What toys are Bucks children dying to unwrap this Xmas? (From Bucks Free Press)

What toys are Bucks children dying to unwrap this Xmas?

7:30am Friday 18th December 2009

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AS TOY shops jostle to get their hands on the hottest Christmas toys we found out what south Buckinghamshire children are begging to unwrap this year.

The nation's craze for Go Go Hamsters has swept through Bucks but the battery-powered toy is in short supply.

Out of the shops we spoke to only Marlow Toys has managed to get its hands on 'Mr Squiggles' – the £9.99 furry hamster which whizzes along the floor and squeaks when its nose is poked.

George Lulham, 26, manager of the High Street store, said: “We did have the hamsters but every time we order them they go straight away.

“We ordered 65 about a month ago but were only sent 24. They are selling for a lot of money on Ebay now – I've seen them for around £50.”

Gary Grant, who runs The Entertainer toy shops in Beaconsfield and Amersham, has given up on trying to get the hamsters this Christmas but reported a “very solid” festive period.

He said: “Go Go Hampsters are extremely difficult to get hold of. It's impossible to trade with everybody in the toy industry and we hadn't been in business with the company that makes them before. We'll definitely have them in our range next year though.”

He said games such as Rubik 360 - a variation on the classic cubic puzzle - are flying off the shelves while Nerf guns and Syvanian Families are also popular.

Fun Junction in High Wycombe has done well by selling educational games or craft toys such as 'Sequin Art'.

Phillip Jordan, a shop assistant at the Eden-based shop, said: “Go Go Hamsters are not the kind of toy we tend to stock. We have sold a lot of Playmobil, Lego and family games.”

Meanwhile Canadian toy makers Spinmaster has its UK headquarters in Furlong Road, Bourne End.

Two of the company's products were listed in the top ten best toys by the Dream Toys Awards this year. They were “morphing marbles” Bakugan Battle Set and Bendaroos – a set of flexible building sticks which amused Reese Witherspoon on the Jonathan Ross recently.

A spokesman for Spinmaster said: “We are delighted with how well these two items have done. We've just about run out of them now and are just making our last deliveries.”

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