Finding the Season’s Hottest Toys This Christmas
If you’re a parent of small children like I am, you know how difficult it can be trying to find the right toys to put under the Christmas tree. Every year, there are a number of "must have" toys that all kids covet (remember Cabbage Patch kids, anyone?). Frequently, these popular toys disappear from store shelves weeks before Christmas as thousands of other parents grab them up before they’re sold out. As a parent, how do you know what the hot toys are and where to actually find them?
The British Toy & Hobby Association recently released their 2008 list of Dream Toys which includes separate lists of the top 12 toys for boys and girls. On this list, you will find the usual suspects like Littlest Pet Shop toys and Transformers, but others may be new to you and may provide you with fresh gift ideas. The list encompasses most age categories and can give you a glimpse into the minds and hearts of your children.
To make it even easier to buy the top toys this Christmas season, websites like Choosetoys.co.uk bring together a list of retailers who carry each of the toys and compare prices for you. You can choose a retailer and click through to purchase the toy online. A few days later, it appears on your doorstep. Compare that to the traditional Christmas toy shopping experience of fighting through crowds at noisy stores to reach half-filled shelves of whatever toys are left.
Choose Toys also provides discount codes for many of the online retailers they feature, to make sure that you get the best price possible. These discounts can be applied automatically during the check out phase of your online purchase. Although you will have to pay for shipping in most cases, saving on gas, parking, and time is usually worth the extra cost. You may even find a better price than you would at the mall.
Let’s look at an example of what you can find on Choose Toys. The top toy for boys on the Dream List is Air Hogs Radio Control Zero Gravity. The traditional way to pick this up for Christmas is to get in the car and travel from store to store, trying to find it in stock while fighting mall crowds. Choose Toys has gathered a list of four retailers who offer the toy. You can scan the list and find the retailer who has the best price, fastest shipping, and best return policy. They also list similar and complementary toys in case you want to add to your Christmas purchases or find a lower priced alternative.
There will always be new and trendy toys at Christmas that most children will put at the top of their lists, and now, with the internet and websites like Choose Toys, parents can grant these Christmas wishes with ease.