If you’re already taking photos in toy shops to “send to Santa”, here are 15 more for the camera roll. The DreamToys 2026 list is out, and the Pokémon 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is our family’s pick.
The DreamToys list is chosen by a panel of toy retailers and experts. Their list is unranked. I’ve put our pick first and included who I think each toy would suit. All prices are RRPs.
The full DreamToys 2026 list at a glance
Here are all 15 toys on the official DreamToys 2026 list, in alphabetical order with their RRPs. Prices may vary between shops.
| Toy | Brand | RRP |
|---|---|---|
| Beyblades Sneak Attack Battle Set | Hasbro | £44.99 |
| Clickeez Bubble Pops Keyboard | Vivid Goliath | £29.99 |
| furReal Gabby the Grow & Roar Tiger | Just Play | £79.99 |
| Giftie Badge Maker | Character Options | £34.99 |
| Gui Gui Mega Slime Haul | Moose Toys | £29.99 |
| Hot Wheels City Ultimate T-Rex Garage | Mattel | £129.99 |
| KPop Demon Hunters Huntr/x Singing Dolls | Mattel | £34.99 |
| LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Iconic Pirate Ship | The LEGO Group | £89.99 |
| Mini Brands Really Works Vinyl Playset | ZURU | £19.99 |
| NeeDoh Swirl Niceberg | Bigjigs Toys | £13.99 |
| PAW Patrol Megasaurus Dino Vehicle | Spin Master | £59.99 |
| Pokémon Trading Card Game: 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box | Pokémon | £49.99 |
| Primal Hatch Megalodon Specimen | Spin Master | £54.99 |
| Starts with Ends With | Character Options | £21.99 |
| VTech Toy Story 5 Explore & Learn Lilypad | VTech | £24.99 |
Our top pick · Pokémon Trading Card Game: 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box (£49.99)
Best for Pokémon card collectors and families who enjoy the trading card game together. The 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box contains nine anniversary booster packs, a full-art Nidorina promo card, 65 sleeves and 16 foil Basic Energy cards. There’s also a player’s guide, damage-counter dice, a coin-flip die, a plastic coin and a code for Pokémon TCG Live. The collector’s box has six dividers, giving children somewhere to organise their new cards after opening the packs.
The anniversary expansion includes 30 different Pikachu rare cards to collect, with one Pikachu rare in each booster pack. That gives the pack-opening a particular focus for Pikachu fans, while the sleeves, dice and Energy cards also suit children who play. The Pokémon inside the booster packs vary, so the box’s contents list is the place to check what is guaranteed.
Arlo and I collect Pokémon cards together, so we’ve been looking forward to this one. I love Pokémon too, and the anniversary feels special now that it’s something we share. I’ve pre-ordered ours from the shop where we go to Pokémon club because I think it could be tricky to get hold of.
Beyblades Sneak Attack Battle Set (£44.99)
Best for children aged eight and over who enjoy competitive play with a sibling, friend or parent. This set includes the Beystadium, two UX Infinity spinning tops and two ripcord launchers, so two players have the equipment they need to start battling. The included tops are Rampart Aegis GB, a stamina type, and Cutter Shinobi LF, an attack type, giving players two different approaches to try.
The Sneak Attack stadium adds a pop-up rail that changes how the tops move during a battle. Its X-Celerator Rail can send a top accelerating around the arena into a fast dash, setting up collisions with its opponent. Players launch together and compete to score points, with the first to four winning. There’s room to experiment with the launch and choice of top as children get more confident.
I can see us getting this out on Christmas Day. There’s a bit of skill to the launch, but it’s easy enough to pick up and get someone else involved straight away.
Clickeez Bubble Pops Keyboard (£29.99)
Best for children aged six and over who enjoy tactile fidgets, tiny characters and building a collection. The Bubble Pops Keyboard Mega Pack includes 12 Clickeez characters, four of them exclusive to this pack, along with three light-up bases, a keychain and a collector’s guide. Each little keyboard-style key makes a click or pop when pressed, and the keyboard collector case gives children somewhere to arrange and display them.
The wider Series 3 range has 70 characters to discover, so the 12 in this box are a starting collection. Children can connect their favourite characters to make a keychain and take a few along on a bag, then rearrange the others in the case at home. The attraction is the combination of pressing, swapping and choosing a display, particularly for a child already interested in the keyboard fidgets appearing on social media.
I’ve seen so many fun little keyboards doing the rounds on TikTok. I think this is lovely, especially with its own box. It’s niche, but I can see why it would be exciting to open.
furReal Gabby the Grow & Roar Tiger (£79.99)
Best for animal-loving children aged four and over who enjoy feeding and caring for a toy pet. Gabby comes with a play bottle and a toy, and responds to feeding, stroking, cuddling and play with more than 100 combinations of sounds and movements. She purrs, makes tiger sounds and will even roar back when a child roars at her, giving them several different ways to interact.
As children care for Gabby, she grows from roughly 32 cm to 38 cm tall. Pressing her back returns her to cub size so the growing-up play can begin again. Her striped plush body is made for cuddling as well as pretend animal care, which could appeal to a child who likes both soft toys and toys that respond. The manufacturer specifies four AA batteries, supplied separately, so check the UK pack before wrapping.
I’ve worked with furReal before and we love our panda. For a child who’s been asking for a real pet, I can see this being the next best thing. Based on how much we’ve enjoyed ours, I can see the value in it.
Giftie Badge Maker (£34.99)
Best for crafty children aged six and over who like turning their drawings into something they can wear, swap or give away. The Giftie set includes components for 50 badges, eight ready-made designs, eight blank design templates, a cutting template and ten decorative backing cards for gifting. Children load the badge parts and their chosen picture into the maker, press the lever and swing out the arm to reveal the finished badge.
They can start with the supplied pictures, draw on the blank templates or use the cutting guide to turn a photo or magazine clipping into a badge design. That gives them a reason to come back once they’ve tried the first few examples, whether they’re making badges for a school bag, a pencil case or presents for friends. The backing cards also let them package a finished badge as a small handmade gift.
I’ve met children who were given craft supplies and ended up starting their own little businesses. I can imagine this starting with a badge for their own bag and ending with orders from the whole family.
Gui Gui Mega Slime Haul (£29.99)
Best for children aged six and over who already love slime and want several textures to experiment with. This 50-piece set includes five slimes covering cloud, clear, butter, jelli and crunch textures, plus tools, decorations and little figures. The mini crunch slime is called Lil Flutter and has a cherry blossom scent, so there are differences in feel and scent for children to explore as they open the kit.
The activity follows a sequence of preparing the slime, mixing in a booster, adding decorations and finishing it with a mini figure. A gua sha-style tool can spread and shape it, while the other tool scoops, drizzles and rolls. That makes it a kit for customising and handling the supplied slimes, with a choice of tools and finishes for each creation. It would suit a child who enjoys taking time over a sensory craft activity.
If slime is on the list, I like having everything together. I’d still get the table ready first, but it saves me from hunting down ingredients for a homemade recipe.
Hot Wheels City Ultimate T-Rex Garage (£129.99)
Best for a committed Hot Wheels collector who enjoys racing cars and inventing adventures around a big playset. The Ultimate T-Rex Garage has four floors, room to store more than 50 cars and two cars included. Children drive into the garage, where the dinosaur can gobble up their vehicles, then pull its tail to lift cars through the set. At the top, the cars release together and race down different routes.
One route leads into a loop where the car can knock out the T-Rex, giving children a stunt to try again with different cars. Away from the dinosaur battle, there’s a car wash, fuel pumps with moving hoses, gates and track diverters for everyday garage play. It combines parking, racing and storytelling in one sizeable set. Additional cars are sold separately, although an existing collection gives children plenty to test on the tracks.
This feels like the sort of present you find yourself building at midnight on Christmas Eve. I’d work out where it’s going to live once it’s built. If you’ve got the space and the cars already come out all the time, I can see it getting plenty of use.
KPop Demon Hunters Huntr/x Singing Dolls (£34.99)
Best for children who know the HUNTR/X songs and want to act out performances with their favourite character. The range features Rumi, Mira and Zoey as singing fashion dolls, each wearing her recognisable performance outfit from “Golden”. Each doll can perform the song, so children can sing along, stage a concert or use the character in their own film-inspired stories between performances.
Rumi’s version has her long purple braid, knee-high boots, a removable outfit and five points of articulation for posing during play. The characters are sold individually, so the £34.99 RRP is for one doll. That makes checking the name on the box particularly worthwhile if a child has a favourite member of the trio. A fan can start with one character and add the others later if they want to put the whole group together.
Rumi might be the obvious choice, but I love that all three have such different personalities. If the songs are on repeat in your house, I’d choose the character your child talks about most.
LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Iconic Pirate Ship (£89.99)
Best for LEGO builders aged nine and over who enjoy a substantial build followed by imaginative play. Set 31387 contains 1,074 pieces and makes a pirate ship with adjustable sails, a moving anchor and wheel, two cannons, a crow’s nest and a cabin. A removable deck reveals the hold, and there’s a hidden treasure compartment and a sea monster with moving tentacles to work into pirate adventures.
The same bricks can instead build a buccaneer’s castle, which opens up to reveal rooms and a cave, or a pair of smaller ships for battles. Five characters are included, comprising four pirates and a skeleton. Each option uses the same collection of bricks, so a child chooses one build at a time. That makes the rebuilding part of the appeal, particularly for someone who enjoys taking a finished set apart and trying the next set of instructions.
Arlo and I love LEGO. I’ve joked that we might need three boxes, but I like the idea of displaying the ship at Christmas and rebuilding it in the summer holidays. Arlo does rebuild his sets, which probably explains the box of assorted LEGO bits at home.
Mini Brands Really Works Vinyl Playset (£19.99)
Best for music fans and miniature collectors who enjoy a small toy with a working feature. This Mini Brands set includes a miniature record player that plays music clips when one of its matching mini records is placed on it. The included record is “APT.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars, and there’s a display stand for showing off the miniature record alongside the player.
More records are available in the separately sold Mini Brands Vinyl Capsules. The wider collection includes artists such as Katy Perry, Kendrick Lamar and Fall Out Boy, giving collectors different miniature sleeves and records to find. It would suit someone who enjoys arranging a tiny music collection as much as playing with the turntable. If the music is the main attraction, check the included track before buying, as that’s the record supplied with this particular playset.
It’s such a cute idea and reminds me of the retro, ’80s-style things that caught kids’ attention with Stranger Things. I’d want to hear what it plays, though. That would be half the fun for me.
NeeDoh Swirl Niceberg (£13.99)
Best for a child who already enjoys a firm, substantial squishy fidget. The Swirl Niceberg is a larger member of the NeeDoh Nice Cube family, with a marbled colour pattern that varies from cube to cube. Children can squeeze and compress it in their hands, then watch it return to a square shape. The firm, dough-like feel and slow return to shape are the main appeal.
The play is in the feel of the cube and the repeated squeezing, so I’d choose it for someone who already knows they like that kind of tactile toy. There are assorted colour combinations, and the appearance can vary depending on the one supplied. It’s sold as one cube and is recommended from age three. At £13.99 RRP, it is the lowest-priced toy on this year’s DreamToys list and a smaller gift option for an existing NeeDoh fan.
Fidget toys are everywhere at the moment, and I can see why the NeeDoh cubes are having a moment. I’d consider it as a stocking filler for a child who already loves a good squishy.
PAW Patrol Megasaurus Dino Vehicle (£59.99)
Best for PAW Patrol fans aged three and over who also love dinosaurs. Rocky’s Megasaurus Dino Vehicle has a bigger surprise than its truck shape first suggests. Press the light bar and a dinosaur automatically inflates to around 76 cm tall, with sounds adding to the reveal. The set includes a Rocky figure that can clip into the vehicle’s cockpit or ride on top of the dinosaur.
Children can detach the inflated dinosaur and roll it separately, or drive the roughly 46 cm-long vehicle around on its working wheels. Front claws can move obstacles out of the way during a pretend rescue. When the adventure is over, the dinosaur goes back into the vehicle, where closing the side panels helps deflate it for storage. That gives children both a truck to drive and a dinosaur reveal to bring into their own rescue missions.
Arlo was so into PAW Patrol when he was little that we made our own PAW Patrol-themed Christmas tree. He loved dinosaurs too, so he’d have been all over this.
Primal Hatch Megalodon Specimen (£54.99)
Best for shark fans aged five and over who enjoy a dramatic hatching experiment followed by interactive play. Place the egg in its reusable tank, remove the tabs and add water to start the reaction. The water fizzes as the Megalodon makes sounds and its eyes light up inside the egg, building up to the moment the 40.6 cm shark breaks out with chomping jaws.
Once hatched, children can use the mouth button and touch controls for built-in games involving lights, sounds and quick reactions. The tank and egg can be rinsed, dried and reset for another hatch, although the red colour change in the water happens on the first hatch only. There’s a clear reason to bring it out again, both to repeat the reveal for someone else and to explore the shark’s games after the first surprise.
I’ll be honest, I think it looks disgusting, which is probably exactly why Arlo would have loved it. I can picture him resetting it and going round the house saying, “Come and look at this!” I’d save it for a quieter day over the holidays, and I like that you can do the reveal all over again.
Starts with Ends With (£21.99)
Best for families who enjoy word games with a race to answer. Spin the two wheels to reveal a starting letter and an ending letter, then think of a word that fits both. For example, with C at the beginning and T at the end, “cat” would work. The first player to give a valid answer grabs a token, and the first to collect five wins.
The box includes the spinner console, 20 tokens and instructions, and the game is for two or more players. The tokens store inside the spinner, making it fairly easy to pack for a family visit over Christmas. Developed with gaming duo Games4Two, it combines finding a word with reacting quickly enough to claim the token. I’d pick it for a family that enjoys a lively challenge and children who are confident thinking of words under pressure.
I always buy a game at Christmas, even though we’ve already got loads. This sounds like one we could get out after dinner and get straight into.
VTech Toy Story 5 Explore & Learn Lilypad (£24.99)
Best for younger Toy Story fans who enjoy pretend texting and short learning activities. This frog-shaped Lilypad has a QWERTY keyboard with letter and emoji keys. Children can explore letters and words, try a guessing activity where a picture gradually appears, or use the arrows to move a frog while practising counting from one to 100. There’s also a music activity where pressing the keys adds to the tune.
For film-themed play, Buzz’s Vacuum Zoom asks children to steer Buzz and a vacuum around Bonnie’s house. Character buttons let them hear messages from Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the Tech Trio, then use a letter or emoji key to send a pretend reply. Turning Lilypad’s hands moves its eyes, adding a physical feature to explore as well as the screen activities. A low/high volume setting gives parents some control over the sound during play.
I think this is a good price for a little Toy Story fan. I’d still want to see how responsive the buttons are. Some children will happily press the same button over and over, while others will want a bit more to discover.
DreamToys 2026 FAQs
DreamToys is the Toy Retailers Association’s yearly prediction of the toys that will be most in demand at Christmas. It’s the only list chosen by an independent panel of toy retailers and experts, from small independent toy shops to national chains.
The DreamToys 2026 list was revealed on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
There are 15 toys on the 2026 list. It’s presented alphabetically and isn’t ranked.
The NeeDoh Swirl Niceberg is the cheapest at £13.99 RRP, followed by the Mini Brands Really Works Vinyl Playset at £19.99.
The Hot Wheels City Ultimate T-Rex Garage is the most expensive at £129.99 RRP.
Yes. A nationwide competition launching on Friday 13 November 2026 gives eight children the chance to win all 15 toys on the list. Entry is through participating toy shops, and T&Cs apply.
If you’re planning a festive day out too, here’s my guide to Christmas days out in Birmingham and the Midlands.
Last Updated on Wednesday, November 11, 2026 by Lavania Oluban