Are Sing-A-Ma-Jigs 2010s Hot Toy For Christmas?

Are Sing-A-Ma-Jigs 2010's Zhu Zhu Pets?

Every year, as the Christmas shopping season ramps up, a new toy emerges as the must-have gift for kids on Christmas morning. From Cabbage Patch Kids in the 1980s to Tickle Me Elmo in 1996 and the Zhu Zhu Pets in 2009, hot toy trends and fads send shoppers scrambling to find that impossible-to-find toy to put under the tree.

In 2009, Zhu Zhu Pets were the hot toy for the holidays, with parents and grandparents scrambling to collect them all in time for Christmas. The little motorized hamsters were sold out for months online and in stores. This year, Sing-A-Ma-Jigs appear to be poised to take their place as the must-have, hard-to-find top toy for kids to hope to discover on Christmas morning.

Sing-A-Ma-Jigs are colorful, adorable singing toys from Mattel and Fisher-Price. Each brightly colored plush character sings a well-known song as you squeeze its belly note-by-note. When you squeeze two or more Sing-a-ma-jigs at the same time, their little mouths open wide as they harmonize together in perfect unison. The simple design is addictive and fun for kids of all ages.

With a retail price of $12.99, Fisher-Price Sing-A-Ma-Jigs are, like the Zhu Zhu Pets before them, relatively inexpensive. They're also highly collectible, with a bunch of bright colors and different songs to seek. And while one Sing-A-Ma-Jig is fun to play with, two or three or all of them together are even more fun.

So far, nine distinct Sing-A-Ma-Jigs characters are available:

The red Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "Where Oh Where has My Little Dog Gone"
The pink Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "Skip to My Lou"
The teal Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "When the Saints Go Marching In"
The yellow Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "Home on the Range"
The mint green Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "It's Raining It's Pouring"
The purple Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "Oh Suzanna"
The hot pink Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "A Tisket A Tasket"
The light blue Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
The orange Sing-A-Ma-Jig will sing "On Top of Old Smoky"

The red, pink, teal, and yellow toys were released in Spring 2010, and the mint green, purple, hot pink, light blue, and orange Sing-A-Ma-Jigs became available in the fall. All the colors quickly sold out and new shipments disappear from store shelves as soon as they are restocked, which is the same thing that happened with Zhu Zhu Pets the year before.

As early as months before the Sing-A-Ma-Jigs' initial release, toy bloggers and toy fair attendees began predicting that the singing plush toys would be this year's hard-to-find toy, and so far they appear to be right. Even with well over a month to go before the holiday shopping season really kicks off, Fisher-Price is already failing to keep up with the demand, and Sing-A-Ma-Jigs are routinely selling for more than their suggested retail price in online auctions.

It is still a little early to say for sure that Sing-A-Ma-Jigs are 2010's hottest toy, but sales and buzz so far certainly seem to predict that they will be.