Play.com, John Lewis and Boots can only see on their screens what you can see on yours, so they are non the wiser about stock coming in.

Many websites have an 'inform me when in stock' button. However, apparently there is a cost associated with it so due to the millions of people clicking on the buttons to be informed of when the must have toys came into stock, many stopped bothering sending the info emails because by the time the person read the e mail, the stock would have gone anyway. So moral of the story is keep checking sites and don’t rely on getting e mail notifications.

Also, a few of the sites last year took pre-orders then didn’t fulfil them as they never got the stock in. Even if you’ve pre-ordered something, never assume you are going to get it until it is safely in your own hands! If you see the product elsewhere in the meantime, you can always get it and cancel your pre-order.

Check the Cashback and Voucher code sites to see if there is any Cashback or vouchers that can be used on the sites you want to order from. However, some did this last year during the buying frenzy and missed out on the listed products because they were too busy searching the Cashback and voucher code sites before ordering.

Here is a list of most of the websites that we used last year – some were better than others. I’m happy to update it and repost every so often as required:

http://www.smythstoys.com/

http://www.littlewoods.com
http://www.empirestores.co.uk
http://www.woolworths.co.uk
These 3 sites all get from the same warehouse so if in stock with one, will be with others too. However, prices do vary between the three.

http://www.heroesforkids.co.uk
http://www.lambstoys.co.uk/
http://www.thetoyshop.com
http://www.cuddysonline.co.uk/
http://www.toyopia.co.uk/
http://www.hoorayfortoys.co.uk
http://www.argos.co.uk
http://www.hamleys.com
http://www.johnlewis.com
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com
https://www.toysrus.co.uk
http://www.yorkshiretoycompany.co.uk/
https://www.character-online.com
http://www.harrods.com
http://www.toymastershop.co.uk/
http://direct.tesco.com
https://www.asda.co.uk
http://www.sainsburys.co.uk
http://www.cmgiftsandcollectables.co.uk/store/
http://www.toysofcharacter.com/
http://www.hawkin.com/
http://www.pitch.tv/huggle-buddies.aspx
http://www.pangadgets.com/toys-games/products/2
http://www.acegadgets.co.uk/electron...ine-1280-p.asp
http://www.toywiz.com/ A site from the USA that ships internationally
http://www.kiddimax.co.uk
https://www.boots.com
http://www.blahdvd.com
http://www.mad-4-toys.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
https://www.play.com
http://www.base.com/
NB Play and Amazon often list their own stock at RRP but have 3rd party Playtrade / Marketplace people listing their stock too - hence things coming and going on the sites throughout the day at variable prices, which can be well over the RRP.
https://www.ebay.co.uk

parahandy

The thing I've been hearing about is the Harry Potter wand - which I believe is going to become elusive. My OH is into HP, and I'd like to get her this as a collectable - not a toy! But there are various ones on sale, and I'd like to get her this as a Christmas present, so if anyone can help me pinpoint the correct one, I'd be obliged.

BTW, what happened to Monster High??? Someone mentioned this last year and said it was going to be huge..... I bought my daughter one, but I've never heard any more about it...

Coopdivi

Am I the only one who thinks parents actually buy toys for themselves, not their children?

joyceliu

I just order a cute toys "puffster animals" like a puff from a site called shopwonders.com, and they give me a 10% off coupon as a gift ,may be you can try

joyceliu

Coopdivi wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks parents actually buy toys for themselves, not their children?

toys can make us happy ,not only for children.

daisygogo

last years popular Christmas Toys thread was a huge help to my Christmas shopping so I'm pleased to see it's going to return I remember queueing up outside of TRU to get that zhu zhu hamster ball and it was hard work tracking down Lotso Hugging Bear but my little one loved them both !! I have googled this years top toys and it doesn't appear much !! There is the Harry Potter wand although I won't need that and an electronic robot called fijit which I think Tesco are claiming will be one of their top selling toys for Christmas and although I've already bought bits and pieces (barbie dolls) etc I'm hoping I won't have to queue up outside of shops from daft o clock.

I also remember the Monster Highs, I think there is a winter edition called Abbey Bomnible (or something like that) which is already attracting mega prices on ebay but I'm not sure if that's just because she's a new release.

Looking forward to seeing this thread progress

mum26

Lego again I think, also anything to do with Moshi Monsters is a big hit in our house.

I am looking forward to Sainsbury's toy sale and Tesco's big 3 for 2 if they do them again this year

megamezzosoprano

Both Tescos and Hamleys released top 10 Xmas toy prediction lists back in June, which had only one overlap between them, which is impressive! Tescos rate the Fijit highly, alng with Transformers 3 toys, whilst Hamleys have opted for Cars 2 toys and Barbie fashionistas in their top 10. Both have chosen toys that were very popular last year, Lego sets and Nerf blasters, although they have chosen different models.

Clowance

daisygogo wrote: »

last years popular Christmas Toys I'm hoping I won't have to queue up outside of shops from daft o clock.

You don't have to do this, nor do kids need all or most of the "must have" toys. Just get what they would like the most. If they don't learn that they can't have everything when they are young then they will become spoilt. Everyone wants to give their kids the best - especially if they didn't have it when children - but its not good for the kids. My two - teenagers now - have had a budget for christmas and birthday (plus a stocking of small surprises) so know their limits.

Fuzzy_Duck

daisygogo wrote: »

last years popular Christmas Toys thread was a huge help to my Christmas shopping so I'm pleased to see it's going to return I remember queueing up outside of TRU to get that zhu zhu hamster ball and it was hard work tracking down Lotso Hugging Bear but my little one loved them both !! I have googled this years top toys and it doesn't appear much !! There is the Harry Potter wand although I won't need that and an electronic robot called fijit which I think Tesco are claiming will be one of their top selling toys for Christmas and although I've already bought bits and pieces (barbie dolls) etc I'm hoping I won't have to queue up outside of shops from daft o clock.

I also remember the Monster Highs, I think there is a winter edition called Abbey Bomnible (or something like that) which is already attracting mega prices on ebay but I'm not sure if that's just because she's a new release.

Looking forward to seeing this thread progress

Abbey Bominable is just part of the latest series along with Spectra Vondergeist. I ordered both at the normal retail price on Amazon but the estimated shipping dates aren't until September and November respectively. I'm guessing this is why people are selling them at inflated prices- they're currently hard to find (probably because so many sellers are snapping them up!) and people aren't willing to wait for new stock.

ElisesMummy

Had to post as i'm a bit excited i found the thread, wondered why i hadn't seen it - normally in Grabbits.
2009 for Zhu Zhu pets - now they're everywhere.
Last years posts resulted in a Lalaloopsy mad little girl
2011? TBC! lol
Looking forward to being part of this for the third year =o)
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