We’re more than two months away from Black Friday and three months before Santa wiggles down the chimney, but the hottest holiday toys are already popping up on and flying off of shelves.
With the possibility of higher prices, supply chain issues, and your next door neighbor beating you to the punch for the toy your kids want, retail watchers are saying that now is the best time to buy those toys, not later.
Based on previous years, you can expect retailers to drop their 2024 holiday toy catalogs this month. Walmart – like it’s been known to do lately – is reportedly already out with the online version of its toy catalog. If you want a physical, printed copy, you’ll have to wait until October, but lucky you, ConsumerAffairs has tapped one of its favorite sources to help you get ahead of the game.
Peanut, Petz, Poe
The biggest hits of the season are predicted to be AI-enhanced and electronic toys. Peanut the Playful Monkey is one of those.
A far cry from the days of Chatty Cathy and Teddy Ruxpin, Peanut with AI in its corner can perform more than 100 reactions and stunts, like somersaults and standing up. Ashley Keegan of BlackFriday.com also predicts that Pixel Petz and Poe the AI Storytelling Bear will also be hot properties. Pixel Petz works pretty much the same but instead of being a monkey, the toy is a Corgi dog.
Poe the Story Bear can be accessed through an app on a phone or tablet, allowing your ideas and genre to be incorporated into Poe's stories. You can also choose the types of characters and food you want Poe to plug into your story and once it’s digested all of that, Poe reads your story back to you.
'I’m baaaaack'
There’ll be ample opportunities for parents who want to go retro with their children and put some of the toys they grew up with under the tree.
“This year, however, we're seeing those nostalgic toys upgraded for a digital age, including a better-than-ever Tamagotchi with the classic eggshell shape, a new Furby and more mini musical Furblets, and the Nintendo World Championship: NES Edition for the Switch,” Keegan said.
There are also some reruns from Elmo a la “Chicken Dance Elmo,” a live-action “Lilo & Stitch,” a Polly Pocket-sized Barbie Dreamhouse, and the Hello Kitty 50th Anniversary jewelry studio.
1+1=?
If you’ve got a toddler who you want to get started on the ABCs and 123s early, the first thing you might want to head for when it comes out is the “Ms. Rachel” line of educational toys.
For those in the know, Ms. Rachel is a YouTube star with more than 11 million followers, pumping out new videos every month or so. Leaning on her two master’s degrees in education – one in music education and one in early childhood development – Rachel’s pitch is that her research-based videos help toddlers and their families learn, bond, and thrive.
Her line of educational toys rolls out for pre-order on September 15 at Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
If you have a budding Einstein or Elon Musk in your family and want to try their coding skills, Keegan lists the Space Rover Coding Kit as a must-have.
Buy two, save one
“If you're looking for the next collectible craze (à la L.O.L. Surprise! dolls), keep an eye out for XOX Kweenies; all 26 "quirky" and "fearless" figurines will hit shelves this fall in mystery packaging to amp up the excitement for little ones,” Keegan said.
The Star Wars franchise is planning a big holiday, too. There are Star Wars Doorables and the sinister Dark Side Collection (exclusively on Amazon, by the way), plus several Lego Star Wars sets likely to drop soon, but likely to vanish by the end of the year. If those really do get retired, it might be worth buying one for safe keeping as limited edition sets that feature famous Star Wars vehicles, like the Millennium Falcon, Death Star II, and Imperial Star Destroyer, have seen the highest growth in value on the secondary market.
Buy these now
Keegan’s research revealed that many of the hottest toys for the 2024 holidays are still at full retail price, but while you might see a sale here and there, the smart move is to suck it up and pay full retail because hot products rarely go down in price. Plus, you’ll have what you want when the shelves start to run dry.
“We’re already seeing some of the top holiday toys selling out in stores and being resold for a much higher price on sites like eBay,” she said. “Fortunately, the toys we predict will be the biggest sellers this holiday season are still fresh on the shelves.”