Unveiling the Hottest Christmas Toys for 2006

Drum roll please! Grace Galloway here with the predictions for the Hottest Christmas Toys for 2006...

Trends for 2006

We've got another year chock-full of electronics. The Hottest Christmas Toys for 2006 are anything but "unplugged." From economy to extraordinary, there are electronics for everybody, from your infant to your great-grandmother, and everyone in between.

Gourmet items are also hot in 2006 and people will be clamoring for cheeses, fruit, candy apples, chocolates and anything else that will tantalize a taste bud.

Those who found success shopping online in 2005, especially for hot Christmas toys, may want to repeat the experience this year. Many reported that online shopping saved hours of time and prevented many a headache.

Onto the hottest Christmas toys for 2006!

1. Oh dear, it appears we've gone completely mad. If eBay activity is any indication, PlayStation 3 is going to top the list of the hottest Christmas toys for 2006. People are auctioning off "pre-ordered" PlayStation 3 consoles, and there are some who are bidding thousands of dollars on them.

Yes, you read that right... Thousands of dollars! For a game system that costs five or six-hundred!

And most of the people auctioning the pre-orders don't even have the systems in hand yet!

We haven't gone this crazy over a holiday toy since the Cabbage Patch Dolls back in the 80s.

2. The FurReal Friends Pony is second on the list of the hottest Christmas toys for 2006.

Why? Because every single little girl who has ever wanted a pony can finally have one (without the expensive bills associated with caring for one).

The pony can sense when it's being brushed or when you want to give her a carrot, and if a child gets on her back she'll bounce up and down as though giving the child a ride.

Yes, at almost three-hundred dollars each they're quite expensive, but that's obviously not a deterrent since they're selling out all over the place.

3. Robosapien V2 is also proving to be one of the hottest Christmas toys of 2006.

The first Robosapien was a hit a couple years back, with stores selling out quickly and people buying extras to sell on eBay. This year the price tag for V2 may curb the race to the toy aisle, but the popularity of the cutting-edge robot is already evident.

4. If you like robots but Robosapien V2 seems too much like a toy, one of the other hottest Christmas toys of 2006 may very well be your ideal gift. The LEGO Mindstorms NXT is a combination of LEGOs, robotics and artificial intelligence -- everything a true robot fan could ever want.

5. I'd be remiss if I didn't include the Nintendo Wii on the list of Hottest Christmas Toys for 2006. The Nintendo Wii is much less expensive than the PlayStation 3 (it costs about $250), and it is actually targeted to a completely different market -- non-gamers.

Rather than focusing on the technology, the Nintendo Wii focuses more on creativity. A lot of women are enjoying the Wii. It's getting rave reviews.

6. Last, but not least, on our list of the hottest Christmas toys of 2006 is Zoombox. Zoombox is a DVD projector with built in speakers and it will turn any room with a solid wall into a movie theater. Again, at almost two-hundred-and-fifty dollars it's not the cheapest toy on the list, but it may be the most entertaining.

Family movie night can be a lot more fun if you watch a flick with the Zoombox.

So now that you know what's hot this year, keep an eye out for them and get one as soon as you can get your hands on it. If you can find any of these items in the stores, you're lucky.

We can pretty much guarantee that you're not going to find a single PS3 console in stock anywhere, we haven't been able to find a FurReal Pony, the Robosapien V2 and the LEGO robot are both hard to get your hands on, and the Zoombox is currently in stock at some stores, but who knows how long that will last. The easiest one to find is probably the Nintendo Wii.

The heat is definitely on! Hit the stores early and shop online to make sure you have one of the hottest Christmas toys for 2006 under your Christmas tree this season.