10 Top Christmas Gifts The Whole Family WIll Love

Each year, around about October, leading into November and the finish line - Christmas; stores are abuzz sprucing their displays, inventory and staff in readiness for the holiday shopping rush.

Now, bear in mind this is an annual event but, each year, millions are spent on countless and at times outdated and mundane trinkets and toys in the name of appeasing little minds and, at times blackmailing and whining spouses too!

Add to the mix a favorite of many men for their spouse, regardless of the consequences back home - a gym membership, microwave oven and, worse still, cheap jewelry imitations we may have seen on a late night shopping program!

We purchase goods, especially around Christmas, based on emotions alone, with little regard to trends and popularity of the toys and goods we are purchasing.

Now, in the absence of an Official list from the large retailers and manufacturers, how do we make the shopping experience that much more pleasant and memorable for a long time to come?!

The easiest, but most time consuming method would be:

1. Online research of all the major retailers.


2. Visit Online shopping forums and sharing experiences and stories...


3. email the major retailers to find out what they anticipate in sales volumes for specific toys and gifts

Now, unless you're out of a job or fortunate enough to be a stay at home Mom or Dad, we both know the task of actually sitting at the computer, thumping away at forum after forum, using search engines to research etc is much harder than pulling nails during an interrogation...

If it were easy, then the expression... "sleeping in the dog house," during any holiday occasion, wouldn't exist

Coming up with a 10 Top Christmas Gifts list is really not cast in stone, and you'll also be pleased to note that it's not rocket science either.

However, the process can be painstakingly time consuming but, above all else; fun to undertake and eye-opening to say the least.

Judging by the top searches online, it is quite evident people have a lot of free time on their hands.
Perhaps as men we lack the capacity to learn from past mistakes, especially when it comes to purchasing gifts for our S.O.

Perhaps we just love the idea of shocking our spouses and watching that "Priceless - Deer caught in the headlights" look of surprise and horror when our spouses realize the gift they just received is nothing close to what they were bragging to their friends that they'd be getting for Christmas.

This question, it seems, will remain man's biggest mystery, never to be revealed nor passed down from generation to generation...

That being said, the Top 10 list matters just as much as Britney, Justin Or Beyonce matter....society gravitates towards popular items and kids at school socialize based on how "cool" or socially nimble they fit in...

Life, it seems, loves trendsetters...

Samsung 1080p LCD HDTV.

With over 1 500 000 searches each month for the past 12 months, looks like the Mad Scientists at Samsung have a winner!

Not really sure whether a TV set makes the cut as a Christmas Gift or toy but, as festive as the season is, we had to add this baby in; super slim, 6000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, over two million pixel resolution, a Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp plus other terms we care not to mention here, the Samsung Brand had everyone in the office peeking over the boardroom door just for the heck of it.

With the Samsung 1080p LCD HDTV, we finally understood why men (myself included), spend so much time laying on the couch with a fishing rod in hand long enough to reach the refrigerator handle!

Whilst the Samsung HDTV, like all other TVs, comes in various screen sizes, we had the pleasure of purchasing a 46" inch set.

I'd like to add a caveat here that sizes on the shop floors may look small but, upon taking your HDTV home with you, you might find you're stuck for space as you may have over-estimated your living room or recreational room space.

Rule of thumb, you need to be comfortable watching your HDTV from about 10 feet away without feeling overwhelmed or needing a pair of binoculars!

Use a tape measure if need be, to measure the space where your HDTV will situate and take those measurements with you on your shopping spree.

Believe me, foresight's better than hindsight.

For as long as I can remember, Kodak Moments have always been part of everyday life, like a cookout or tailgate party, you just cannot do without them.

So it is with photography; seems mankind's fascination with himself (broad generalization here) is more than skindeep.

I've worked in the real wild before as a Safari Guide and I have so many memories of wildlife and bikini-clad tourists captured in time and archived for viewing pleasure!
Wish I'd snapped away at A-list celebrities that came by and did all sorts of weird stuff back then... how was I to know? The Internet's still in its infancy in Africa today...and this was over 10 years ago!

However, with so many tourists coming and going, one thing that was more in common with groups, be they Japanese bird watchers from Cincinnati Ohio to loud mouthed Winchester Magnum Wielding tycoons from Texas, were their cameras, the most common being, yep, you guessed it, the Nikon d80 SLR Camera.

Spotting a 10.2 megapixel resolution (most commercial cameras and cellphones have between 2 - 5 megapixels at the most), and weighing in at 20.6 ounces, this nimble lightweight fits in perfectly among any heavyweight contenders!

This camera uses both SD and the new high capacity SDHC memory cards, which allow up to 32GB of memory space...about enough to last a lifetime of happy snapping for the average city sleeker if you ask me.

Whatever the occasion, the Nikon D80 Camera's ideal for any occasion, from weddings, bar mitzvahs, sporting events to watching the in-laws wave goodbye as they head home after the Christmas visit!

The Nikon D80 SLR has about 12 000 month to month product name searches, with close to 80 000 searches in November alone...the closest competitor, the Canon 20D, had about 12 000 searches in November, with about 1500 month on month searches since January 2008

Remember when it was fashionable to stop every now and again to ask for directions in an unfamiliar neighborhood?
Then gangs sprang up and the only place you felt safe to ask for directions was at the local gas station...until these got snapped up by immigrant families just as lost in the City as you were?....

Enter the new millenium and you'll wonder how you've coped all this time without turn-by-turn navigation...

Rightfully dubbed a personal travel assistant, the Garmin GPS 350 packs a lot of features, great price, ease of use and aesthetic appeal other nav systems would blush at.

With over 120 000 product name searches in the month of November alone, it's clear to see why the Garmin Nuvi is our Nav system of Choice on our 10 Top Christmas Gifts list for 2008 and beyond.

The closest competitor, in terms of product name searches in the month of November, received only 18 000 searches!

The following are the key points that made this a winner on the list...

1. Very compact, easily able to fit in a breast pocket


2. Text-to-speech instructions; announces proper street names, not just "turn left in 500 feet" etc.


3. Radically reduces how much you need to look at the screen to figure out the real instructions; I really wouldn't own a GPS unit without this

It is also interesting to note that the Garmin Nuvi hit the market at over $1k, and now it's hovering at under $300!

That, in our books, is a substantial saving worthy of a Christmas cheer!

Honestly, we did not expect anything of this nature to hit our radars as a top searched item.
Who would've thought...a pillow made in the shape of the torso of a guy, with a burly arm to match...and seems a small niche of ladies are searching for this item online every month...about 6 000 searches to be precise!

We purchased one for the fun of it, and we had a tough time deciding who among the ladies in the office deserved the boyfriend pillow the most...

In our opinion, this pillow's quite comfortable, and it is no wonder ladies are finding it very endearing...

The majority of ladies will agree, Ugg boots are way cool and super comfortable...
With that being said, this boot comes in many shades and manufactures; so we were quite ambivalent as to which manufacturer to choose - You have Australian, Bearpaw, Classic tall, Whooga etc.

The varied names and brands made it more difficult to zone in on specific product / brand name searches.
Suffice it to say the search phrase "Ugg Boots" had over 1 Million searches in the month of November alone...

Ugg boots are made from Sheep and Angora goat wool...which is so prevalent in the outback of Australia and New Zealand.
If you're into Moor hair products, then you'll surely love the Ugg Footwear range.

Australia is mostly savannah, like what most of Africa is,...rough and arid.
So the Manufacturers had Sheila on their minds when they developed Ugg boots...

For those not in the know, "Sheila" is an Aussie slang word for a woman.

Guys listen up...buy this brand and shut her up for a long while still to come...
Judging from the reviews online...this brand's a favorite of many ladies indeed!

We added the Crystalift Microdermabrasion kit, not because of the searches it's been receiving...

On the contrary, the searches are low but, Hollywood's awash with this product and the stars are already ordering...in numbers large enough to catch the attention of Extra - the Hollywood Magazine program and NBC's Today Morning News!

If sales in Hollywood alone are anything to go by, then this kits is definitely going to be a top seller for 2009.

The Manufacturer mentions that this small, portable machine will help rejuvenate your skin and make you look young and healthy.

Ahh, the fountain on Youth in the palm of your hands...how catchy!

The machine apparently uses the latest vacuum technology and is often used in many spas and clinics.

At under $200, this machine will no doubt find favor among those who enjoy Spa facials and skin peels.

This list would not be complete without real toys,.. you know, the kind that kids love and play with.

Kids' toys were a no brainer; just speak to any parent with teeny tots at home and they'll probably invite you in for a cup of tea and give you the lowdown.

That being said, children are fairly easy to please but, with the recession biting into whatever reserves you may have, seems toys are required to last longer and perhas even be passed down to other children to come.

Researching Kid's toys was fun and exciting, and all the kids in us came out to play!

Calling the Air Hogs Toys kid's toys is probably the understatement of the year!
These are in no way kids toys, they're adult toys, and children and parents are fighting for control over them, literally!

I was introduced to an air hogs helicopter by a friend of mine who sleeps, drinks and eats video games and other gizmos.

At first glance, the Air Hogs Helicopter is this tiny fragile looking toy that fits into the palm of your hands...

You could be forgiven for thinking it's a toy kids get with a value meal at McDonalds...

There the analogies end...

Bring out the 4 way remote and this little object comes alive, buzzing loud enough to make adults cower under tables. Once airborne, this nifty and nimble toy, depending in whose hands the rc is, will move in any direction, hover, dive and climb like the Chopper in Blue Thunder!

Add to the mystique a flashing blue LED light that helps with locating this Toy should it become lost in the maze of your furniture.

Youtube is abuzz with videos of the Air Hogs Helicopters and, like the Rubiks cube, the following is quite cult-like.

Playing with this toy's a cinch once you've undergone flight instructions, charged up the machine and ready for take off...

In case I'm sounding like a raving lunatic...I am!
This toy is definitely worth having...worth every penny too...

Good for chasing the basset hounds around the house and keeping Junior locked up in his room too, terrified to venture out in case the "Big DragonFly" eat him alive!

As is to be expected, the little Mommy Baby Doll solicited a number of Ooows and Ahhs around the office...

Bring any cute toy into the house and the adults will want to take ownership of the toy!

What we loved about little Mommy baby doll is that she speaks, and can be programmed to know your baby daughter's name!

There's something that's to be said about interactive toys... they are educational, that's a given, and children learn to roll play in preparation for adult life.

Now, upon further research we uncovered some very entertaining news about interactive toys;

1. In 1998 parents all across the United States had hissy-fits because they really and truly believed their children's Teletubby dolls (remember those?) were saying "Faggot, faggot, bite my butt"!


2. A California woman threatened a lawsuit in 2000 after convincing herself that a Teletubby doll was telling her child, "I got a gun, I got a gun! Run away, run away!"


3. A woman complained in 2006 that a Little Mermaid doll called her daughter "a slut."


4. and a parent in early 2008 claimed that a Tickle Me Elmo doll had made death threats against her son?

Something clearly needs to be done to keep these toys out of the wrong hands - adults' hands that is, not kids'. They clearly are not safe!

Not many adjectives do justice to describe our Furry friend from Sesame street!
Kids World Over know Elmo based on his voice alone and, when they see him visually, be prepared for tantrums in the store...Elmo is selling so fast a number of Retailers are limiting the order to only 6 per order...

That's the powerhouse that Elmo has become and, as an educational toy and friend, none come close!

I'm still stuck on figuring out how muppets in general are manipulated and made to "talk" on screen... and good thing Elmo's nothing like Peanut, a crazy muppet from one Ventriloquist called Jeff Dunham!

We bought Elmo Live! for our 2 year old son a couple of months ago and, to limit boredom due to the limited vocabulary Elmo has, we only bring Elmo out on Sundays when we go to the park and my son gets the chance to be center of attention from all the kids at the play center...good ice breaker for conversing with other parents too.

In terms of searches, it is apparent parents search based on their understanding of what Elmo is.
The term Fisher Price Elmo had over a quarter of a million searches in November alone, with about 8000 month on month searches since the beginning of the year.

The noun Elmo had over 3,5 million searches in November but, as generic as the term is, we ruled it out as a search for our Muppet friend in toy form...

Mentioned last but not least, the Leap Frog Leapster learning game System, and in pink, closes our research.

Made in the shape and look of a handheld console like the Nintendo DS light, the leapfrog leapster's a definite must for parents with school age children.

The console's shockproof, so will withstand mishandling from children.
Parents will also be pleased to note that the Leapfrog Leapster Learning Game System comes in multiple colors suitable for both boys and girls.

The 12 bit screen, which is backlit with adjustable lighting so you can play it anywhere and under any lighting conditions, measures 3 inches by 3 inches with decently crisp colors and details.

Sadly, cartridges are an optional extra but, the console comes pre-loaded with one educational game.
On the plus side, you have a litany of games to choose from - from Finding Nemo to Spiderman and a host of math, word and brain games in incremental learning phases, so your child's always on top of their learning game.

Children these days tend to be highly energetic, bordering on ADD, but with the Leapfrog leapster, a number of parents we spoke with reported that children tend to remain focused on their console for hours on end...

Could this mean the demise of TV as we know it?

Time will tell...

The Leapster requires 4 "AA" batteries (unless you purchase the recharger or the A/C adapter) and the manufacturer recommends the system for children ages 4-8.
This should not in anyway though detract you from getting the game system for your child should they be able to read and have good manual dexterity.