Memo to Santa, from Jerry Storch and his team of executive elves at Toys R’ Us headquarters in Wayne, N.J.: Here are the toys we’re betting you will see on lots of kids’ lists this year.
Toys R’ Us on Tuesday released its annual list of hot holiday toys. The retailer selected three dozen toys it expects will be popular this year, and named 15 of those as the hottest of the bunch.
“It’s the toys that will wow the child on Christmas morning, when they wake up,” said Lisa Harnish, a Toys vice president. The list, she said, “is a culmination of a yearlong process.” Before finishing it, top executives and CEO Storch meet and go through hundreds of nominations.
Toys R Us continued its practice of recent years of including low-priced toys, such as Hasbro’s Cuponk — a game in which you throw a ping pong ball into a plastic cup, that sells for $14.99 — along with big-ticket items such as the $109 Bigfoot the Monster, a robot by Fisher-Price.
Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Sears and other retailers also prepare their own hot toy lists. The Toys R’ Us list, like those of all retailers, includes some products sold exclusively at Toys R’ Us, the items the retailer is most likely to be promoting during the holiday season. On this year’s top 15 list, four toys are Toys R’ Us exclusives.
Here is the list:
- Calico Critters Luxury Townhouse from International Playthings
- Cuponk from Hasbro Games
- Disney Princess & Me dolls from JAKKS Pacific
- Disney Pixar Toy Story 3 Imaginext Tri-County Landfill from Fisher-Price
- Fast Lane Wild Fire RC from Toys R Us
- Imaginext Bigfoot the Monster from Fisher-Price
- Leapster Explorer from LeapFrog
- Loopz from Mattel
- Minotaurus from LEGO Systems
- Monster High Cleo De Nile and Deuce Gorgon doll set from Mattel
- NERF N-Strike Stampede ECS from Hasbro
- Pillow Pets from Ontel Products
- Sing-a-ma-jigs! from Mattel
- Squinkies Cupcake Surprise! Bake Shop from blip toys
- Tomica Hypercity Mega Station Set from TOMY
