Top Toys For Christmas 2018!

Yesterday Raffie and I headed into London town to have a perusal of the top Christmas toys for 2018 as decided by the Toy Retailer’s Association. This is an annual event where by the top 12 toys overall are announced from all the nominations in every category. Well we went, we saw, we discovered and we also did our own little reconnaissance of the toys situation and I have to say… Some winners we absolutely agreed with, while we had our own ideas in other cases as to who should be in that top 12 position!

You can find the ACTUAL top 12 by Googling #DreamToys18 (it was all over the news yesterday) but for my money (which no way never does it buy slime) I’ve got my eye on the following 12 to be ones to look out for!

1) Ok so the new LOL Surprise (Under Wraps – £14.99) DID make the top 12 and I can’t resist adding it to my list too. These beauties fly off the shelves and when Sainsbury’s had their toy sale a couple of weeks ago the shop assistant I spoke to when trying to locate these said they had ALL gone within the first few minutes. That was ALL LOL Surprise merchandise and NOT just the new ones. Both my big kids love them, although Jimmy would never admit (too pink and girlie) and I don’t think there’d be many girls Florence’s age (8) who wouldn’t want this! It’s no surprise another in the LOL range also made the to 12 and the LOL Surprise Pop Up Store (£39.99) is also included on the official, if not my, list even though it only comes with ONE doll (the reason I couldn’t include it as one doll, £39.99… Come on, I have boundaries)! #Winner!

2) Ty Beanie Boo Flippables (£8 – £15) – Beanie Boos, check! Add change up sequins, check! The perfect addition for any little collector. When I saw these I KNEW Florence would gasp and I showed her my Insta stories last night to prove I wasn’t wrong! ‘I’d like the dog, no the penguin, no the flamingo…’ and so on. She was in even more raptures when she saw they are also doing shoes and bags to match!

3) Crate Creatures (£39.99) reminded me of the 1980’s Boglins which I used to play with. Remember them? These guys come in a cage which has to be unlocked and as it’s made from a sturdy plastic that won’t get broken. The cage is expected to be kept and used again and again as the Crate Creatures pop out of the top once the lock has been picked! They are really interactive and when you pull their tongue, tap them, turn them upside down… They have some brilliant reactions. For the RRP price (cheaper if you shop around) I think they are extremely good value compared to toys of a similar ilk! You can also get collectable smaller versions which come in at under a tenner!

4) The Harry Potter Sorting Hat (£39.99) wasn’t up my street but hey, I can see this is going to be mega for HP fans! Personally, I haven’t read the books, seen the plays or even watched the films and I’m not bothered to make that change any time soon however I do realise that I am in the minority. I am exactly the same with Lord of the Rings (yawn) and Star Wars (double yawn) and this Sorting Hat seems rather one dimensional to me. You put it on and it tells you which house you should be in… But once it’s done that where’s the scope? I asked the question and everyone gasped and said ‘YOU WEAR IT!’ So… errrrm… You can wear it! Go for it, if you are massive fans then looking at other massive fans yesterday who were pawing and fawning over this, I’d say it’s a great buy!

5) This is another from the official top 12 list – The Fingerlings Untamed Jailbreak T-Rex Playset (£24.99). Fingerlings are usually SO sweet and in our house considered to be very much a ‘girlie’ toy. Here’s a more masculine version that I feel Jimmy would be ALL over and I totally agree with the top spot choice for this one!

6) I have to be clear here, Flushin Frenzy (£19.99) is NOT up my street but Jimmy and his mates would snigger for ages at this one and watching it in action yesterday with its poo making all the kids smile was all the reassurance I needed that kids like sh*$! I mean who doesn’t want a game which comes with a dice, a poo, a toilet and a plunger?!

7) Now Mattel are famous for lots of things, Barbie being just one and she did absolutely have her own spot on the top toys list with Barbie’s Ultimate Kitchen (£49.99), however it was the Mattel Barbie sized Harry Potter dolls (£19.99) which caught my eye. I’ve explained I’m not a fan of HP myself but this post is all about the toys iithink will be best sellers this Christmas and along with the actual Harry Potter toy which DID make the Dream Toys top 12 (the Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall – £89.99) I think these dolls are going to fly off the shelves. In fact, when finding a link to include here I found Smyths Toys to already be out of stock so if you see them then snap them up quickly!

8) Scruff-A-Luvs (£19.99) would appeal to my children but they also appealed to most of the adults at the stand for these dudes yesterday. It’s a surprise which animal you get (cats, dogs, rabbits…) but whoever comes out of the box will need a wash and groom before they become fluffy! From scruffy to fluffy these toys go and I know the novelty of this would have appealed to me as a child and even though the initial principle is short lived (I mean, once they’re fluffy they don’t go scruffy again), they are adorable enough to love forever!

9) I don’t allow my children to play Fortnite just yet but that doesn’t mean they don’t ask. I’ve heard all sorts of nasties about the online version and I’m not prepared to relent but I know masses of kids do play and the Monopoly Fortnite special edition (£21.99) would be a great present for all. For the kids who do play (I would say mainly older ones) and for those poor mites who have strict parents like me. I don’t mind them playing Monopoly so this might be a half way house for us at the moment. Saying all this, Monopoly in general shouldn’t be too mucked around with in my opinion. I mean it’s nice to have versions for the place you live and this one will clearly sell well but you can’t beat the original which will always have top spot for games in my house!

10) It’s ALL about unicorns, rainbows, toys that hatch from eggs and change up sequins for Florence and her friends so with the new Rainbocorns (£19.99) you can merge all of those crazes and come out with THIS plush toy! They have removable change up sequinned tummies which can then be worn in the hair and… Well… That’s about it but every little girl I know would LOVE them! I mean I’m not entirely sure they’re worth £20 as far as a parent is concerned but they certainly get the girls smiling and hugging them like they’re the crown jewels…

11) I am a mega fan of Sylvanian Families. In fact, I think I may have shocked the people running the Sylvanian stand yesterday with my geeky knowledge and passionate speaking about them… I LOVED them as a kid and had a LOT of the toys (which were better back then I might add – I’m a purest and you simply don’t find cats in forests…) and I love that they are still going strong (even if they’re not QUITE as nice as they used to be)! The latest toy is the Sylvanian Families Forest Nursery (£19.99) with all the babies which you can collect by buying the new Sylvanian Families Baby Blind Bags (£3.99)… Was only a matter of time before they got on board with that pocket money craze! I LOVED the nursery and all the babies from the new Sylvanian Families and HAD to include on my list!

12) Poopsie Unicorn Slime Surprise (£49.99) – This is an official Top 12 toy from the Dream Toys event yesterday and I get it. I understand it. Florence would wholeheartedly agree with it. I just don’t like it! I’ve included it because I KNOW that this will be a best seller and on virtually all girls of a certain age’s Christmas list but I’m afraid all I see is slime. You make the slime inside her and she, essentially, craps it out… You can then decorate it with glitter… And they say you can’t polish a turd… They also say you can roll a poo in glitter but it doesn’t make it smell any better and the reviews of this one are mixed so I will reserve my judgement on that last suggestion but whatever I personally think about it, if I was a betting woman then I’d place my money on this one being the one that sells out and no one can get a hold of. In fact… I’m half wondering if I should go buy a few to flog on e-bay to poor parents who aren’t organised come this time next month… Only I’m definitely not organised either so I won’t get around to it. I just hope Florence doesn’t put it at the top of her list as slime is well and truly banned in this house after a work surface incident which will NOT be repeated!

So… They’re my top 12 picks but I wouldn’t want to leave this post without having a nod to the collectables because let’s face it, that’s where ALL the money is REALLY going! The Sylvanian Baby ones, the Shopkins mini dolls house that apparently already can’t be found on line or in shops and all the rest… LOL Surprise, Moj Moj, Even old Poopsie (above) has her own little collectables which come in the guise of a toilet roll you have to unwrap and they range wildly in price but the ones I’m most excited about giving my own kids are the Odditeez balls (various sizes and prices) as this is the one and only way I’m allowing slime in our home again! Encased inside a ball should keep the carpets, wooden surfaces and walls safe while still giving the kids what they want… Slime to squeeze!

So… Happy Christmas shopping for toys folks and hope this helps! For the record, you can never go wrong for boys with Nerf Guns and girls will enjoy anything with sparkles… I mean there’s probably a crossover with that so before I get bashed by the gender fluid, gender neutral, boys can play with Barbie too brigade… I KNOW this. And I agree. Well… Not with the calling children ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ or ‘she’ but yes, kids can play with whatever they want. I’m just using my personal experience to make that statement. Jimmy likes an LOL Surprise doll as we’ve established… But he’d much rather load up a Nerf cross bow… Steretypical and maybe conditioned but that’s the way it is in our house just as Florence finds it upsetting when I give her the blue plate rather than the pink… Whatever dudes!