In a small room in a dark corner of a nondescript building in central London, Christmas had come early. A decapitated tree drooped beneath a low ceiling, vast gift-wrapped boxes covered the floor and the strains of tinny Christmas carols could just be heard above the whirrs, whizzes and whooshes of this year's must-have toys, which include sound-activated kung fu dolls, Doctor Who Dalek voicechangers and dancing Teletubbies.

At its annual presentation of the festive season's top toys, Hamleys toy store, self-proclaimed purveyor of the “finest toys in the world”, also offered up remote control helicopters, chess sets with robot arms, and its new range of urinating Sweet Pea dolls complete with pink potty.

“The more realistic a toy is, the more excited the children get,” Ian Gibbs, the chief buyer for the store, insisted.

Mr Gibbs said the main toy trend for Christmas 2008 would be “retro” toys: stylophones, Snoopy, and Emu and Spit the Dog puppets from the classic 1980s television programmes. “Every so often you can spot a fad, and this year it's toys that parents and grandparents will remember and love and will want to pass on to their children,” he said.

Times Archive 1911 Christmas toys

There can be little doubt that the Teddy bear has now passed the zenith of his popularity

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“It helps them to connect with their children," added Keane Herman, the operations manager at Hamleys' flagship outlet on Regent Street, London.

But retro, it would appear, does not come cheap. At £99.99, Hamleys' leather-inlaid Rubik's Cubes will make expensive stocking fillers. One could enjoy weeks of greasy food and lukewarm coffee at a real diner for the £149.99 price tag of the child-size plastic fast food booth and burger kitchen.

Despite the deepening credit crunch however, Mr Herman was looking forward to busy Christmas sales. Hamley's Regent Street store has already seen an 8 per cent increase in sales on last year, he said. “Not only are we getting more people through the door, they're spending more too. And the one time of year when people generally won't cut back is Christmas.”

Toys such as the dancing Teletubbies would be sold out by mid-November, he said. “If you come in in December, you're really pushing your luck.” The tiny Skychallenger remote control helicopters, which can shoot each other down using infrared beams, look likely to be “one of the biggest sellers I've ever seen in my time in toys.”

Hamleys predicted that many of the toys topping British children's wish lists this Christmas would be arriving straight from their television sets. Spin-off toys from popular television programmes and films such as Hannah Montana, Doctor Who and High School Musical looked to be guaranteed successes, Mr Gibbs said.

Eyeing up the collection yesterday, 13-year-old Patrick McGovern was unable to resist shouting a few “exterminates” into the Doctor Who Dalek voicechanger mask. “But what I actually want is that games console over there,” he admitted, pointing to the Synergy Cabinet, a free-standing multi-game arcade and a snip at just £3,000. “I'm not sure it would fit in my stocking, though.”

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