Mustard Researchers Liz and Jen get us feeling all Christmassy… 

  

Brightly coloured baubles, advent calendars, and children’s nativity plays – it can only mean one thing: Christmas is around the corner!

For adults and children alike, it’s also time to start thinking about presents. Train sets, dolls and Lego were the order of the day in years gone by, but which toys look set to capture the imagination this year?  So what’s expected to be hot and what’s not this season?

Reach for the Stars

This year’s big winner looks set to be the Star Wars franchise, with the latest instalment of the space saga set for UK release on December 17.  

In fact 27% of people said they thought Han Solo’s spacecraft, the Millennium Falcon, would be the hottest toy this Christmas. A further 14% said they thought Star Wars Bladebuilder Jedi Master Lightsaber would be top of the pile.

A toy from another movie franchise is also expected to fly of the shelves this Christmas, with Minions Tumbling Stuart polling strongly. 15% of all respondents said they thought it would be the most popular toy this winter, proving particularly popular with those under the age of 18.

At the other end of the scale, just 3% of respondents said the City Deep Sea Exploration Vessel, produced by Lego, would be their pick of the bunch this year. 

Happy Memories

Whilst Lego’s Deep Sea Exploration Vessel is not expected to be the most popular toy this Christmas, 15% of respondents associate Lego with their happiest memories from Christmas Day – pulling in more votes than any other toy.

Board games were also found to hold good memories for respondents – particularly for the older generations. In all, 13% of all respondents said board games gave them the happiest memories from Christmas day.

The biggest toy flops were found to be Mr Potato Head and scooters, each of which brought back the happiest Christmas memories for less than 1% of respondents.

Favourite Toys

Proving that Lego is for life and not just for Christmas, 17% of respondents described the sturdy plastic bricks as their favourite ever toy.

Lego proved particularly popular among the younger generations: 22% of those under the age of 18 and 19% of 18-34 year olds described it as the best toy from their childhood. 

More traditional toys proved popular among the older generations with train sets and dolls rated as the best childhood toys by those over the age of 55. Female respondents were also more likely to list dolls as their favourite childhood toy, while male respondents were more likely to choose Lego or train sets.

Skate boards and scooters meanwhile polled poorly across all groups. A combined total of 43 respondents — just 2% of those polled — described them as their favourite childhood toy.

All the data was collected via Toluna and is based on 2500 responses.