In 1996, Santa had his job cut out supplying Derry's youngsters with Buzz Lightyear dolls. In 1997 he struggled to get enough Tinky Winky's in his sack but this year it is the turn of a fuzzy furball to get parents into a tizzy as the big day approaches.
Go-Go Hamsters from Go-Go Pets are the big toys of Christmas 2009 and local stores are struggling to meet demand.
With the elusive hamsters - normally retailing at £9.99 - now selling for upwards of £30 or £40 on Ebay queues of hopeful parents can
be seen waiting outside the city’s toy stores whenever a whisper of a delivery gets out.
The hamsters, and their accessories including the rare-as-gold-dust Hamster Play House, have sold out almost everywhere - and are next to impossible to get hold of even online.
On Saturday morning a queue had formed outside Toys R Us and the new delivery were being dispensed on a strict one hamster per customer basis. Anyone hoping for the full set of Chunk, Num Nums, Mr. Squiggles and Pip Squeak was left sorely disappointed.
Customers were told that a small delivery of just four of the Playhouses had sold out within five minutes of the store opening on Friday.
A quick check of local stock yesterday showed that no local Argos stores - including Strabane - had the Hamsters in stock, nor, according to their website, did Smyths Toy Store on Strand Road. Toys R Us was also out of stock.
