Hottest Toys to Buy Now
Boppi ‘The Booty Shakin’ Llama ($19.99) at Amazon or Target – Llamas have pretty much taken over as the new unicorn this year (not to say that unicorns aren’t still magically cool, though), and this toy is ready to dance its way into your life. The colorful Boppi comes with three songs to move and twirl its head along to. (3 years + up)
Dreamworks Dragons Hatching Toothless Interactive Baby Dragon ($59.68) at Amazon- Hatchimals continue to be hot toys. And when you couple that with the popular Toothless from “How to Train Your Dragon,” well, that’s fire! you can teach him to fly, “plasma blast” and play games, such as Ask Toothless, Hot Potato and Toothless Says. (5 years + up)
NERF Fortnite Sp-L Elite Dart Blaster ($14.99) at Amazon – The ultimate gift for Fortnite fans, this Nerf Elite blaster is modeled after the look and colors from the one in the game. It comes with six darts and has a detachable barrel to change up the way you play with it for distance targeting or smaller areas. (8 years + up)
WowWee Pinkfong Baby Shark Fingerlings ($14.84)- This baby shark responds to sound, motion and touch with blinking eyes and expressions. Wave the toy to hear it splash around and break into the “Baby Shark” song. The fin lights up to tell you how it feels. The toy also will give you a kiss! (2 years + up)
Disney Pixar Toy Story Ultimate Walking Buzz Lightyear ($29.99)- To infinity and beyond! Buzz Lightyear comes equipped with animated effects and walks forward and backward, he might even do the moonwalk!
Tips to Finding the Best Toys
- Utilize online product trackers: zooLert, I4U and NowInStock are some of my favorite trackers to follow for instant updates on toy availability
- Monitor social media: Be sure to follow the above toy trackers and your favorite retailers like Walmart and Gamestop for in-stock alerts and updates for toys.
- Keep your eye on Black Friday and Cyber Monday doorbusters and surprise promotions: Stores like Amazon, GameStop and Walmart have released limited supplies of popular toys to capitalize on the Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s safe to say stores will do the same this year, and you need to be ready to act fast.
- Call local stores: If you want to save yourself the time and hassle of driving to the store only to leave empty-handed, pick up the phone and call your local stores to see if they have toys in stock or when they plan to.
- Follow RetailMeNot: Hit that follow button on RetailMeNot’s Facebook and Twitter. We’ll be posting updates when we see hot toys available.
- Think twice before purchasing through a third-party marketplace: Be sure to pay attention to the retailer, packaging and customer service before you buy. Otherwise, you could fall victim to a counterfeit product. This was an issue last year for Fingerlings purchased through third-party sellers on Amazon.
- Wait until January: Prior years prove that stores typically have plenty of hot toys in stock once the holidays pass. So if you can wait until 2020—although not ideal—you might not only easily snag a variety of popular toys, but you might also get a great post-holiday deal on them.