Buzzillions Blogs

It’s always interesting when manufacturers and retailers make predictions about hot holiday toys. There is likely a good deal of speculation involved. After all, who can predict the whims of children when it comes to gifting. Fisher-Price underestimated the popularity of TMX Elmo several years ago, driving eBay prices through the roof. Conversely, toys that will supposedly show up in every list to Santa come Christmas time, may flop entirely. When the annual hot toy lists were released by several retailers this year, I took a look and wondered how those toys would fare among real users. Several of the items on the list below do warrant placement on a hot toy list. For example, the Retro Diner from Step2, has a 4.5 rating out of 5 with 36 reviews. Spike the Ultra Dinosaur also deserves a spot – it’s toy #1 in the robot category on Buzzillions (based on number or reviews and star rating). The Fisher-Price Elmo Live is also reviewed well with 77 reviews and an overall rating of 4.6. Toys R Us has limited the sale to 10 per customer; the TMX Elmo several years ago was a limit of one per customer, when you could find them. Several products, while highly rated, only have a few reviews: The Circus Ring from Playmobil has just one review at this writing and the Tag Reading System from LeapFrog only has two. Review number can sometimes be an indication of popularity and with so few reviews, it’s hard to see how these belong on a hot toy list. Some toys on this list just flop in the eyes of reviewers – the Jakks Pacific Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker has a star rating of 2.3 with several reviewers saying the same thing: complete waste of money. So before you assume that the toy retailers have a pulse on the best products, do your research and find out what people are actually saying.

The List:

1. Step2 Retro Diner: Safe bet with 36 reviews and an overall 4.4 star rating as of this writing.
2. Bakugan Toys: Well reviewed and an item appearing on several hot toy lists.
3. Circus Ring from Playmobil: Just one review on this product. How popular will it actually be?
4. Classic Lights and Sounds Trike: Well reviewed.
5. Imaginext Spike the Ultra Dinosaur: #1 in our robot category with a star rating of 4.7.
6. Little Mommy Sweet as Me Baby Knows Doll: Good reviews.
7. Fisher-Price Elmo Live: 4.6 / 77 reviews, limit 10 per customer. Solid product based on reviews, and not nearly as hot as the TMX version some years ago.
8. Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Twilight from Lego: Just two reviews, but out of stock at Toys R Us already which may indicate a true hot status.
9. Wiii Fit Bundle: Toys R Us is limiting purchases to one per customer on this item; a hot item since it came out.
10. Tag Reading System from LeapFrog: Just 2 reviews, but a 4.5 star rating.
11. Laugh & Learn Shop & Learn Walker from Fisher Price:Good reviews.
12. Hasbro FurReal Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup: Just 8 reviews, surprising given its appearance on several top toy lists.
13. EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles: Mixed reviews, and again, just a small number of reviews.
14. Jakks Pacific Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker: 2.3 45 reviews Consensus says: waste of money. Probably doesn’t belong on any list, let alone a hot toy list.