The Slanket was 2009′s best selling present by a merry mile if you judge ‘best selling present’ by what sold out very quickly indeed.  The Slanket was virtually sold out by the beginning of December with just Prezziesplus able to take pre-orders with new stock arriving.

Well, the good news is that online stores seem to be better prepared this Christmas with most stores still in stock of the precious Slanket – as well as the Kids’ Slanket.  But, be warned, that could change very quickly indeed as the Festive Season gets underway and online shopping ramps up in advance of Christmas.

For those that don’t know (and it’s hard to believe that anyone doesn ‘t know) The Slanket is a warm, cuddly blanket with sleeves available in lots of different colours – Dark Limoge Blue, Alaskan Blue, Hunter Green, Lavender Pink, Ruby, Purple, Chocolate, Cream and Beige.  The Slanket is completely unisex and there’s also a kid version to that’s smaller and cheaper.  Lots and lots of stores are now stocking the Slanket and the way to get the best price is to use a price comparison service – click here to search for the best price for The Slanket online.

As mentioned above, there’s also a kids’ version which is slightly smaller – click here for the Kids’ Slanket.

And there’s yet another innovation for Christmas  – the Double Slanket. That’s right, it’s double the size, double the fun and, of course, has 4 sleeves instead of 2 for getting all warm and cuddly with whoever you choose to share your Slanket with – click here for the Double Slanket.

Each year, the Toy Retailer’s Association brings out what it believes will be the Top Toys at Christmas.  In the past, there has been a Top Ten – this year they have gone for a Top 12 – which I guess increases the scope for popular toys.  In any case, here is the Toy Retailer’s Association’s Top 12 Toys for Christmas 2009 and you can buy them all at Toys R Us – and all of this year’s toys are priced under £50.  Each of the top toys links to Toys R Us with the prices quoted.  If you’d like to compare toy prices, you can compare toyr prices at these two toy comparison sites – Gift Mania and Toys 4U

Bakugan Battle Pack, Spin Master
£14.78 from Toys R Us

Battle Strikers starter Set, Mega Brands
£9.99 from Toys R Us
DEAL: BUY 2 Get 3rd Free Battle Strikers

 Bendaroos Mega Pack, Spin Master
£17.99 from Toys R Us

GO GO Pets Hamsters, Character Options
£9.99 from Toys R Us

Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera, V-Tech
£39.00 each from Toys R Us

GX Racers Tightrope Terror, Flair £14.99 from Toys R Us

Just two days after reducing hamper prices by a further 10% to 30% off, they have knocked yet more off selected hampers.  Their latest special offer on hampers is a staggering 50% off selected hampers plus FREE delivery.  The offer is so fresh they haven’t even after updated their home page which still shows just 30% off hampers.  Use the discount code on their landing page to get the reduction.

Many of the hampers that were reduced by 30% have been removed from the site which suggests they sold out quite quickly.  The new offer, however, includes quite a few hampers so it’s worth browsing the full selection to see which ones are reduced by 50%.  My guess is that the offer will change during the day on certain hampers as they either sell out – or not as the case may be.

Either way, this remains the best bet to pick up a cheap hamper this Christmas.

See the Marks and Spencer 50% off hampers here

Prezzybox should have approximately 100 slankets for sale tomorrow (December 18)  This is the good news from Prezzybox for those still looking for one for Christmas.  However, these will sell out very, very fast.

Keep checking their website and also be prepared to take any colour available.  They should have some of every colour going on sale but they have slightly more of the Limoges Blue Slanket.

The Slanket has become the ‘must have’ item this Christmas and online stores have simply not been able to keep up with demand.  Prezzybox is the only online store with any stock left.  The delay in getting remaining stock live on their website has been the need to fulfill back orders that were guaranteed for Christmas.

Be lucky and keep checking their website during the day.  I doubt the remaining stock will last more than an hour when it goes live.  Slankets ordered will arrive for Christmas thanks to Prezzybox’s distribution system.  The Slanket costs just £34.95 at Prezzybox – delivery is just £3.95.

Here are the direct links to the Slankets at Prezzybox:

Lavender Pink Slanket

Limoges Blue Slanket

Ruby Wine Slanket

Hunter Green Slanket

Chocolate Brown Slanket

Dixons has hit back in the war of the electrical retailers by chopping prices storewide by 5% until December 22.  Margins have been eroded aggressively by the electrical retailers this Christmas with waves of discount codes and offers from Currys, Comet and Dixons.  The latest cut by Dixons is in response to both Currys and Comet extending their discount code offers right up until Christmas in most cases.

This latest Disons discount codes replaces all previous 5% and 3% off offers which were generally product related.  This is a blanket 5% and can be used on anything from an LCD TV to an Ipod to a food mixer. 

It’s great news for shoppers code looking for that last minute bargain.  If you need something very quickly you can also get very prompt delivery if you pay a bit extra.

To see Dixons discount codes click here

Marks & Spencer has reduced selected hampers by 30% (the previous offer was a 20% reduction on all hampers) as Christmas approaches.  They’ve been pretty brazen about it too by plastering a discount code on their Christmas Hamper landing page that’s pretty difficult to miss.

The Christmas hamper business is very competitive and M&S hampers are well known for their quality, so this is a great offer.  The number of hampers that are now reduced by 30% with this discount code is pretty extensive.  Of those priced under£50, six will accept the discount code – and that includes the Christmas Sweetie Stocking which is priced at just £20; which would take the price down to £14, and that’s a great deal.

With 30% off a pretty large number of the hampers, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a bargain with this discount code.  Hampers make great presents and corporate gifts – as well as a nice treat for the family and kids at Christmas.

M&S hampers are priced from £20 and there are 9 hampers to choose from that are below £50.  Plus there’s the Christmas Magnificence Hamper which is priced at £500, if you’re feeling a little more extravagant.  This price reduction is also set to run until December 31 so you can also get a hamper for New Year using this discount code.

It would take me all night to list all the special offers and sales this weekend but one thing’s for sure, the online retailers are after your business and they’re prepared to cut prices to get it.  This weekend promises to be probably the busiest online Christmas shopping weekend so far and will probably prove to be the busiest of 2008 with just one more to go after this.  Many guaranteed last order dates for Christmas are approaching fast so you will need to be quick to grab the best bargains in time for Christmas.

Here are some of the best offers I have found this weekend:

Dorothy Perkins – FREE delivery on all orders over £40 December 13-18 – click here

63% off  JVC LT-47 DV8 47″ HD Ready LCD With Integrated Freeview £899 inc VAT + FREE delivery – click here

All Comet discount codes extended until December 26 – click here

Maplin FREE delivery on all orders this weekend only – click here

25% off Science Museum and Natural History Christmas gifts at Eddie’s Essentials – click here

HTC Touch 3G Windows Mobile under £300 at Insight UK – click here

Boden’s Winter Sale starts this weekend – up to 60% off – click here

Marks and Spencer 3 for 2 Christmas sale – click here

Extreme Pie 15% off this weekend only – click here

Free ring of your choice when you spend £50 at Coloured Rocks – click here

Early Learning Centre 1/3 off toys – click here

Up to 65% off toys at The Toy Shop – click here

Boots half price offers – click here

And don’t forget there are lot and lots of new discount codes available for lots of retailers - see them all here

Have a great Christmas shopping weekend and if anyone can think of what to buy a 12-year old boy who has most things, please let me know – because at the moment I’m stuck.

The Slanket is in stock at Presents for Men.  They have 2 colours currently in stock – these are the Limoges Blue Slanket and the Ruby Wine Slanket.  Once again, expect this stock to dwindle very fast as the weekend approaches – and stock may not last past the weekend.  Stock numbers are unconfirmed as I’m writing this but their website confirms that it is in stock.

The Slanket at Presents for Men is priced at £34.99 – which is pretty much the standard price for this item.

Be lucky and be quick if you want a Slanket for Christmas.  Click here for The Slanket at Presents for Men.

Maplin has extended its 3 for 2 offer on toys until Christmas Eve – although you’ll obviously need to order before then to be sure of delivery for Christmas.

They have a great new section setup for the offer which includes very neat presents such as remote controlled helicopters, remote controlled planes, remote controlled cars, motorised trikes, Meccano and even a usb piano!! They really do have some great gifts.  Click here for the Maplin website. 

There are lots of other offers too that have been announced today:

Barratts sale starts Monday – click here

New Savile Row discount codes – click here

New Screwfix Direct discount code – click here

Kitbag new Sporting Gifts – click here

Gluv footwear discount codes including 30% off everything – click here

Flowers Direct new discount codes – click here

Cloggs new discount codes – click here

UK Soccershop FREE shorts offer – click here

Urban Retro new discount codes – click here

John Lewis new offers and price reductions – click here

Burton 20% off everything – click here

Digiat Direct FREE 3-year warranty on all Plasma and LCD TVs – click here

It’s hurry, hurry, hurry if you want a Slanket for Christmas.  Prezziesplus has sent us its stock update again this afternoon.

They’ve only got stock left of the Limoge Blue Slanket and Hunter Green Slanket for adults.  All other adult Slankets have now sold out.  But they do have more stock of the Kids Slanket.  Prezziesplus has 8 of the Hunter Green and 60 of the Limoge Blue in adult sizes.  So get any orders in today – click here to order.

Prezziesplus does have stock of the Kids Slanket but this isn’t expected to last much past the weekend, if at all.  They have 43 of the Limoge Blue, 49 Ruby,  72 Hunter Green and 36 of the Pink Kids Slanket.  Click here to order a Kids Slanket at Prezziesplus.

As mentioned previously, Prezzybox should be getting more stock in so keep checking their website.  Click here for The Slanket at Prezzybox.  It is saying ‘Sold Out’ at the moment but this will hopefully update very soon.