Stocking time a blast from Christmas past

Have yourself a very retro Christmas. GI Joes, Care Bears and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back as the top candidates for children's Christmas stockings.

Last year it was Bey Blades: spinning tops pitted against each other in a fight to the death. Don't bother trying that again. They're over.

This year, children appear to have gone back in time.

The only thing that's not old-fashioned is the average spending of about $70 a child these days.

Nyree Sherman, Westgate team member for The Warehouse, said television programmes were influencing sales.

GI Joe was back on TV. Children were probably too young to remember Care Bears the first time around, but they were also back again.

Lord of the Rings figurines were also walking, riding or hopping out the door, starting at a single figurine for $19.99, through to the more complex rider and beast and deluxe versions.

Card games have taken on a modern twist. Yugioh, a card-trading game, is popular and costs $10 to $50.

Electronic hand-held games have also been updated; Neopets is this year's favourite, at $29.99.

Barbie is still popular. Her Mix 'n Magic Kitchen is at The Warehouse for $69.99 and little girls can even make real food using it.

Girls are also keen on journals, but these days they're electronic and voice activated. Password Journals cost $44.99.

And there's the old favourites - the hard metal trucks and plastic trucks.

Scooters are back, but of course they're electric now, and cost $149.99.

Remote-controlled cars, which were big in the late 70s and early 80s, have returned as well and they carry a hefty price tag.

St Lukes Toyworld senior retail manager Ajay Bhai said a stunt hopper or a remote-controlled helicopter would cost from $150 to $200.

The girls wanted Bratz dolls, he said. They are selling against Barbies and cost $30 to $40.

Girls were also keen on karaoke machines this year, at $130 to $200.

He said average spending a child was $50 to $70.

At Whitcoulls, the success of the Harry Potter movies appears to have sparked an upsurge in reading.

But they never used to have titles like Zombie Bums from Uranus, by Andy Griffiths, a really popular Australian author with zany, irreverent humour. Children just love him, said Dorothy Vinicombe, publicity manager.

She said older boys in their teens liked factual books, such as the 2004 Guinness Book of Records. If they have to read fiction, it is more likely to be techno thrillers such as Scarecrow, by Matthew Reilly.

Roald Dahl's anthology and Witi Ihimaera's Sky Dancer, a new book with a strong female character, were suitable for tweens, she said.

Younger children are still fixated on Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, Milly Molly Mandy, and Lynley Dodd's Cat's Whiskers, a collection of her stories and poems about cats.

Little girls are also excited about the new video or DVD of Barbie in Swan Lake.

And for rainy days Whitcoulls has stocked up on jigsaws and craft kits so that children can make their own candles, magnets, and stained glass windows, smelly pencils and scrapbooks.

Although this year is startling for its look back into the past, there's one update that's almost unrecognisable. Jacks Toy Co in Remuera has one Mercedes-Benz pedal car for $699, or a 4x4 for $995.