by Benjamin Lomax

Created on: November 04, 2009   Last Updated: November 18, 2009

Tween boys (just a hair shy of teen-agers) are a relatively difficult group to shop for. Most have not decided whether they want to grow up and become young men or stay kids for a few years yet. Added to this the amazing curiosity displayed by boys between eleven and thirteen years old and you have a very large variety of potential choices for hot toys in 2009. So what is the safest bet? Well first you must have a good idea of the interests of your potential recipient. Following are some great choices for different tastes.

Movie-themed toys are going to be hot as always in 2009 for boys. Super-hero movies such as all the Marvel series (X-Men particularly), Watchmen and the classic D.C. heroes like Batman and Superman are perrenial favorites. But remember that tween boys generally have short attention spans, and that means relate their toys to a movie they have seen this year. G.I. Joe has been popular for over 50 years now, and with the new movie this is still true. Transformers have been popular since their inception in the 1980's and the latest movie keeps them hot. Besides, what kid doesn't want a car/robot toy? The new Optimus Prime Action Figure is huge and awesome.

Some specific items of interest, though, are the WowWee Tribot Talking Companion, a three-wheeled clever talking robot akin to Robosapien, but smarter and easier to handle. This one is a slam dunk. The same company produces the FlyTech BladeStar Helicopter, one of the best of the RC flying toys. There are dozens of versions of these, but be wary of the cheap ones for sale in kiosks at the Mall. They are cheap for a reason, and will last all of three or four days normally.

Voice changing helmets have been popular since their creation, and the latest include the Star Wars Clone Wars helmet and the Terminator Salvation Skull Helmet. Both are cool and serve as masks plus change the boy's voice. Both of these are quite appealing to kids that are going through puberty!

Video games are continually increasing in popularity among tween boys. They want the hottest systems, which remain the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, and the Wii. All three have experienced drops in prices with the economic slowdown and as they are not brand new ideas any more. Nothing has come along quite yet to push them aside, so take the opportunity to save a bit of money and still get the best systems out there.

If you already have a console or need something to go with it, there are literally thousands of games to choose

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>