Santa keeps his Options open...

Lees firm to suppy festive favourites

TWO of the expected top-dozen selling toys this Christmas will be supplied by an Oldham firm.

Toy Options, part of the Character Options Group, is based at the Leesfield Mill, Lees, from where the Fireman Sam Deluxe Fire Station Playset and ZhuZhu Grooming Salon will be despatched to retailers all over the UK and Ireland.

The Fireman Sam toy, which retails at £29.99 is predicted to be the second best top-selling item this Christmas by the Toy Retailers Association (TRA).

The grooming salon, which retails at £22.99, is also expected to prove extremely popular.

The trade organisation has compiled separate “Dream Dozen” lists for boys and girls, suggesting that gender stereotypes remain as strong as ever.

The girls’ list features the AniMagic Tender Care Twins, Baby Alive Bouncing Babbles, the Baby Born Magic Feeding Doll and the Barbie Fashion Fairytale doll.

In contrast, boys are expected to add the Armouron Action Set suit of armour, the Beyblade Super Vortex Battle Set, the Kung Zhu Battle Arena and the Star Wars General Grievous Lightsaber to their Christmas list. Despite the financial difficulties facing many families this year, the TRA’s overall annual top dozen list features an £84.99 Lego airport, FurReal Go Go Walking Pup and VTech Kidizoom VideoCam, both retailing for £59.99.

Gary Grant, chairman of the TRA, said: “The technological advancements used in many of the toys we reviewed this year were simply amazing and demonstrate how forward-thinking manufacturers are.”

The top 12 also includes Monopoly Revolution, a new version of the family classic with a circular board and plastic bank cards in place of paper money.

For pre-school children, a train set based on the CBeebies series “Chuggington” is also tipped to do well.


Dream dozen

City Airport (£84.99)


Fireman Sam Deluxe Fire Station Playset (£29.99)

FurReal Go Go Walking Pup (£59.99)

Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear (£39.99)

Kidizoom VideoCam (£59.99)

Monopoly Revolution (£29.99)

Moon Dough Barn (£19.99)

Nerf N Strike Stampede ECS (£54.99)

Paper Jamz Guitar (£24.99)

Pumpaloons action game (£19.99)

Sylvanian Families motorcycle and Sidecar (£24.99)

ZhuZhu Grooming Salon (£22.99)