Buyers at John Lewis have revealed their picks for the top ten toys this Christmas with a Barbie stable set and a toy kitchen high on the list.
The department store chain reveals its prediction every summer ahead of the Christmas shopping season “after months of testing and deliberating.”
It said that the major theme this year was “togetherness with all toys designed to play with friends or family and encourage im-aginary play and escapism.”
With Barbie celebrating her 65th anniversary this year and the Hollywood blockbuster still fresh in the memory of many children the doll is expected to be high on many wishlists.
Buyers predict that the Barbie stable set will be particularly popular. They point out that following Teram GB’s success in the equestrian events at the Olympics searches on the John Lewis website for ‘horse’ are up 32% in August year on year.
Food related toys are tipped to be popular this year, with searches for ‘toy kitchen set’ up 50% compared to last year. The John Lewis deluxe play kitchen, which features a full dinner service set, cooking utensils and condi-ments, is expected to sell well.
Also on a food theme the Play-Doh ice cream set is tipped to be a popular choice. ‘Play-Doh’ searches are up 70% on the year.
However LEGO continues to be a number one best-selling brand across John Lewis toy range. Gift options incluide including seasonal choices such as the LEGO santa’s sleigh with reindeers.
On a retro note the transportable record player from VTech also comes with 5 ‘vinyl records’ is expected to be popular and searches for musical toysd are up 10%.
lan Wright, toys and books buyer, for John Lewis said: “We know how important it is to bring people together during the festive period and this factored heavily into our decision making when pulling together this year’s op toys. Whether that’s by building toys together as a family or role-playing with friends, each of the toys encourage social play in a unique way no matter the age.”
Top Toys for 2024:
•Squish-a-Longs 14 Pack - £14.99 (available September)
•Play-Doh Rainbow Swirl Ice Cream Set - £20.99 (available now)
•VTech My 1st Record Player - £27.99 (available now)
•Gecko Hexbug - £29.99 (available now)
•Bonnie Bear - £32.99 (available October)
•LEGO Sleigh - £39.99 (available for pre-order September)
•Connetix Magnetic Tiles Rainbow Motion Pack - £45 (available August)
•Ultimate Barbie Stables - £69.99 (available now)
•Melissa & Doug Vending Machine - £79.99 (available now)
•Wooden Deluxe Play Kitchen - £250 (available for pre-order September)
