I was reading a story on the CNN web site about what toys are predicted to be the “hot toys” for the 2007 holiday season.  The list includes toys in different price ranges and for different age groups.  But I was wondering how the recent toy recalls of toys from China would impact holiday sales.  Is it going to be really hard to find the most popular toys for your children this year? Will increased testing of toys make it difficult to find them?

According to Jim Silver, the editor of Toy Wishes magazine, the answer is most likely yes.  The increased testing is going to make it slower for the toys to get out of the ports of entry of the US and to the retailers’ shelves.  He predicts that there could be a shortage of the top 100 toys come December.  This shortage could be a problem, as the months of November and December account for two thirds of US Toy sales.

I’ve found a web site where you can search a few different retailers and find the hot Christmas toys for 2007 – Santa’s Toy Finder.  They’ve got all different kinds of toys listed, including the list of the “must have” holiday toys that you can find in Toy Wishes magazine.  It’s a nice resource for the busy mom because you can see from their web site whether a toy or game is in stock and it also lists the last time the web site tracked the hot product.  You can click on the product links and you’ll be brought right to that page on the retailers’ web sites where you can purchase the item directly from the retailer.

The holiday season is busy enough, so a time saving tool like Santa’s Toy Finder can give you that extra time to spend with your family and friends.