IF you’re bit of a bah humbug when it comes to Christmas, you may want to look away now. For the battle to be top toy in Santa’s sack has commenced.

The fight to be first on children’s wish lists is a time-honoured tradition which has seen some unlikely contenders in the past.

Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Teletubbies, Power Rangers and POGs have all had their fifteen minutes of fame over the years.

Vying for children’s affections this Christmas are Toy Story’s Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear, a mix of furry fighters including Ninja hamsters and a rather more friendly monkey called Dave.

When it comes to pre-schoolers, the divinely named Chuggington interactive trains are tipped to be this year’s must-haves.

A spokesman for Toys R Us said: “Toy Story 3 is an incredible toy range and collectively it will dominate the Christmas market, however individually Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear will go head to head with the interactive Kung Zhu Special Forces and Ninja Hamsters.”

Two decades ago children were nagging heir parents for Sylvanian Families, Transformer Robots and football stickers.

In recent years some of the biggest sellers have been high-tech toys such as Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and XBox 360.

But although technology is now more popular than ever before with children, some old favourites are making a come-back – much to the delight of many parents who remember them the first time around.

Monopoly and Sylvanian Families both figure on the wish list this year and the Scalextric Micro Maximum Mayhem and Tracy Island set looks set to keep tills ringing, too.

For although children’s playtime habits have changed, films and television programmes still influence their choice of toy.

Back in the 80s all the kids wanted to own a Transformer robot and while they died out during the 90s they are back in favour again as a result of the 2007 movie which was based on the original series.

So it would seem that the Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters (formerly known as Go Go Hamsters) have got a big fight for the festive hot spot because all signs seem to show that it will be Buzz’s (light) year.

What's the best toy you ever got for Christmas when you were a child? Let us know in the comments.