The twins, who have about three thousand supporters on Facebook, claim that young girls are being brainwashed by companies that target them in particular with pink items such as dresses and pink toy fairy wings.

Additionally, the group claims that the media is too focused on WAGs, sexy pop stars, and stick thin models which is making young girls look towards unrealistic role models.

The group identified the Early Learning Centre as one of the largest offenders of creating specifically pink toys.

The ‘Pinkstinks’ campaign believes that while boys toys embrace every avenue from educational to adventure to science, girls toys are much more limited to simply being pretty.

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The study claims that parents spend about 22 minutes a day playing with toys like dolls, bricks, and games, while their children are not playing.

This equates to about two and a half hours a week or five days a year.  Thus, during the seven years that a child is ages four to eleven the parent will play on their own for about a month ten days.

The study also found that parents get angry, although they may not show it, when a child decides to play with the toy they are currently toying with.

Out of the parents surveyed, half stated they preferred Lego with the other half admitting they enjoyed puzzles and games.

The survey included 2,000 parents and was conducted by the Early Learning Centre which additionally found that 25% of parents purchased new toys out of their own boredom and not their child’s.

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By doing so the child can get a toy that actually will help them develop and you get to rest easy with the satisfaction that you have made a positive contribution on their life.

One of the most popular tech-smart toys this year is the Nitro Web Notebook ‘Safe Surfing” product which has 70 interactive activities programmed into it that teach children everything from Spanish to science to art to maths.  The tiny classroom learner is also connected to the web, which means the content can always be updated and allows children to interact with peers also using the same device.

For younger children, the perfect gift may be the Kidizoom Digital Camera Plus, which allows small children to use the miniature digital camera that allows them to store up to 2000 photos of their own.  It is equipped with 2.0 mega pixel resolution and can be connected to a home computer or television so that children get to share their art with friends and family.

Finally, one more option for the child who is hard to shop for is the Expanded V Smile Motion Smartridge Library which contains titles from all of the most popular children’s characters such as NASCAR, Ni Hao Kai Lin, Handy Manny, UP, and plenty more.

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The poison scare sent the toy industry into a temporary meltdown sending shares of its distributor, Character Group, down by 8pc in the UK.  Still, the £10 toys are well on their way to be being the largest Christmas toy this season with an estimated figure of 600,000 expected to be sold by Christmas in the UK alone.

Good Guide, the US consumer group that raised the alarm, may be in hot water however, as the US producers Cepia are considering filing a damages lawsuit against the company for their misleading public statements.

Character Group released a press statement that said Mr. Squiggles the hamster in question is perfectly safe and passed all of the toy industry tests with remarkable colours.

Executive chairman of the group Richard King stated that the company was rocked by the claims due to their disruptive nature and the timing of the claims but that it is all part of the market game.

Good Guide stated last weekend that they had found the chemical anomaly in the toy only to then recant their statement, saying there was some confusion over the figures and that their testing techniques were different.

After the claims were made public Character Group sent the toy through a series of tests that affirmed the toy is safe.

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Toy specialist Character Group expects that there will be many children disappointed with Santa on Christmas morning, given the fact that some of the most anticipated toys of the season will be out of stock. In particular the group predicts that the Peppa Pig products and Go Go Pets will come up short this year.

At the same time, its results for the full year have still suffered a bit after Woolworths collapsed last year with stock meant for Woolworths from 2008 swamping the marketplace and diverting profits.

Thus, the company was forced to record that they suffered a pre-tax loss of £2m for the year out of which £1m was left over from Woolies, which was drastic compared to its report of a £5m profit the previous year. However, due to some good Christmas trading this year the company has a lot of hope towards the future.

Richard Hickinbotham a prominent analyst said that Character Group will start out in the market place in 2010 in a much better position than last year and with a new focus on their products they should be able to continue the profitability turn around that they exhibited in the second half of 2009.

Next year the group already plans to put together new ranges for the Doctor Who line along with a new Fireman Sam line and more Go Go Pets.

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This year’s top Christmas toy, The GO GO Hamster, has got parents as worked up as Tickle Me Elmo did in the past, as many parents are reporting stress from trying to obtain the toy and online sellers are racking up a large amount of business at hiked up prices.

Normally, the small cuddly toy costs about ten pounds, but greedy sellers are auctioning or selling the toy online for over six times that amount, because apparently parents without other choices are buying them at an alarming rate.

In fact, a complete set of the hamsters which include Mr. Squiggles, Pipsqueak, Chunk, and Num Nums went for about £150 on eBay a few days ago. The large turnaround online is due to the fact that most stores ran out of the popular toy with over a month to go until Christmas.

Owner of the toy shop chain Entertainment, Cary Grant, who is also the Toy Retailers Association chairman, stated that the reason prices are so high now is because many people loaded up on the toys before heading to eBay making them a scarce commodity in stores.

He said that while it is always hard to tell which toy will be ‘the toy’ of the year, speculators that compile lists actually usually result in people buying up large numbers of toys and hoarding them, which drives their value up online.

Grant also added that one of the reasons that the Go Go Hamsters may hold such a versatile appeal to parents as a gift for their children is due to the fact that they are the closest thing you can buy to a pet without worrying about the mess or responsibility that a pet typically entails

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It is no surprise that every year there are always a few toys that take on the title of the most wanted toys for Christmas right up there with the Tickle Me Elmo’s of the past. However, the larger question outside of what these toys will be each year is how they end up to be the biggest thing since Furbys.

Are these top toys actually any cooler or better than other toys, or are they simply the products of the best marketing?

Marketing campaigns for toys start as soon as they hit the market, but become the largest in the two months leading up to Christmas when television ads during children’s programming really start to take off in an attempt to hook children rather than their parents.

Among the tools in a professional marketer’s bag of tricks are bright colours, brand names, cool characters, and fun music. Although the advertisers know that children are not heading out to the stores to buy their items, they are hoping that the children will want the toys badly enough to pester their parents until they get them.

Advertisers are now taking a slightly different turn while promoting their toys switching to integrated marketing campaigns that include television ads but focus heavily on tie-ins with comic books and films, so that children see the characters and hence the toys everywhere they go.

Of course, the intent is to make sure that the parents see them also so that it becomes unavoidable that the toys will get snatched up by frenzied consumers.

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Men’s fashion and boys’ toys were the hot ticket items at

The store noted that they experienced a 15% increase in sales over the past week leading up to Saturday compared to the same shopping time period prior to the official Christmas shopping season.

One of the top selling items was a child’s scooter, but John Lewis took care to note that boys’ toys for all ages were top sellers.

Director of selling operations for John Lewis, David Barford stated that the toy department has been the focus of sales all week.

He continued to say that the scooter topped the list alongside remote controlled helicopters and cars, which leads the retailers to believe that dad’s are taking a more active role in toy buying this year. Barford also commented that the dads may be purchasing toys they want to toy around with as well.

Along with boys’ toys, adult male toys such as football tables and air hockey tables also sold in high volumes this week alongside male’s fashion items.

Outside of the men’s department, John Lewis also noted that upholstery, beds, and furniture also sold well up by an astronomical 400% in some stores.

Mending and craft sales also increased in the time period with sewing machines also disappearing off the shelves.

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Even though there are still six shopping weekends until Christmas rolls around, in order to get the best toys at the best prices, or sometimes even at all, bargain hunters know that now is the time to start looking for the hot items on their gift lists.

At the top of the list of many top Christmas toy lists this year are the ever so cuddly Go Go Hamsters, which allow parents to give their children talking and moving pets at a low cost (£9.99 at John Lewis) without worrying about the clean up and responsibility that comes with a pet.

However, even this early in the season many retailers are already out of stock of the hamsters and those that still have the Go Go Hamsters have inflated the price as high as £54.99. For these items internet shopping may be the best bet although when it comes to the internet sooner is better than later since shipping times must be accounted for.

Of course, for those who are thinking about heading online for Christmas gifts this year there are a few pointers that you need to adhere to since the shopping atmosphere and experience is vastly different than most people are use accustomed to.

The most important tip is perhaps to remember that every item that is ordered will come with shipping or delivery charges. If you are not careful, especially on auction sites with crafty third party sellers, the shopping charges can make the item higher priced than at the stores.

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This Christmas independent toy shops are seeing an increase in sales due to the closing of Woolworths at the beginning of this past year.

The closure of the large retailer has brought a surge of customers into local toy stores instead of other large retailers according to industry experts and toy retailers.

Principal lecturer of marketing from the University of Glamorgan Heather Skinner, stated that after Woolworths closed their doors customers were left looking for a more personal approach for shopping than supermarkets outside of their towns could provide.

Skinner stated that people are tired of going to retail shops that are replicas of each other and have decided to search out local options, which is why toy shops are benefiting.

According to Skinner, independent toy stores have seen their sales rise by approximately ten percent if they are located in an area where Woolworths used to be located. She added that the reason why is because these stores cater to those who want to buy unique presents such as a wooden jigsaw that only Woolworths would have carried.

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