Starting around August each year is the annual arms race for toy manufacturers. Each company does their up most best to create, market and sell the hottest toy of the year. Last year it was the cuddly cute toy hamsters the zhu zhu pets, the year before it was Ben 10 action figures, back in the 1990's it was the teenage mutant ninja turtles. It doesn't matter what their age is, whether they are parent or child they've all experienced the mad hunt for the most sought after toy at Christmas.
It's now September and the wheels are already in motion, the toys have been created but it's not quite the mad buying season just yet, the buzz is still being generated and the marketing plans are being cleverly executed.
Although this year's Christmas toy marketing is just gathering momentum and still in its early stages, the buzz created so far is already starting to take effect. Toy retailers have already begun releasing their predicted lists of what they believe will be the highest grossing and best selling toys come Christmas. First up was toy giant Hamleys, followed swiftly by Argos and many more. More often than not these figures and predictions are often highly influenced by what toys retailers want to sell well rather than what they believe will sell well.
Toys looking set to sell large quantities in the lead up to Christmas include the follow up to last year's big seller the ZhuZhu pets, this time aimed more at the boys Market are the Kung Zhu pets. Kung Zhu are similar in looks to the original pets but come equipped with weapons and armour in a ninja or commando style. A clever move in taking advantage of the brand built last year and doubling their target audience by opening their products to both girls and boys.
Also predicted to sell big again are toys from 2008's big seller Ben 10. The Ben range of toys has been a strong contender for a number of years and is set to make a significant come back in 2010. The new range of toys coincides with the recent release of the brand new television series of Ben 10, Ben 10 ultimate alien. With this new series comes a whole new range of Ben 10 toys and re-workings of previous toys that complimented earlier seasons. The toy hotly tipped to sell well in the range is the Ben 10 alien disc ultimatrix, in the cartoon the main character Benjamin Tennyson draws his powers from an alien device he wears on his wrist called the Ultimatrix and fans can now get their hands on a very similar replica. The Ben 10 Alien Disc Ultimatrix is a toy that can be worn on a child's wrist and is based on this central focus point of the new show.
It is still early days in the toy arms race with further clever marketing tactics still to be played from all parties involved, the race for Christmas' number one toy is still on.
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