With the holiday shopping season approaching, stores and publications are issuing their lists of top gifts. We all know that TMX Elmo and Nintendo Wii will make everyone’s list, but what other toys and products should we look for this holiday season? We will try to share these lists with you and hopefully review some of the many products so you can make your own list. Today, we’re leading off with Toys “R” Us.

THE TOYS “R” US FABULOUS 15 THE BEST OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON

• Blue Man Group Percussion Tubes from ToyQuest
• Designer’s World from Tiger Games
• Dora’s Talking Cash Register from Fisher-Price
• ESPN Fast Action Football from Fisher-Price
• Kid-Tough Digital Camera from Fisher-Price
• Laugh & Learn Baby Grand Piano from Fisher-Price
• Mindstorms NXT from LEGO
• Barbie My Scene My Bling Bling Styling Head from Mattel
• Pink Nitro Notebook from VTech
• Power Rangers Deluxe Manticore Megazord from Bandai
• Speed Stacks StackPack from Play Along
• Sound City Railway from Imaginarium
• Tap Dancing Mumble from Thinkway
• T.M.X. Elmo from Fisher-Price
• Wii from Nintendo

This past weekend’s Elmo craze has us thinking about toys and pre-holiday shopping. Toys R’ Us just launched a Buy 2 Get the 3rd Free promotion which includes brand name toys for boys and girls of all ages.

If it was up to me, I would use it to get a Transformers Alternators Corvette Autobot Tracks. I would also get the Star Wars Transformers Boba Fett which combines both Star Wars and the Transformers. Finally, staying on the Star Wars theme, I would add Lego Star Wars for the PS2.

Now, as you can imagine, the girls here at Shopperism disagree with some of my choices. So for the girls, how about a Dora the Explorer shopping cart and wallet (hey, that fits the theme of our site) with a matching Dora the Explorer Dress-Up Adventure doll. And of course, a classic Barbie Dancing Princesses doll.

That’s just our ideas, you are invited to use your own imagination.

Link: Buy 2 Get the 3rd Free

Update: TMX Elmo Available on Amazon (as of 9/23/06 at 3PM Eastern) — Click Here

It’s been decided! (at least according to the national media, my friends, and family). TMX Elmo is the one gift you have to buy for the holidays.

We all remember the mass hysteria ten years ago as mothers trampled mothers in the toy store to get the must have Tickle Me Elmo. Well, since we don’t have enough hysteria today, the good folks at Fisher-Price, decided to release a 10th anniversary edition code-named “TMX Elmo”. In case you wondered, TMX stand for Tickle Me Extreme. Wow, that’s pretty serious.

The TMX Elmo is so extreme that is starts tickling as soon as you turn it on. The doll flaps, rolls, and generally can’t stop laughing (like me writing this post). The masters of tickle incorporated not two but three different tickle spots — the chin, the tummy, and the foot — which when tickled set TMX Elmo into a seizure like mode where he laughs, slaps his leg, sits down and rocks back and forth until he stands again. You thought that was innovative? If you tickle him again, he sits and falls backwards kicking his feet in the air. By the third tickle he turns over on his stomach and starts pounding the floor. I’m not kidding… I have video proof (at the end of this post).

Priced at $39.99, it’s already impossible to find one. So, we have checked out the universe of stores and here is our list of where you may be able to get your hands on one. So far, all the store we checked are sold out but we urge you to revisit the links below as supplies may reappear at any time.

Amazon
All TMX Elmo products are out of stock right now. Some people are reselling under the “new or used” option.
Link: TMX Elmo at Amazon and TMX Elmo and Barbie at Amazon

eBay
Available for prices ranging from $50 to $90. We urge that you verify the seller is legitimate before proceeding with any purchase.
Link: TMX Elmo at eBay

eToys/KBToys
Appears to be out of stock.
Link: TMX Elmo at eToys

Toys R’ Us
No luck here.
Link: TMX Elmo at Toy ‘R Us

WalMart
Also out of stock but offers three options: TMX Elmo, TMX with Barbie, and TMX (Hispanic Verison).
Link: TMX Elmo at WalMart

And now the video you’ve all been waiting for: