I’ve been part of the retailing industry for a long long time, so it’s only natural that my ears perk up when the new Christmas gift scuttlebutt begins to flow.

Most big name retailers make their predictions for the top selling Christmas toys several months in advance.

As far as I can tell, about a dozen major international retailers have already announced what they believe will be hot items for Christmas 2010.

Here are a few of top predictions:

Air Hogs Vectron Wave
Armouron Action Set
Audi ‘Type C’ Pedal Car
Bakugan 7 In 1 Maxus Dragonoid
BARBIE® Transforming Lead Doll
BARBIE® Video Girl
Ben 10 Kevin’s DX Action Cruiser
Beyblade Metal Fusion Super Vortex Battle Set
Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver
Ferrari F1 Electric Ride-On
Fisher-Price My Stroll and Play Walker with Doll
FurReal Go Go My Walkin’ Pup
Grand Piano
Lego City Fire Station
Lego Toy Story 3 Western Train
Lotso Huggin Bear
Mega Bloks Halo Wars UNSC Rocket Warthog
Mindflex
Moon Dough Barn
Nerf N-Strike Deploy CS-6
PaperJamz Guitar
Parrot AR Drone
PIPI MAX
Plan Toys Doll House
Playdoh Mega Fun Factory
Playmobil School
Razor Rip Rider 360
Scalextric Micro Maximum Mayhem
Star Wars General Grievous Spinning Electronic Lightsaber
Stinky The Garbage Truck
Sylvanian Families Motorcycle and Sidecar
Sylvanian Regency Hotel
Turbo Twister
Vtech Kidizoom Video Camera
Zapf Baby Annabell Doll
Zhu Zhu Pets                                               

Okay… so much for making the kids happy.

Now let’s hope that Mom and Dad will think about getting a one-of-kind Santa Doll that can be handed down as a family heirloom.

Not yet sure what our bad economic times will do… if anything… to the success of this Saturday’s show.  Tempus fugit… so I’ll know soon.