The Toy Retailers Association has announced its DreamToys list for 2023 with toys priced from under £10 to over £100 making the cut.
Welcome to that time of year when toy retailers big and small claim to have compiled the ultimate list of the top Christmas toys to pop under the tree to light up little faces on December 25th. With so many toy lists to sift through - from Hamleys hottest Christmas toys to Argos' must-have Christmas toys - working out what's actually worth buying can be a real challenge, but the Toy Retailer's Association claims to have "the most authoritative prediction" of what this year's hottest toys on the high street are set to be.
Compiled by an independent panel of toy experts and retailers, the DreamToys list exists to inspire gift-givers across all ages and budgets. It features toys picked by the panel based on a range of criteria including the value they bring to playtime, the play patterns they inspire, and the emerging playtime trends they represent.
Here, we share all 20 of the toys that kids are predicted to wish for this Christmas. And, since parents everywhere will be keen to snap them up before they inevitably go out of stock, we've included details of where you can buy them for a good price.
What are the DreamToys for 2023?
We don't like to boast but more than a third of the toys on the Toy Retailers Association DreamToys list also made an appearance on our very own roundup of this year's must-have Christmas toys, which we published back in September. What are the chances?! Clearly, we have our finger on the pulse.
Toys that appeared on both lists include the Cookeez Makery Oven Playset (£34.99, Boots), the Star Wars Ahsoka Starship (64.99, LEGO), and our favourite techy toy that's brand new for 2023 (we've got one in the office that we're itching to review), the brilliant MINTiD Dog-E (£74.99, Amazon) which actually makes us wish we were kids again. Robo dogs were a thing we could only dream of back then...)
- Beast Lab - was
£89.99, now £77.99 | Very - Bitzee Interactive Pet, was
£32.99now £30.99 | Amazon - Cokeez Makery Oven Playset, was
£39.99now £34.99 at Boots
- Hot Wheels City Ultimate Hauler, was
£94.99now £65 | Asda - L.O.L. Surprise! Magic Flyers, was
£36.99now £29.99 | Very - Little Live Pets My Puppy's Home, was
£64.99now £49.99 | Amazon
- Miniverse Make It Mini Kitchen, £44.99 | Amazon
- MINTiD Dog-E, was
£89.99now £74.99 | Amazon - Pictionary vs AI, £23.99 | Amazon
- Pokémon 151 Elite Trainer, was
£52.99now £49.99 | Amazon - Squishmallows 7.5",
£8.99now £7.20 | Amazon - Star Wars Ahsoka Starship, £64.99 | LEGO
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Pizza Van, was
£39.99now £28.99 | Amazon - Twister Air, was
£24.99now £19 | Amazon
Just 12 toys usually make the cut but this year the panel expanded its selection from 12 to 20 toys to cater to a wider age group of toy-loving kids. Paul Reader, chair of the DreamToys selection committee, said the decision to increase the DreamToys top list from 12 to 20 toys was in recognition of the "fantastic range" of toys currently available. “Christmas is a magical time of the year, particularly for children, and this list provides gift givers an authoritative and independent view on what we believe will be the most requested toys to help make that all-important purchasing decision," he said.
“From the year’s biggest blockbusters, tech-inspired crossovers and toys that promote sensory exploration through to products that create curiosity and anticipation, this year’s list is a representation of what the UK toy industry has to offer."
According to Melissa Symonds, executive director of UK Toys at toy data tracking firm Circana, consumers spend more than £1bn on toys each Christmas, making the festive season the most important time of year for the toy industry. "Much of this spend is influenced by gift guides, with 55% of parents saying they use toy lists as guides to buying gifts for their children,” she said.
Looking for more toy inspiration? We've got toy guides for all ages from the best toys for 1-year-olds tried-and-tested all the way up to the best toys for 10-year-olds.
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