ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
London, UK - 14 November 2018
1. Various of Santa Claus playing Nerf Laser Ops with young girl (£44.99)
2. Various of two boys playing Laser X (£49.99)
3. Santa Claus with Laser Ops gun
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Santa Claus:
"One of my favourite toys, I do like lots of them and there's 12 of them here, of the favourites. We've got everything from Harry Potter and Lego, we've got Harry Potter's wands and there's the L.O.Ls which is the unwrapping games as well. We've got lots of Nerf as well, Monopoly."
5. Wide of display showing DreamToys top 12 toys
6. Various of L.O.L. Surprise Under Wraps collectible figures (£14.99)
7. Close of box for Laser X
8. Tilt up of Cra-Z-Slimy Creations Super Slime Studio (£29.99)
9. Monopoly Fortnite Edition (£21.99)
10. Harry Potter Wizard Training Wand (£24.99)
11. Close of box for Harry Potter Hogwarts Lego (£74.99)
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Gary Grant, Chairman, DreamToys committee:
"Children's oriented films are really good for toys. So obviously we have Harry Potter this year, we've got Toy Story next year. We've got the Lego movie which brings the Lego bricks to life. So when we get a good movie coming out it does have an ongoing benefit for the toy industry."
13. Various of young girl playing with Harry Potter Wizard Wand
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Isabella Bonnell, 10-years-old:
"It's so fun because you get to learn all these different spells and it's fun practicing them. It makes funny noises when you do a spell."
15. Various of Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall Lego (£89.99)
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Marius Lang, Lego:
"There's a relevancy. Harry Potter is now back with Lego so we're very very proud that a lot of kids will hopefully find Lego underneath the Christmas trees and have the chance, together with their parents, to be creative and imaginative."
17. Various of Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall Lego
18. Tilt up of young girl dancing (Doing the Floss from Fortnite)
19. Various of young boy playing Monopoly Fortnite Edition
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Ashton Eiman, 12-years-old:
"It's very good. It's got all the characters. These are all in Fortnite at the moment and I really like it."
21. Eiman playing Monopoly Fortnite
22. Various of Gary Grant looking at top 12 toys
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Gary Grant, Chairman, DreamToys committee:
"It's key. The industry looks at what's going on within a child's life. What are they playing with, what are they watching. But also the other part of the industry which has been thriving this year are the collectible items."
24. Tilt down of children playing
25. Close of boy with Fingerlings Untamed Jailbreak T-Rex Playset (£24.99)
26. Various of girl unwrapping L.O.L. Surprise Under Wraps collectible figures
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Frederique Tutt, Toy analyst:
"Collectibles is really driving the market in the UK. Sales are 30 percent (higher) compared to last year. So they will want to have the whole collection. So this is series 1 and then you get series 2, series 3 and there's no end of fun."
28. Tracking shot of child with Air Hogs Supernova drone toy (£39.99)
29. Various of FurReal Ricky, Trick Lovin' Pup (£134.99)
30. Various of children playing GraviTrax (£39.99)
31. SOUNDBITE (English) SOUNDBITE (English) Gary Grant, Chairman, DreamToys committee:
"So much is still uncertain about next year regarding Brexit. But as I said most of the toys come from the Far East and obviously items coming in to the UK, apart from a devaluation of the pound, I can't really see that there's going to be any issues unless we have a major problem with our ports with our stock being delayed."
32. Various of children playing with Cra-Z-Slimy Creations Super Slime Studio
33. SOUNDBITE (English) Jackson Knopf, 9-years-old:
"Definitely Laser X, the slime thing and some Lego."
34. Tilt down of DreamToys exhibit hall
35. Various of Santa Claus waving
LEADIN:
Laser guns, Harry Potter wands and a poopin' puppy are just some of the must-have toys for children this Christmas.
Despite an impending Brexit, the UK toy industry says it's expecting a bumper 2018, buoyed by movie and gaming inspired gifts.
You better watch out, Santa Claus is coming to town and he's carrying a laser.
Father Christmas was on hand to try some of this year's top 12 toys for 2018, announced by the UK Toy Retailers' Association at its DreamToys exhibit.
Laser guns make the list and are proving popular with people of all ages.
Santa Claus says: "One of my favourite toys, I do like lots of them and there's 12 of them here, of the favourites. We've got everything from Harry Potter and Lego, we've got Harry Potter's wands and there's the L.O.Ls which is the unwrapping games as well. We've got lots of Nerf as well, Monopoly."
The top toys are selected by a panel of retailers and experts and it's a predictive list of what's expected to be popular.
There's everything from collectible L.O.L Surprise dolls to a slime studio and a Fortnite edition of Monopoly.
But with a new Harry Potter film due out, anything related to the boy wizard is expected to dominate, according to the chairman of the DreamToys committee, Gary Grant.
"Children's oriented films are really good for toys. So we have Harry Potter this year, we've got Toy Story next year. We've got the Lego movie which brings the Lego bricks to life. So when we get a good movie coming out it does have an ongoing benefit for the toy industry," he says.
The Harry Potter Wizard Wand has cast a spell on ten-year-old Isabella Bonnell who's trying it out.
"It's so fun because you get to learn all these different spells and it's fun practicing them. It makes funny noises when you do a spell," she says.
There are also new Lego options available for Potter fans, including various figurines, the Hogwarts Express and a model of the Great Hall.
"There's a relevancy. Harry Potter is now back with Lego so we're very very proud that a lot of kids will hopefully find Lego undreneath the Christmas tress and have the chance, together with their parents, to be creative and imaginative," says Marius Lang from Lego.
But it's not just film franchises that are helping to sell toys.
This girl is 'flossing' - a dance move that players of ever-popular video game Fortnite will be familiar with.
Hasbro has teamed up with Epic Games to release a Fortnite edition of Monopoly.
Twelve-year-old Ashton Eiman says it's just as exciting as the video version: "It's very good. It's got all the characters. These are all in Fortnite at the moment and I really like it."
Grant says keeping up with film, TV and other trends is needed to appeal to young consumers.
"It's key. The industry looks at what's going on within a child's life. What are they playing with, what are they watching. But also the other part of the industry which has been thriving this year are the collectible items."
These dinosaur collectibles are from the Fingerlings Untamed Jailbreak T-Rex playset and are on the top 12 list.
So too are the L.O.L Surprise Under Wraps dolls.
Toy analyst Frederique Tutt says: "Collectibles is really driving the market in the UK. Sales are 30 percent (higher) compared to last year. So they will want to have the whole collection. So this is series 1 and then you get series 2, series 3and there's no end of fun."
The UK is the fourth largest toy market in the world after the US, China and Japan and has annual sales of 3.5 billion pounds.
One of the more quirky cuddly creatures in the popular Paws and Claws category is Ricky the pup.
What makes him special is his ability to eat treats and then later poop them out.
There's also some unease in the toy industry about the UK's upcoming exit from the European Union which could see supply lines disrupted.
"So much is still uncertain about next year regarding Brexit. But as I said most of the toys come from the Far East and obviously items coming in to the UK, apart from the devaluation of the pound, I can't really see that there's going to be any issues unless we have a major problem with our ports with our stock being delayed," says Grant.
Nine-year-old Jackson Knopf has already decided what he wants from Father Christmas: "Definitely Laser X, the slime thing and some Lego."
With more than five weeks to go until Christmas, Santa will no doubt be busy keeping note of who wants what.
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