Matchbox Stinky The Garbage Truck

A few years ago I didn’t really pay much attention to what most newspapers and websites call the hot or top toys of the year. I’d leave my Christmas shopping till December, and in fact one year I was still shopping on Christmas Eve! Not an experience I’m keen to repeat.

Maybe it’s because I use the internet more, but over the last couple of years I’ve started to notice more and more sites listing the toys tipped to be big each year. Sometimes they come from individual retailers, which is obviously a bit biased as they are hardly likely to pick toys they don’t sell are they?

The more accurate lists seem to come from the Toy associations which as I understand it choose their favourite toys either based on votes or via a specially selected panel. One of the best known in the UK is the Dream List, last year’s list (2009) included Transformers, LEGO, Kidizoom Digital Camera & Zhu Zhu Pets. Of all the toys featured on that list there was one that really did sell like the proverbial hot cakes – Go Go Pets, anxious parents trawled website after website trying to find hamsters and playsets. 

It’s worth noting however that there were many more toys last year that didn’t make it onto the Dream List that also sold incredibly well. One such toy was Rocky The Robot Truck, a bright yellow robotic dump truck that could say a wide range of catchphrases, stand on it’s rear wheels and dance! That truck was produced by a company that’s been in the toy business for many years – Matchbox.

This year (2010) Matchbox look set to have another winner on their hands with Stinky The Garbage Truck. As the name implies, Stinky is a garbage truck, or as we in the UK call them – a dustbin lorry. Stinky shares many of the same features as Rocky in that he can also talk and dance, but what sets him apart is that he can eat garbage! Well not just garbage, anything that can fit in his mouth really!

Will Stinky The Garbage Truck manage what Rocky didn’t and make it onto the Dream List? There’s a good chance, plus a couple of UK retailers including Hamley’s have already featured him on their lists. But even if he doesn’t I’m sure he will sell very well. In fact I’m almost tempted to buy one for myself!