If you are like me, you love LEGO toys. The small blocks offer so many possibilities for creativity to blossom. In addition, they have the ability to teach other lessons as well.

With many different sets and types of LEGO products available these days, it is good when a company like Amazon shares their information about the most popular LEGO sets.

Without any further ado, here is a quick look at eight of the bestselling LEGO sets at Amazon in late August 2010.

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Get out your pen and paper because agonizing over what toys you’ll kids will love for Christmas is no more! 2010 has seen an array of new toy technology that has won the hearts of children everyone. Let’s explore the top toys your kids are bound to enjoy.

Since the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Harry Potter craze has increased tenfold. With this, Harry Potter toys have been on the rise. LEGO Games brings the magic right to your kids with LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts. Let imagine run free with build-your-own LEGO Dice and changing rules. This buildable game for 2-4 people will offer fun for your whole family at a reasonable price of $29.99.

Another blockbuster hit that brings kids a ton of games is Disney’s Toy Story 3.  Make learning fun with Leap Frog’s read-a-long books. These fun story telling books offer a variety of fun stories based on the hit movie for you and your child to enjoy. Leapster’s Toy Story 3 game is an interactive game for ages 4-7 that offers your child the opportunity to help save the toys at Sunnyside Day Care through learning letters and building words. For just $24.99 you can make your child feel in the movie. Disney offer Playtime Talking Sheriff Woody so your child can enjoy their favorite phrases from the movie; prices vary based on location. VTech delivers a Buzz Lightyear Learn and Go for preschoolers learning letters, spelling, and for children interested in learning Spanish! Through four different games your children will love this toy that truly takes them to infinity and beyond ($14.99)!

Enjoy classic Hasbro games with your kids while they enjoy the new twist, building their own game! Hasbro’s U-Build series brings classic games such as Monopoly, Connect 4, Mouse Trap, Battle Ship, and Sorry, to you for your child to build. Building the game will be a fun family event in itself, and later your child will enjoy their hard work by playing the game! Prices vary based on game.

For ages 3-6 enjoy a fun game that combines learning and exercise into one! Fisher-Price offers their SMART CYCLE Racer Physical Learning Arcade System. Your child will race on a stationary bike and play arcade games through a hook-up to your television. Your child will drive, pedal, and steer while they learn letter distinction, counting, spelling, problem solving, and creativity. For $85 your child will learn a multitude of skills while staying active and healthy!

Through Fisher-Price Imaginext children can have one of the coolest toys of the year, their own and personal Big Foot the Monster! This foot-tall monster walks, talks, flips, and can even throw a ball. Your child will love animating Big Foot through the main controller. Making him burp, exercise, and sleep will bring hours of fun to your home. With rechargeable batteries and a charger, parents save with this $25 value included! Prices vary based on location.

You may be finally recovering from Christmas shopping last year, but kids certainly haven’t.  They may have already begun to think about what they’re going to have on their list for next year.  It’s hard to say what kids are really going to want for the next year, but there are some hints about what to look for on the list for Christmas 2010.

The biggest blockbuster movies of the year often become some of the biggest toys for the year.  Iron Man has already been released, and the final Shrek movie is looking to be in theatres in the next year, so keep an eye out for different action figures and toys from these movies to creep onto your child’s list in 2010.

Classic toys are becoming popular as well.  With the recession and higher unemployment, companies are reimagining the toys that people used to love and bringing them back in a way that kids love too.  Lego and monopoly are coming out with different toys and brands that are designed to match any child’s interests.

Another growing trend is inexpensive electronics, like digital cameras, that kids can use, but are designed to stand up to the wear and tear that kids tend to put them through.  Kids are a growing up with the technology we had to spend hours learning, so it’s an obvious step that they would begin making smaller, and more durable, alternatives for kids.  If your kids love to take pictures and videos, keep an eye out for inexpensive digital cameras and video cameras for kids.

Silly Bandz isn’t the only “brand” of these shaped rubber bands available, but they’re one of the more popular ones. According to their website, they were first to market with this variation of those friendship bracelets from years ago. While based on an older idea, they’ve really taken off in the summer of 2010. They’ve become so popular that there have been many, many knock-offs and off-brand versions of “Silly Bandz,” which is the official brand.

Kids love to collect and trade Silly Bandz. These Silly Bandz Fantasy Shapes can be used as rubber bands or as bracelets. Silly Bandz are easy to stretch and then return to their original shape.

Silly Bandz Fantasy Shapes:

• Fun and colorful
• Made of silicone
• Use as rubber bands or as bracelets
• Die molded in different shapes
• Return to their original shape every time
• Includes 48 Silly Bandz

What are your thoughts about Silly Bandz? Why are they so popular with children, teens, tweens, and even some adults? If you have the answers, let us know.

We are sure of one thing – these have been one of the most popular toys during the summer of 2010. This isn’t based on scientific “numbers,” but more of me seeing them everywhere I turn these days.

If you have a Silly Bandz story to tell, leave a comment below!

Purchase Silly Bandz:

• Silly Bandz at Amazon
• Silly Bandz Baseball Shapes, 48 count – Via Walmart

Ultimate Programmable Buzz Lightyear Figure

The Ultimate Programmable Buzz Lightyear Figure by Thinkway Toys, can now come to life in amazing ways. He is now a walking, talking animated Buzz Lightyear. This figure responds to voice commands, either with response phrases, or movements. He even speaks with a synchronized lip movement. Your child can play with him in Toy mode or Space Ranger mode for different voice phrases.

Fisher-Price 3-in-1 Smart Sports

Fisher-Price offers yet another TV-interactive game system with the 3 in 1 Smart Sports. This includes the base unit, a baseball bat, golf club and tennis racket attachment. There are 9 interactive games with various levels of play. Kids will enjoy swinging away while interacting and boosting their brain along with the physical exercise.

Nanover Nanoscope

The Nanover Nanoscope is a digital hand held game device that kids can play with together while online. Up to 4 Nanoscopes can be played at once, and over 100 Nanover monsters can be collected for battles. The device has a variety of games that you can choose from. This is a great gift for boys ages 7 through 12.

Spin Master Air Hogs SwitchBlade

The Spin Master Air Hogs SwitchBlade is a remote control hybrid flying machine. It is part helicopter and part airplane. It takes off using rotating blades like a helicopter, but then there is a morph button that is selected and the wings align which then causes it to fly like a regular airplane. This is a highly durable toy for children 6 years and up.

According to a fact box in a story at the Marietta Times, the Associated Press lists the top toys for Christmas 2009 as:

Must Have Toys Story

Zhu Zhu Pets.

Moxie Girlz (dolls made by MGA Entertainment Inc).

Liv Dolls (by Spin Master Ltd).

Barbie Fashionistas (by Mattel Inc).

Nerf items by Hasbro Inc.

Lego building sets.

Mindflex by Mattel Inc.

Source: The Associated Press

As you know, the Zhu Zhu pets are all over the news. They’re inexpensive, scarce, and have had rumors of safety concerns. All that aside, parents and children alike are actually rather mixed about the toy when I talk to them. As for the other toys on the AP list, it’s a lot of the ones we see on other lists. I’ll try to document those here this week. That way, over the years, you can come to Top Toys Blog to see what was popular in years past.

Do you agree with this top toys list? Why or why not? What toy is missing? What toy shouldn’t be on the list?