Toys To Buy Early
Avoid giving your grandchildren an I.O.U. this holiday season
by Phoebe Assenza
Major retailers like Target, Kmart, and Toys R Us are all advertising huge sales this season. The bad news is they're also scaling down their inventory from previous years, so they're not stuck with extra stock if shoppers don't show up in droves. Low prices paired with low inventory means that Black Friday 2009 could look less like your average shopping frenzy, and more like total retail pandemonium.
For toy shoppers, must-purchase items are practically guaranteed to sell out, so we've put together a list of gifts you should buy early if you want to get them under the tree in time. Chances are, if they've landed on your grandchildren's wish list, they're likely to land you in a long line at the register. Don't say we didn't warn you!
Zhu Zhu Pets
We'll start with the toughest purchase of the lot.
Zhu Zhu Pets are the biggest toys of the year, and stores started selling out soon after their debut this summer. Kids fell in love with the motorized hamsters, and got hooked on building customized houses, slides, cars, and roads for them to scoot around on. The hamsters and their accessories were once readily available online, but now,
even Toys R Us is tapped out. Not altogether extinct, Zhu Zhu Pets are still available through Amazon.com, but third-party sellers are raising the price tags as much as four times the original. If you'd rather shell out the extra cash than take a chance waiting for new shipments,
start your hunting here.
Read our full review of Zhu Zhu Pets in our Holiday Gift Guide.
Battle Strikers
We're reluctant to admit the popularity of this toy took us by surprise. Each tester-family that received the sci-fi theme, spinning-top game reported their kids fell instantly in love with it and played it for hours, if not days. It seems every other grade -chooler in the country reacted the same way as our tester-kids, and the
Battle Strikers are already best sellers at major toy stores. We haven't heard of them selling out yet, but we guarantee they'll be flying, (er, spinning) off store shelves come
Black Friday.
For price, age recommendation, and a full review of The Battle Strikers Tournament Set, visit our Holiday Gift Guide.
Bakugan Maxus Dragonoid and Maxus Helio
The collectible
Bakugan game-pieces that were so massively popular last year are just as coveted this year, and at the top of many grandsons' wish lists. The newest, and thus big-selling character in the series is the
Maxus Dragonoid; a perfect gift for a grandson in search of a crown jewel for his Bakugan collection. There is also the rarer, and harder-to-find
Maxus Helio, which is exclusive to Toys R Us, but currently
out of stock on their website. Of course, it's also available at a
marked-up price through third-party sellers on Amazon.com and e-Bay.
Read the review of Bakugan Maxus Dragonoid in our Holiday Gift Guide.
Liv Dolls
These dolls have a fashion-conscious and socially active backstory. They're aspirational for girls who have outgrown the fantasy of becoming a fairy-princess, but still young enough to look at life as one big shopping mall filled with flashy clothes, karaoke, and frozen yogurt. Even some of us grown-ups might feel a little envious of the
Liv Dolls carefree lifestyle. The line of four dolls is hugely popular with girls
4 to 8 years old, and because the dolls have a slew of wigs, clothes, and fashion accessories, they'll likely elicit some very specific requests from your granddaughters. There are still plenty of dolls available right now, but again, all bets are off the closer we get to the holidays.
Read more about the Liv Dolls in our Holiday Gift Guide review.
Mindflex
Tween-age grandchildren want this game mainly because it's like nothing they've ever seen before. The game actually uses the player's brainwaves to move a ball around its little obstacle course. The price is a bit higher than most this season, and as the supply of
Mindflex is all but snatched up, its online price only gets steeper. If you plan on buying into the novelty, we recommend buying in right now.
You can read more about the Mindflex in this review.
A few other toys poised to sell-out:
Rocky the Robot Truck
EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles 2.0 and EyeClops Mini Projector
Disney Netpal Asus Netbook
Nerf N-Strike Raider Rapid Fire
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