WHEN Christmas deccies appear in public spaces ever earlier each year, and Slade start hijacking in-store piped music, there is one wee nugget of cheer which makes me glad inside: I am no longer required to source and purchase gifts for little people. Oh the joys of hard cash and Amazon vouchers.

I still have flashbacks to that fraught festive season spent in pursuit of a Teletubby.

So, as the list of the top toys for this year was unveiled, my heart went out to parents and, of course, Santas everywhere.

Favourites range from the traditional – Monopoly Fortnite Edition – to the bizarre – a “Poopsie” unicorn that defecates slime. There’s Barbie’s Ultimate Kitchen for little girls eager to be stereotyped twice over. And predictably, mega-brands Harry Potter and Lego join forces to take the number one slot on the list with their Hogwarts Great Hall, a snip at £89.99.

The most intriguing toy of all, though, is a response to the even more intriguing craze for wrapped-up collectables which is set to dominate seasonal sales. The prolifically punctuated L.O.L. Surprise! Under Wraps comes in at number two on the list. Sales of collectable toys have risen by 30% in the year so far, compared with the same period of 2017.

They are inspired by “unboxing” videos on sites such as YouTube, and the product comes with layers of wrapping before the child reaches the mystery figure inside. There are various toys to collect. A bit like football cards, I imagine, but with more packaging. Call me an old Grinch, but I’d like to question the environmental impact of all that plastic.

L.O.L. Surprise! Under Wraps is priced at a relatively modest £14.99. But parents be warned. A top-of-the-range limited-edition version comes in at a whopping

180 quid. Presumably that is the most collectable collectable a child can collect. The mind boggles at the amount of packaging required for that particular bauble.

An added exasperation for the purchaser is that, like the children, they have no idea which wrapped-up character they have bought. On the plus side, this does let the adult off the hook if the child at the receiving end is disappointed. I am warming to this toy after all.

Launched in April last year by MGA Entertainment, the creators of Bratz dolls, with no TV advertising, the level of success of L.O.L. was a surprise even to the company itself. This was perhaps amplified by the humble origins of the range … good old pass-the-parcel.

Of course, part of the fun of pass-the-parcel is the group element and the interaction of participants. It’s the fun of communal rivalry, the building excitement as the layers are ripped away. It’s pushing the very limits of how long little mitts can linger on the parcel in the hope that the music stops. No amount of plastic can capture that thrill.

During the lengthy research carried out on this topic, I was interested to discover what the L.O.L acronym stands for. It’s Lil Outrageous Littles. And here was me thinking it was Laugh Out Loud all the way to the bank.