Barbie Fashion Fever Fashionista dolls, Zhu Zhu pets (no surprise there!), Moxie Girlz Jammaz dolls, Crayola Beginnings Color Me A Song, Hasbro Scatterpillar Scramble, LeapFrog Text and Learn, Tickle Me Elmo (yep, the original Tickle Me Elmo is still a favorite!), Little Mommy Baby Ah-Choo Doll,and Fisher Price Imaginext Dragon World Fortress.

See the Toys”R”Us Hot Holiday Toy List

We’re seeing plenty of Zhu Zhu pets in the top sellers this year. There’s a very interesting laser tag game that keeps appearing in toy merchants’ top selling toy lists this 2009 Christmas and holiday season. Laser tag, for the past decade at least, has been a popular activity for kids’ birthday parties and simply for weekend family fun. Now laser tag can be played at home. The 2009 Lazertag System 2PK by Hasbro is getting good reviews due to its realistic and pleasing sound effects and vibrations, responsiveness, and all-around good features.

Ucreate Music is a new system from Mattel, similar to the UDance, but it involves mixing music like a DJ or music producer. It looks great with a ton of features, including the ability to download new loops and share musical masterpieces. As easy as it is to use, it’s also quite sophisticated with its many options. Kids in the tween years will love this one.

Zhu Zhu Pets toys are hot, hot, hot, appearing on most major top toy lists this holiday season. However, they’re also selling out and many sellers have upped the prices. They’re sure to please little fans, but parents need to decide if they’re worth the extra dollars.

Scene It? Twilight Deluxe Edition by Scene It, featuring clips from the popular Twilight movie. Great fun for fans, and a good party game.

Printies Design Studio by Printies. Kids make soft stuffy toys with this kit. First, they design their stuffed toy online, print out the pattern onto included fabric sheets, and then create the cotton toy.

Princess and the Frog Just One Kiss Tiana is a new favorite doll based on the movie, The Princess and the Frog. The doll features lights and sounds…and the frog!

Bakugan 7 in 1 Maxus Dragonoid by SpinMaster. For fans of the super-hot collectible toy game series, this one is sure to delight. One Bakugan and six Bakugan Traps combine into a very impressive Maxus Dragonoid creature. Kids can play with the 7 Bakugan individually, and/or combine them. Crayon Town

Disney Netpal by ASUS is an 8.9 inch Netbook with a 5 hour battery life designed for kids. It also comes in a swirly pink design that little girls will love: Disney Netpal by ASUS – 8.9-Inch Netbook – 5 Hour Battery Life

Nanovor Nanoscope Digital Collectible Game

Candy Jewel Factory Oven by Girl Gourmet Sweets

LEGO Star Wars The Battle of Endor (8038)

Star Wars Clone Turbo Tank Vehicle

Crayon Town

The winners of these prestigious toy awards are…

Activity Toy of the Year – Crayola Color Wonder Magic Light Brush, Crayola LLC

Boy Toy of the Year – Bakugan Battle Brawlers Battle Pack Series 1 Spheres, Spin Master

Educational Toy of the Year – LeapFrog TAG™ Reading System , LeapFrog

Girl Toy of the Year – Playmobil Horse Farm, Playmobil USA, Inc.

Electronic Entertainment Toy of the Year – Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup, Hasbro

Game of the Year – Bananagrams®, Bananagrams LLC

Infant/Preschool Toy of the Year – Fisher-Price Elmo Live, Fisher-Price, Inc.

Most Innovative Toy of the Year – Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro, Spin Master

Property of the Year – Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Cartoon Network

Outdoor Toy of the Year – Crayola® 3D Sidewalk Chalk, Crayola LLC

Specialty Toy of the Year – Create Your Own Pop-Up Books, Creativity for Kids®/Faber-Castell USA

Top Toy of the Year – Bakugan Battle Brawlers Battle Pack Series 1 Spheres, Spin Master

GOAL IS MORE IMAGINATIVE, MAKE-IT-UP-YOURSELF, BELLY-LAUGHING PLAY FOR KIDS AND EASIER SHOPPING FOR MOM AND DAD

Toys don’t get much better than these. If you’re a kid just wanting to have fun, or an overworked parent looking to keep holiday shopping simple, check out the one expert-selected holiday toy list that cuts through all the heavily-hyped electronic razzmatazz in favor of safe, creative toys with staying power.

The hot-off-the-presses 2008 Best Toys for Kids list released today by the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) gets back to the basics. It features toys for make-it-up-yourself, belly-laughing play that’s safe, fun for kids and supports their physical, cognitive, and social development. These toys are a great reason to bypass the hordes of anxious, exhausted shoppers at the usual big box stores and try smaller toy stores with better selection, good service, and a priority on toy safety.

“Many toy shoppers are surprised to learn that there is a whole world of engaging, unique, well-made toys that they never see in huge, impersonal, one-size-fits-all stores. These are the toys you will find on the 2008 Best Toys for Kids list and in your local neighborhood toy store,” notes Kathleen McHugh, President of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association.

“The people at your locally-owned toy store are from your community. They hand-select a wide range of safe, highly creative toys you don’t see advertised,” continues McHugh. “These toys may not be the ones your kids bug you to buy them, but they will be the ones they play with over and over.”

Toy store owners who are toy and play experts have selected the 2008 Best Toys for Kids (listed below). The list includes toys for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and older children, and guides parents to toy selections according to different types of play. Details about each toy can be found at www.astratoy.org.

INFANT (Ages Birth-12 Months)

1. Busy Bee Discovery Flower (ALEX) Ages 6 months+

2. Together Tunes Too Block (Neurosmith, manufacturer & Small World Toys, vendor) Ages 6 months+

TODDLER (Ages 1-3 Years)

3. Wheely Bug (Prince Lionheart) Ages 1.5+ (small size), and 3+ (large size)

4. Dexter the Digger (WOW Toys, manufacturer & Ravensburger, vendor) Ages 1.5+

PRESCHOOL LEARNING (Ages 3-6 Years)

5. Magna-Tiles: 3-D Magnetic Building Tiles (Valtech Co.) Ages 3+

6. Magnetic Mosaics – Kids (The Orb Factory) • Ages 4+

Preschool Pretend & Play (Ages 3-6 Years)

7. Road & Rail Play Set – Railway Station (Plan Toys, Inc.) Ages 3+

8. Stablemates(TM) Red Stable Set with Two Horses (Breyer Animal Creations, Div. of Reeves International, Inc.) Ages 4+

CONSTRUCTION

9. Circus Ring (Playmobil) Ages 5+

10. Excalibur Castle (Le Toy Van, manufacturer & Hotaling Imports Inc., vendor) Ages 3+

11. 24-foot BluTrack Challenge Pack (MJ Sports dba BluTrack(R)) Ages 3+

ARTS & CRAFTS

12. Sticky Mosaics Jewelry Box (The Orb Factory) Ages 6+

13. Wikki Stix Tons of Fun (Omnicor Inc. / The Wikki Stix Co.) Ages 3 – 11

MUSIC

14. Schoenhut 44-Key Baby Grand Piano (Schoenhut Piano Company, Inc.) Ages 5+

15. Learn to Play Piano (Melissa & Doug) Ages 3+

GAMES FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN (Ages 3-7 Years)

16. Zingo! (ThinkFun, Inc.) Ages 4 – 8

17. Qwirkle (MindWare) Ages 6+

Games FOR OLDER KIDS (Ages 8 Years+)

18. SET Cubed, a Curious Game of Clever Connections (Set Enterprises, Inc.) Ages 8+

19. Bananagrams (Bananagrams) Ages 7+

SCIENCE

20. Wind Power — Renewable Energy Science Kit (Thames & Kosmos) Ages 8+

21. Geyser Tube (Be Amazing! Toys) Ages 8+

ACTIVE

22. The Original Flying Turtle (Mason Corporation) Ages 3 – 12

23. Mini Super Sports Disk (OgoSport, LLC) Ages 4+

TOYS TO WOW KIDS!

24. Multi-colored Ball of Whacks (Creative Whack Company/US Games Systems, Inc.) Ages 8+

25. Karito Kids World Collection (Karito Kids by KidsGive) Ages 3+

The 2008 Best Toys for Kids list, along with an easy-to-use Toy Store Finder for locating independently-owned toy stores, can be found at www.astratoy.org.

Toy Wishes Magazine hosted its annual Holiday Preview on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. In its 10th anniversary, Toy Wishes Magazine presented the exclusive first look at the hottest toys and kids entertainment products of the 2008 holiday season. The highlight of this year’s event was the eagerly anticipated unveiling of the “Hot Dozen,” the list of must-have toys for the 2008 holiday season.

This year’s Hot Dozen includes many of the toys we have already featured here on our site (see link to the Hot Dozen below).

Amazon is now a partner with Toy Wishes, and showcases this year’s Hot Dozen here: Toy Wishes Magazine’s HOT DOZEN

Toy Wishes Magazine’s HOT DOZEN

For the past 18 years, Marianne has provided parents with unbiased information on how to select products that enhance a child’s development. The Toy Tips Research Institute is a year-round program of toy evaluation and testing that does not accept submission fees from toy manufacturers.

Marianne and a team of psychologists at multiple universities wrote an independent academic profile which is the basis of her research. Marianne has led her organization’s unbiased play tests of over 45,000 toys and publishes Toy Tips report cards and profiles on each toy based on skill-based learning on toytips.com. You may have seen her on The Rachael Ray Show, Oprah, CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Discovery Channel, FOX, Lifetime or The Early Show and close to 300 local news stations across the country.

Toy Tips with Marianne Szymanski

The toys predicted to dominate children’s Christmas lists this year are set to ignite dreams of stage and screen fame, says the Toy Retailers Association (TRA) today.

The TRA’s annual ‘Dream Toys’ list, the only official prediction of Christmas bestsellers, reveals a trend towards music, film and TV inspired toys to indulge fame fantasies from the next generation of rock stars and screen heroes. Plenty of old favorites also make a comeback this year, reflecting the nation’s love for nostalgic characters and brands.

This year’s Dream Dozen, in alphabetical order:
BABY born® with Magic Potty, Zapf Creation®
Bakugan™ Starter Pack, Spinmaster
Ben 10 Deluxe Omnitrix, Bandai
Catcha Beast, Bandai
Cupcake Maker, Character Options
Elmo Live, Mattel
FurReal Biscuit, My Lovin’ Pup, Hasbro
High School Musical 3 Musical Dance Mat, Vivid Imaginations
In The Night Garden Upsy Daisy and Her Chase and Play Bed, Hasbro
My Life, Flair Leisure Products (by Playmates in the US)
Rescue Pals Swim To Me Puppy, MGA Entertainment Ltd
Star Wars Clone Trooper Voice Changer Helmet, Hasbro

Top Girls’ Toys According to the TRA

Music takes the Girls’ category by storm this year, with the Bratz™ Girls Really Rock Dolls (MGA Entertainment Ltd), High School Musical Sing Together Dolls and the film-inspired Camp Rock Gift Pack (both Mattel) making it onto the wish lists of aspiring rock stars. Another musical hit is sure to be Mattel’s Barbie Princess Liana Singing Doll, which sings songs from the Barbie and the Diamond Castle movie.

Younger girls will love Zapf Creation®’s CHOU CHOU My First Tooth, while animal lovers will be delighted to unwrap Vivid Imaginations’ I Love Ponies Honey My Baby Pony, or FurReal Biscuit My Loving Pup (Hasbro), Sylvanian Families Old Hollow Oak Treehouse (Flair Leisure Products), or the hottest or fittest VIPs from Hasbro’s Littlest Pet Shop range on Christmas day.

Top Boys’ Toys According to the TRA

TV and film inspire the Boys’ category this year, with nearly all of the selection featuring characters from our screens. Rev up Christmas for little petrolheads with Mattel’s film-inspired CARS Walkin’ Talkin’ Lightning McQueen, or the Air Hogs® Zero Gravity™ Micro (Spinmaster) Radio Controlled Vehicle.

Figurine lovers won’t be disappointed, with the Gormiti Island of Gorm Playset (Flair Leisure Products) and WWE RAW Arena Playset (Vivid Imaginations) both on the top 12 list. This year’s hit animation Wall.E has also made its mark, with Vivid Imaginations’ Transforming Wall-E Robot a newcomer to the list, while established favorites are represented with the Power Rangers Overdrive Tracker (Bandai), Transformers Animated Roll Out Command Optimus Prime, Indiana Jones Hat & Whip Set and the Clone Wars AT-TE Vehicle and Star Wars Clone Trooper Voice Changer Helmet (all Hasbro).

Top Preschool Toys According to the TRA

Younger children will be kept busy this Christmas with plenty of interactive toys in the Pre-School category. Budding engineers will have their pick of the Bob The Builder Interactive Construction Site (Born to Play), Take Along Thomas Morgan’s Mine Electronic Playset (RC2), or the Roary the Racing Car Silver Hatch Workshop Playset (Vivid Imaginations).

Start work for the green generation with Playmobil’s Recycling Truck. Imaginative little ones can blast off with the Peppa Pig’s Spaceship (Character Options), go back in time with the Playskool Kota The Triceratops (Hasbro), laugh themselves silly with the Mr Tickle Stretch & Giggle or Elmo Live! (both Mattel), or get lost in a good story with the LEAPFROG Tag Reading System. The Teletubbies also make a comeback this year, with Tomy’s Dance With Me Teletubby set to be a huge hit, and keen photographers will be snapping away at the Christmas action with their KidiZoom Multimedia Digital Cameras (VTech).

Here’s a review of the Kota Triceratops:

• LeapFrog Tag Reading System

Leap Frog Tag Reading System is great fun and learning for preschoolers and kids just beginning to read. With its specially designed pen, kids interact with the system’s storybooks and play interactive games that encourage word recognition and phonics skills.

Note for parents: You’ll have to factor in the cost of additional specially-designed interactive storybooks into the cost of the system. While kids will have some fun with the one included, they (and you) will want more in order to fully benefit from the toy.

• Rock Band 2 Special Edition for the Nintendo Wii

Rock Band 2 for the Wii

Rock Band 2: Special Edition for the Nintendo Wii is the new and updated Rock Band system. Best for kids ages 12 and up. Kids lead their band on a World Tour as they record albums and take on Set Challenges. With the Wii’s internet capabilities, kids can even take on other bands from around the world! The new musical instruments are designed to be more durable and include extra wireless capabilities. Great for aspiring drummers, in particular! Over 80 songs are included with the game (more available online for purchase). There’s AC DC, Disturbed, Guns N Roses, Talking Heads, and a whole lot more. It’s a great family experience.

To buy the full system with musical equipment and all: Rock Band 2 Special Edition for the Nintendo Wii. For the game only (for families who already own the original Rock Band with guitar, drums, and mic): Rock Band 2

• Jakks Pacific Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker

Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker by Jakks

The Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker by Jakks Pacific is no Easy Bake Oven, but kids have just as much fun with it! With adult supervision, kids ages 7 or 8 and up can mix, bake, and decorate their very own cupcakes. The set comes with a little mixing bowl, measuring spoons, cake mix, water dropper (the only added ingredient to the special cake mixes is water!), decorator, and microwave cupcake baking pan.

To decorate, kids place the baked cupcake (cooled) onto the provided decorating stand and frost. As long as kids don’t expect their cupcakes to look like the ones on the toy’s packaging, they’ll have a good time. For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Jakks Pacific Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker

• U Command Wall-E Robot

U Command Wall-E Robot

The U Command Wall-E robot is controlled via wireless remote control. Wall-E’s eyes light up and sound effects are realistic. Kids can either send commands to the robot on the fly, or program a set of orders in advance. Kids move him forward, back, have him move his arms, dance, and more. The robot measures just under 10 inches tall, and eats up batteries!

For more information, user reviews, or to buy: U Command Wall-E

• Fisher Price Imaginext Spike the Ultra Dinosaur


Spike the Ultra Dinosaur

Spike the Ultra Dinosaur by Fisher Price is yet another remote-controlled top toy for Christmas in 2008! This one is pricier, however. It features plenty of satisfying sound effects and reactions.
For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Fisher Price Imaginext Spike the Ultra Dinosaur

• EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles


EyeClops Night Vision Goggles

Eye Clops Night Vision Goggles actually employ infra-red night vision technology to give kids an exceptional view in the dark. It’s definitely a novelty toy, but a fun one while it lasts.
For more information, user reviews, or to buy: EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles

• Hannah Montana Malibu Beach Doll House


Hannah Montana Beach House

The Hannah Montana Malibu Beach House is great for Hannah Montana fans because it’s an exact replica of the beach house on the show. This dollhouse comes with a wide variety of accessories. You’ll need to purchase Hannah Montana dolls separately. This is one of the most wanted toys of the 2008 holiday season.

For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Hannah Montana Malibu Beach Doll House

• Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Shop and Learn Walker

Fisher Price Shop and Learn Walker

The Fisher Price Laugh & Learn: Shop & Learn Walker is great for encouraging walking skills, and little children can role play at the same time. While most walkers are pretty much “over” once a child begins to solidly walk on his or her own, this one continues to entertain.

For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Shop and Learn Walker

• Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn My Busy Day Table

Fisher Price Musical Table

The Fisher Price Fun with Friends Laugh & Learn Musical Table is a busy box for toddlers who are just beginning to enjoy the freedom of standing up and exploring. Everything’s electronic here, with busy lights and sounds that are timed just right so that when a child finishes one activity, he or she is encouraged to begin another.

For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn My Busy Day Table

• iCarly Digital Camcorder

• Little Mommy Baby Knows Doll by Fisher Price

• Barbie & the Diamond Castle Princess Liana Doll and Barbie & the Diamond Castle Princess Alexa Doll

• Touch Screen ATM by Summit

• Hasbro U-Dance Game


U-Dance by Hasbro/Tiger

The Hasbro U-Dance Game will be released in October, and is now available for pre-order. It’s an all-in-one sensor system that detects motion, and plugs directly into your TV. As kids dance, their steps appear onscreen.

• FurReal Friends Biscuit My Lovin’ Pup

Gelaskins are sure to please the teenager on your Christmas list. These funky “skins” stick beautifully to your iPhone, laptop, cell phone, iPod, Nintendo DS Lite, or PSP. They not only look good, they protect your devices from scratches.

GelaSkins are artistic and stylish and come in a fabulous variety of artwork.

These skins are thin and removable, and actually peel off easily. Gelaskins now has matching “GelaScreens” for the iPhone and Touch that you can download for free at the site. Up to three different wallpaper variations are available for each iPhone or Touch GelaSkin.

You can buy GelaSkins online (for the biggest selection) here: GelaSkins Inc., and in select stores.

Because there is a large variety of artist-designed skins available, giving a teenager a gift card is probably your best bet, redeemable at the GelaSkins web site. What a unique gift that teens will truly appreciate!