Commentary
Hottest Toys for Boys and Gifts for Girls
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 17, 2004
The NRF 2004 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF polled more than 7300 consumers on the "hot toy" that they planned to purchase for children with a fill-in-the-blank question to ensure the highest accuracy. The survey found that most consumers buying gifts for girls will be on the lookout for Barbie merchandise (21.7%), though many parents will also be hunting for Bratz dolls (16.5%). Other popular toys for girls include video games, Leap Frog, Dora the Explorer, Care Bears, and Cabbage Patch Kids.
Nearly one in five people (19.9%) purchasing a gift for a boy this year will be searching for a video game. The survey also indicated that Spiderman merchandise will be in high demand (8.9%) with remote control toys, cars, trucks, and Hot Wheels following closely behind.
NRF continues to project that holiday sales will increase 4.5 percent this year to $219.9 billion.
Top Holiday Toys for Girls, 2004
| Rank | Percent | |
| Barbie | 1 | 21.7% |
| Bratz | 2 | 16.5% |
| Doll | 3 | 10.8% |
| Video Games | 4 | 3.6% |
| Dora the Explorer | 5 | 3.5% |
| Leap Frog | 6 | 2.9% |
| Care Bears | 7 | 2.3% |
| Cabbage Patch Dolls | 8 | 2.1% |
| Elmo | 9 | 1.9% |
| Educational Toys | 10 | 1.3% |
| Polly Pocket | 11 | 1.2% |
| My Little Pony | 12 | 1.1% |
Source: BIGresearch & NRF
Top Holiday Toys for Boys, 2004
| Rank | Percent | |
| Video Games | 1 | 19.9% |
| Spiderman | 2 | 8.9% |
| Remote Control Toys | 3 | 4.7% |
| Hot Wheels | 4 | 3.9% |
| Trucks | 5 | 3.6% |
| Cars | 6 | 3.4% |
| Legos | 7 | 2.9% |
| Yu-Gi-Oh | 8 | 2.5% |
| Leap Frog | 9 | 2.4% |
| Elmo | 10 | 1.5% |
| Train Set | 10 | 1.5% |
| Sponge Bob | 12 | 1.3% |
| Power Rangers | 12 | 1.3% |
Source: BIGresearch & NRF
For more information: www.bigresearch.com and www.nrf.com.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.