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Dream toys go on the A-list
THE race for this year's top Christmas toy has begun!
It may be only October, but with the festive season just eight weeks away kids are already scribbling their Christmas lists – and parents need to know which toys are going to be 2009's hottest purchases!
To help stressed-out mums and dads, the Toy Retailers Association announced their predictions for this year's top 12 must-have Christmas toys yesterday at Meadowhall.
For over 40 years, the announcement has been made exclusively in London – but this year the official Dream Toys list was unveiled outside the capital for the first time.
Kids got the chance to try out the toys and games at Meadowhall in a special enclosure and choose which of the 12 they'll be asking for this Christmas.
First on the list is the Bakugan Battle Pack, a spinning top game "very popular with boys and girls", as Daniel Storey from Meadowhall's The Entertainer toyshop explained.
"Whichever one is still spinning at the end wins – it's a game anybody can enjoy doing," Daniel said. "There's 18 different ones you can buy."
Hannah Aziz, aged 10, from Millhouses, was having fun with the Bakugan toys with her sister Elisha, seven.
"It's really good and fun," she said. "I like it when they spin and you have to battle against each other. We'd like to get them for Christmas."
Also appearing on the list are action figurines from the second Transformers movie – souped-up versions of the original toys from the early '90s.
One of the new Transformers can morph from a tank into a fierce robot figure, while another presents itself as a cement mixer.
"They're a real boy's thing," Daniel said. "Kids have seen them in the cinema and want to play with the toys afterwards."
Kaleb Burkinshaw, nine, of Rawmarsh, Rotherham, said he'd like the new Transformers for Christmas.
"I like how they've changed Megatron into a tank and that they all have different parts," he said.
Kaleb's granddad Robert Burkinshaw, 54, said: "Kaleb's got quite a few Transformers at home but they've brought more out now.
"It's been the same since I was a lad – there have always been toys kids want for Christmas."
One of this year's largest is the GX Racers Tightrope Terror, where small cars are wound up with a dynamo and raced along a lengthy tightrope, which can measure up to 10ft.
Thomas Frost, 11, from Wingfield, Rotherham, was playing with the cars with his brothers George, nine, and Oliver, seven.
"It's good, I've seen it advertised on the TV," Thomas said. "It looks great. My brothers would want this for Christmas."
This year's must-haves aren't all based on cars and fighting, though – more traditional toys, such as a new 'city' version of Monopoly and a Sylvanian Families Caravan, have also been included on the list, along with Bendaroos, a simple toy made of string.
"They're strong string covered in wax, and you can mould them and flex them to make all kinds of different things," said Vicky Doyle from The Entertainer store.
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“Kids can let their imagination run wild.”
Megan Lindley, eight, from Cudworth, Barnsley, said the Bendaroos were her favourite. “You can make anything you want. I’d like them for Christmas because I’d use them all the time at home.”
Megan’s nan Lynne Lindley, 51, said: “It’s nice to know what children are asking for. It’s good that they can sample them.”
Richard Pinfold, Meadowhall’s head of marketing, said the Dream Toys day had been a success.
“It’s been fantastic, a real hive of activity. For us to get the announcement is a real coup.”
n Log on to The Star’s website www. thestar.co.uk/pictures to see more photos of the kids getting to grips with this year’s toys!
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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