Yes, we know it’s still August, but…

By John Freeman on August 30, 2012

LEGO Monster Fighters: Vampyre Castle: Top toy for Christmas 2012?

— we all know that if you don’t get your Christmas orders in early, some of these “must have” toys — including the ones for the big kids who mainly read this blog — will be hard to find.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the toys for the whole family that “toy experts” say look set to top the sales charts this coming festive season… Of these, Moshi Monsters of course has its own magazine, which is a darn site cheaper than some of the toys on offer, so maybe it’s worth looking at that as a stocking filler.

Good to see Lego still riding high — we’re sure some of you out there will be hinting for the Batcave listed, even though it was released early on this year.

Boys

LEGO Monster Fighters: Vampyre Castle – £79.99
LEGO City: The Mine – £69.99
LEGO Ninjago: Epic Dragon Battle – £84.99
John Adams Pro Deck Workshop £24.99
Spynet Video Watch £49.99
Moshi Monsters: App Monster – £22.99
Smasha-Ballz – £19.99
Gyro-Botz Battle Arena – £19.99

Tweens

Lego Games: Life of George £29.99

Families

LEGO Games: Creationary £24.99
Booms, Bangs, Fizzes – £19.99
Radioactive Science – £19.99
Telestrations – £24.99
Dragon Chase – £17.99

Big Kids

LEGO Star Wars: Jabba’s Palace £119.99
LEGO Technic: 4X4 Crawler £139.99
LEGO DC Superheroes: Batcave £69.99
Rubik’s Cube – £12.99

Stocking Fillers

LEGO Minifigures, £1.99
LEGO Hero Factory – buildable action figures, £6.99-£14.99
Series 4 Collectable Moshlings – £1.99
Fuzzy Felt: My Favourite Shapes – £5.99
Gyro-Botz Shadow Warriors £9.99 each

Pre-schoolers

Britain’s Big Farm: John Deere 6190R RC Tractor – £49.99
Baby Jake Giggle n Wiggle – £29.99
Little Charley Bear: Ready, Teddy Go! £29.99
Cloudbabies: Glow Babas £24.99
Everything’s Rose: Sweet Dreams Rosie & Raggles – £29.99

Girls

Tiny Tears (Classic) – £19.99
Girls World: Gabriella Styling Doll – £19.99
WaggleTagz – £17.99
Cabbage Patch Kids – £29.99
AniMagic: Tessie Goes Trotting – £22.99
Moshi Monsters: Super Moshi HQ – £24.99
Crayola Catwalk Creations: House of Fashion – £29.99
Flufflings: Jiggle n Dance – £22.99
Winx: Deluxe Dolls – £19.99

• The products listed above can be found at the following websites: www.lego.com, www.johnadams.co.uk, www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk, www.jaaks.comand www.tomy.co.

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.