Last year the toy of the year award as voted by the Toy Retailer Association went to the Ben 10 series. The year before it went to a set of toys from In the Night Garden. The theme seems to be a toy connected to a popular children's television character and this will probably be the same pattern for the best selling toy of 2009/2010. Young children love toys that are familiar, toys that they identify with the television characters that they see. In 2008 the pre school toy of the year was again, In the Night Garden and toys such as Star Wars and toys featuring Thomas the Tank engine (pre school toys of the year in 2005) regularly win toy awards.

In 2007 Rubik cube won the award for being the best puzzle on the market. In 2008 right up until Christmas it was on the best selling toy list for Amazon. It isn't a new toy but still holds a fascination for children young and old and of course adults.

Sylvannian figures and houses won awards both in 2007 and last year. They appeal to girls as cute collectible animals with a huge range of accessories. They are likely to be on the best selling Christmas 2009 list for girls, along with lego for a best selling construction toy for boys.

If you stick to toys that win awards and keep an eye on internet stores such as Amazon who have high volume sales for their best selling toys from September onwards, you should get a good idea of which toys are likely to feature on the best selling toys list for 2009.