Top ten Best Toys

1.       Fijit Friends

    

Your new dance partner is a soft plastic alien. Mattel's Fijits use beat-detection technology to "dance," with each doll performing various and different ways of movements based on the rythem of the song — and they even come with four songs of their own. Haven't danced with your doll in a while? It'll remind you that it's bored. Though the personality chips vary among the four colors (purple, blue, pink and green), each colour will chat with its master and is programmed to understand more than 30 verbal commands, responding to comments based on keywords and answering with one of 150 built-in phrases or jokes. It's Siri meets Furby, but in a good way.

Price: $50, Mattel

2.       Hot Wheels Wall Tracks

  

While they're great toys, racetracks are tough to assemble and take up too much floor space to leave set up. This year, Mattel took the modern toy-racing track up a level with its Hot Wheels Wall Tracks. Command Strips stick the track system securely to the wall, so cars can hit slopes, bumps and loops before riding down to the floor. And if you're raising young James Cameron, Hot Wheels' new Video Racer will be a perfect Wall Tracks companion toy. A small camera embedded inside a standard-size Hot Wheels car can shoot up to 12 minutes of high-quality footage and be exported onto a computer and edited with Mattel's easy-to-use video software.

Price: $29.99 Wall Tracks, $59.99 Video Racer, Mattel

3.       Let's Rock Elmo

 

For the first time, Hasbro has licensed a line of Sesame Street toys, and its new Let's Rock Elmo is an impressive effort. The robotic doll sings and plays instruments with his school-aged friends, and even recognizes his next task on the basis of what he's holding (meaning there are no complicated settings). Hand him his microphone and guitar and he’s ready to sing and to strum. He knows only six songs, but kids can play along on the instruments he's not using. The doll comes with a microphone, tambourine and drums — a guitar is sold separately — and requires six AA batteries, which are included.

Price: $69.99, Hasbro

4.       LeapPad Explorer

           

 

Does your child have iPad envy? Try Leapfrog's LeapPad Explorer, a tablet for the younger set (about ages 4 to 9). Its power is four AA batteries, the LeapPad comes with a touch screen, microphone, gaming control pad and camera. Run on Leapfrog's catalog of Leapster Explorer cartridges, the tablet allows tech-savvy kids to read books, play games and listen to music, and just might be interesting enough to lure kids away from Mom and Dad's device.

Price: $100, Leapfrog

5.       Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Doll

 

For the second year in a row, MGA Entertainment's button-eyed Lalaloopsy dolls are proving the enduring appeal of a simple rag doll. Think of it as Raggedy Ann's second coming. Or the new Tickle Me Elmo. Last year, the toy was sold out at most stores before Thanksgiving. The craze stems from the dolls' unique backstories. Basic materials act as a personality source for each one; an old farmer's shirt gives one doll a love for animals, while scraps from a discarded sailor uniform give another a squeaky-clean attitude. There isn't much not to love — unless you can't find one.

Price: $24.99, MGA Entertainment

6.       Monster High Dead Tired Dolls

 

Since their debut in the summer of 2010, Mattel's Monster High fashion doll series has become a must-have for preteen girls. Mattel introduced the characters of Monster High, the daughters of fiction's well-known monsters, through a series of animated webisodes (think Barbie meets Twilight), and millions tuned in. A book series, apps and accessories have followed, but for Mattel, all roads still lead back to the titular dolls. With names like Draculaura and Frankie Stein, the Dead Tired line features each teenage monstress in sleepover garb. A fully articulated doll comes clad in pj's and with her own overnight accessory.

Price:$16.99, Matte

              7. Nerf Vortex

 

The Hasbro Nerf brand has become iconic for backyard warfare, with a selection of plastic toy cannons. The "non-expanding recreational foam" made famous by the original Nerf ball in the early 1970s. The Vortex series includes four blasters, ranging in price and firepower. The lowest-rung is the Proton Blaster, a $10 handheld shooter. The Nitron Blaster, the company's first fully automatic weapon, includes a clip holding up to 20 discs, a scope and a front handle to steady shots. (Battery alert: the Nitron requires six C batteries, which aren't included.)

Price: $9.99–$39.99, Hasbro

8.       Ninjago

New from Lego in 2011 is its Ninjago series, a cast of ninjas using the fictional martial art of Spinjitzu to save the world from evil. Traditional building sets cross paths with role-playing games, as figures fight on spinners to win weapons, power and bragging rights. An online component to further the story line helps inspire duels between characters, giving play options a few different levels. While Lego's line of board games performed well last year, housing both gaming and building under one umbrella will keep kids interested longer — a smart move.

Price: $9.99–$154.99, Lego

9.       Angry Birds: Knock on Wood

Your favorite app comes to life with Mattel's Angry Birds: Knock On Wood board game. The blockbuster mobile game, a never-ending battle between circular, winged little grumps and nefarious, architecture-lovin' swine, was the runaway digital hit of 2010, spawning a line of physical products, including this game. Yes, slinging those grouchy little birds with a catapult-like launcher across the room is just as satisfying as it is on your phone, which hopefully means those little hands always reaching for your device will be otherwise occupied.

Price: $15, Mattel

10.       Real Lightning McQueen

 

Lightning McQueen can teach you how to drive. Bump-detection sensors on this remote-controlled car's front and back make for a highly interactive experience; one too many fender benders and McQueen will sit idle for a few seconds for a pit stop. Parents, think of it as corrective play — and the guardian angel of your floor-level cabinets.

 Impulse-projection technology moves McQueen's eyes and mouth as you drive, but the toy's most convincing feature is the audio; the car is voiced by actor Owen Wilson, who played McQueen in Pixar's two Cars films. Cruise in "Rookie" and McQueen instructs you on how to drive, a helpful feature for younger kids.

Price: $65, Air Hogs/Disney