A BRITISH scientist who used to work for Nasa stands to make £20m from this year’s must-have Christmas toy — a 14in tall humanoid robot.

Robosapien can walk, turn around, bend down and pick things up as well as punch, belch and snore. Costing up to £80, it has become so popular that shops are predicting it may sell out before December 24.

It was designed by Mark Tilden, who once designed robots for Nasa space missions. He expected it to be used just by schools and fellow scientists, but almost 2m Robosapiens have been sold worldwide since their launch as a toy earlier this year and 10,000 are being turned out every day in China.

Hamleys, the London toy shop, has declared Robosapien its toy of the year and is selling almost 100 a day. “They are becoming hard to get,” said a store spokeswoman. “We are selling out shortly after they come in.”

The battery-powered robot is operated by a remote control and its seven motors enable it to carry out 67 actions.

“They burp and generally have one or two antisocial habits that parents won’t approve of, which children love,” said the Hamleys spokeswoman.

The Gadget Shop has sold more than 20,000 Robosapiens since the launch in May and expects to sell 16,000 more before Christmas. Character Options, Robosapien’s British distributor, has delivered 180,000 to shops across the country since May and expects a shortage by Christmas.

This weekend Tilden expressed surprise at the popularity of his invention. “I thought it would just be big in schools and for my fellow scientists to study,” he said. “But once we had built something that burped and jumped and did other things we found that it satisfied other needs.”

It is one of the few highselling toy products that has not been licensed to a large international company. Although he is cautious over sales figures, he admits that he hopes to make at least £20m from worldwide sales.

“Robosapiens are to the toy industry what Fahrenheit 9/11 was to the movie industry,” said Tilden. “It has stood by itself against a lot of major commercial enterprises.”

There has been a move towards “retro” toys and games this year. Cabbage Patch Kids, wildly popular in the early 1980s, are back — as is the Rubik’s Cube. Experts say parents are increasingly choosing to buy toys they remember from their own childhood.

The Toy Retailers Association says other retro toys in this year’s top 10 include Power Ranger action figures based on the 1990s cartoon and games such as Cluedo, Buckaroo! and Twister. Circular trampolines that cost up to £300 are also making a comeback.

Another sought-after toy this year is the range of Bratz dolls, which became Britain’s top-selling dolls in August — ending a 45-year reign by Barbie and snatching 45% of the fashiondoll market.

Among electronic games the Tamagotchi, the original pocket-sized virtual pet that “lives” on a small screen, and V.Smile, a television learning console for pre-school children, are selling well.

Additional reporting: Gita Balakrishnan

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