Tickle Me Elmo is back on the holiday toy lists, and so is your 1996 panic

It's October, which means the big retailers have published their official "your kids are going to want this" lists. Target put out its Bullseye's Top Toys list on October 5. Amazon released its 2026 Top 100+ Toys list back on September 9.

Read through both and you'll notice something. A lot of the stuff on there would have made sense under a tree in 1996.

Elmo, again

Tickle Me Elmo is on Target's list. Amazon's picks include the Tickle Me Elmo Giggle Max, an 18-inch interactive version listed at $39.99. If you were around for the original Elmo frenzy in the mid-'90s, when parents were fighting over a laughing red puppet, you're allowed a small smile here.

The nostalgia picks on each list

From Target's top 50:

• A Target-exclusive LEGO Star Wars Up-Scaled Darth Vader minifigure
• Hot Wheels City Ultimate T-Rex Garage with two cars
• Barbie DreamHouse
• A Pokémon Pikachu Puppetronic
• Nintendo Switch 2 (not technically a toy, but Target counts it)

From Amazon's list:

• Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box, $89.99. Yes, Pokémon is 30 now. Sit with that.
• An Amazon-exclusive Transformers Collaborative x Monster Jam Grave Digger, $57.99
• LEGO Botanicals Woodland Mushrooms, which Amazon labels as a set for adults, $79.99
• A 20th anniversary edition of the Kanoodle puzzle game, $16.99

Prices are what Amazon listed when it published the list. Retail prices move, especially once holiday sales start, so treat them as a starting point.

What isn't there

If you were hoping big retailer lists would push He-Man, the Ninja Turtles or new Star Wars figures to the front, Amazon's featured picks skip them entirely. These lists are built for kids and parents shopping for kids. The collector stuff lives elsewhere, mostly in preorders and online fan stores.

The kid-focused lists lean hard on slime, squishies, mystery packs and interactive pets. That's the modern version of the stuff we begged for. Your kids are not wrong to want it. They're just wrong about the price.

A couple of useful details

• Target says its list starts at $4.99, and that its broader toy aisle has more than 1,000 items under $10.
• Target will donate $3 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for every Gigglescape St. Jude bear sold from November 1, 2026 through January 2, 2027.
• Amazon's article shows a few dozen featured picks and links out to the full list.

The bottom line

Use these lists like a scouting report. If your kid has been talking about something, odds are it's on one of them. If you want to sneak in a little shared nostalgia, the Pokémon box, the Transformers truck or the up-scaled Vader are the easy picks. And if you want to grab a Tickle Me Elmo early for the little one, this time you probably won't have to fight anybody in a parking lot for it.