So the Toy Retailers Association reckons that this will be an austerity Christmas, with the 12 most popular toys all costing less than £50.

Ignoring the idea that £50 is seen as cheap for a single item, what are little Jonny and Karen asking for? Apparently it’ll be a mix of character-themed tie-ins, updated versions of Monopoly and Lego, plus technology in the form of digital multimedia cameras. To be honest I’m not sure this bears out the claim of a nostalgic trend (surely its too soon to be nostalgic over Transformers?) and looks more like retailers trying to make us buy what they have most stocks of.

Still this year’s selection beats 1997’s ‘must have’ toy – the Furby………..