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As Christmas 2024 approaches, several toy trends are emerging, focusing on authenticity, creativity, mindfulness, and a blend of physical and digital play. Here's a rundown of some of the must-have toys:

1. Interactive and "Phygital" Play:

• Phygital Activity Toys: These toys merge physical and digital worlds, offering immersive activities and games with thoughtful smart integrations and multi-sensory features to enhance playtime and encourage screenless engagement.
• Interactive Movement Mats: These offer gamified physical activity for all ages with pressure-reactive pads, voice activation, and light and sound features for a multi-sensory experience.
• Disney Stitch Crack Me Up Feature Plush: This interactive 11-inch plush giggles, wiggles, and wobbles when shaken, providing cuddles and madcap happiness.
• Hexbot Gecko: A remote-controlled robotic gecko that can crawl on the ground and scale walls, offering different ways for kids to play.
• Poppi the AI Story Bear from Skyrocket: This bear uses kids' creativity to generate personalized stories in various genres and scenes, offering a blend of digital and creative play.

2. Popular Franchises & Collectibles:

• LEGO Sets:
• LEGO Transformer Bumblebee: A collectible for "80s retro Transformer fans and adult sci-fi lovers," this 950-piece set converts from Autobot to VW Beetle and includes articulated joints, an ion blaster, and a jetpack.
• LEGO Animal Crossing Set: Delightful for fans of the video game, these sets include buildable scenes and minifigures of popular characters.
• LEGO Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer Starship Building Toy: A popular choice for Star Wars fans.
• LEGO Fortnite kits: With Fortnite remaining massively popular, LEGO offers various kits, including the Supply Llama.
• Moana Singing Doll & Moana 2 Dolls: With the "Moana 2" movie on the horizon, dolls of Moana and her new sister Simea are expected to be popular. The Moana Singing Doll sings "How Far I'll Go" and comes with her iconic adventure outfit.
• Gabby's Dollhouse Celebration Dollhouse: This popular dollhouse features various rooms, sounds from the show, and a hidden attic.
• Hatchimals Alive, Mystery Hatch Pufficorn: These plush toys offer the surprise of uncovering a new magical friend, tapping into children's love for fantasy worlds.
• Zuru Snackles surprise plushies: The element of surprise and collectability makes these plush toys a favorite.
• Jellycat Stuffed Animals and Bag Charms: These soft plush toys, including fruit, veggies, sports balls, and baked goods, are highly sought after, with mini plush bag charms being particularly popular among tweens.

3. Creative & STEM-focused Toys:

• Play-Doh Marvel Hulk Smash & Squish: This action-packed set comes with a bendy Hulk figure, a pressing tool, and molds to create various shapes for imaginative storytelling.
• Hasbro Play-Doh Pizza Delivery Scooter Playset: A popular family favorite for creative play.
• Heroes of Goo Jit Zu Hero Creator Kit: This kit allows children to create their own Goo Jit Zu heroes by mixing water, goo, and other elements.
• Magnetiles: These STEM toys encourage building and learning through magnetic pieces, with various kits available, including jungle and construction sets.
• Ravensburger Chameleon Color and Shape Sorter: This interactive pull-along toy encourages motor skills, counting, and color learning through games and light-up features.
• Melissa & Doug First Shapes Jumbo Knob Puzzle & Super Smile Dentist Playset: These wooden toys promote simplicity, open-ended play, hand-eye coordination, vocabulary, roleplay, and imagination.
• Sticker Maker: A Bluetooth-enabled sticker printer that allows kids to create their own customized stickers without ink.
• Super Smalls Gemify Sunglasses Kit: A DIY kit for decorating sunglasses, perfect for children who love fashion and art.

4. Active & Family Fun:

• Bulldozer Stunt Bounce Car: A remote-control vehicle with a robust body, dynamic suspension, shockproof function, and various stunt modes.
• Monster Rotary Excel Electric Blaster: A dart blaster with super-fast power and a 32-dart rotary cartridge for friendly battles.
• Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels Deluxe Vehicle: Features Chase with oversized tires, a motorized winch, grappling hook, projectile launcher, flashing lights, and sounds for daring rescue missions.
• Hot Wheels Tony Hawk Bus: A playset that transforms a foldable bus into a skate park, including an exclusive fingerboard and toy skate shoes.
• Drop Trivia Game: A game designed to bring family and friends together with an answers tower and special voice commands.
• Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Card Game: A fast-paced card game that challenges reflexes, speed, and observation, suitable for ages 8+.
• Rubik's Cubes: Celebrating 50 years, these addictive brain teasers are back with designs for smoother, faster play, and are also great for fidgeters.
• Hyperdash: An active game where players run with a remote controller to hit cones placed around the house or outside, promoting physical activity.

5. Comfort & Nurturing:

• Hamleys Huggables plush toy selection: Offers a variety of cuddly friends and characters, from adorable broccoli to a Bobba.
• Arias Allessandra Fur White Bonnet Baby Doll: A soft-touch doll with lifelike weight, a cute romper, cozy fleece, and accessories.
• Noodoll plush: A selection of soft and comforting plush toys.

6. Other Notable Mentions:

• Wicked Karaoke Machine: A Bluetooth-enabled karaoke machine with a microphone and light show, inspired by the musical "Wicked".
• Yoto player (third generation): A screen-free audio speaker for kids that plays audiobooks, podcasts, music, and radio from content cards.
• Numberblocks Five Musical Superstar Stage: An interactive musical playset for preschoolers that combines imaginative play with gentle math skills practice.
• L.O.L. Surprise! Magic Flyers: These dolls come in a clear orb that you touch to make them fly, then unbox to reveal the doll.
• Cookee Doo Baking Playset: Allows kids to bake "treats" in a toy oven, with the dough rising as if by magic.

When choosing toys, remember that current trends lean towards "authentic, creative, and mindful" approaches, with parents favoring STEM-based activities and "phygital" play that blends physical and digital experiences. Many popular toys are also inspired by beloved movies, TV shows, and nostalgic trends.