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 lovely to see that The Stylophone has made something of a comeback this year.  For us 40-somethings that fondly remember Rolf Harris introducing this cute ‘piano-like’ musical instrument – and then Rick Wakeman showing everyone what it can really do – it adds a touch of nostalgia to see it back in stores this Christmas.

For those of you who don’t know what a Stylophone is see here.  But, in Layman’s terms, it’s a cute little musical thing that you play like an electric organ with a stylus – hence the name stylophone.  For the more musically talented it has real potential, for the less so it’s still great fun.

The modern day Stylophone has been updated with an MP3 function so you can listen to music while you play and it now has a volume control and new sound effects.  The Stylophone is available in many online stores this Christmas and really does make a great present.

It’s worth comparing prices before you buy it because prices do vary a little.  Here’s a guide to the best deals with some iscount codes:

Findmeagift.com: Stylophone £13.90

Prezzybox: Stylophone £14.95
Prezzybox current discount codes

Firebox: Stylophone £14.95

Hawkin’s Bazaar Stylophone £14.99

Iwantoneofthose.com Stylophone £14.99
Iwantoneofthose.com discount codes

Marks & Spencer and John Lewis don’t seem to know whether they are coming or going with their sudden price reductions – but one suspects there are a few moles rattling around as the Christmas silly season takes hold. 

Both merchants have been engaging in very, very sudden 1-day price reductions, and far be it from me to say they are reacting to each other or trying to amass as many sales as is possible at the expense of the other.

The latest bout of price wars saw M&S announce a 20% price reduction for December 4.  This was then followed by John Lewis suddenly dropping its prices for December 3 by 30% (even though Marks & Spencer’s promotion was supposed to be under wraps). A similar promotion by M&S recently backfired when furious customers took items back they’d purchased before a sudden price drop to get the extra 20% off.

Without taking sides here are the best Christmas offers from both retailers:

John Lewis Christmas Shop

M&S 3 for 2 on Kids Toys

M&S 3 for 2 Christmas Shop

This might help with the nightmare that is the stocking fillers.  I know from personal experience that getting these blasted tiny things for the kids can be worse than shopping for what could be termed ‘main presents.  And lets be honest, they don’t really all fit in a stocking now do they!!  As the days of walnuts, satsumas and various other edible treats sufficing for stocking fillers are long gone (that’s what my mum told me she used to get).

Try these very nifty little football treats from Subside Sports.

I know they’re not all under a fiver but that’s what their website maintained befoe I clicked the link.  But, they’re ‘mostly’ all under a fiver.  I must also apologise to those of you seeking presents for girls – as these are undoubtdely for boys (unless, of cpurse, you have a young lady into football who’d like the David Beckham figure or the England captain’s armband - which incidentally is reduced to £2.99 from £3.50).

Either way you can bet your bottom dollar that most of these stocking fillers will be down the side of an armchair by New Year’s Day.

Merry Christmas

Oh and here’s the Subside Sports Christmas Shop with quite a good gift finder…

Toys R Us is selling the new Ben 10-figure pack for just £29.87 in the run up to Christmas so if you have a fan of the TV show in your house this could be the perfect Christmas present.  The 10 figure pack features the following characters and aliens from the TV show:

• Ben
• Ghostfreak
• XLR8
• Fourarms
• Diamondhead
• Heatblast
• Upgrade
• Grey matter
• Ripjaws
• Upchuck

It’s advertised as suitable for ages of 4+ so that pretty much includes anyone who might watch the series.

For more information click here…

Have you ever thought about someone buying a totally outrageous present for Christmas?  Well, you’re probably not alone because there is definitely a market out there for this kind of gift.  Otherwise, leading gadget store Iwantoneofthose.com wouldn’t have a section on their website totally dedicated to the outrageous and unusal gift buyer.

These kinds of gifts come in all shapes and sizes but, as you can probably imagine, they don’t come cheap.  The kind of presents we’re talk about here can cost well over a thousand pounds but for a bargain at £999 you can get my favourite – the Rollerball.  take a look here at this weird and wonderful gizmo (they even have a video).  It definitely reminds me of that strange game we saw in Gladiators in the 90s – where puffed out competitors struggled even to make the ball move in any direction towarsd the end of the game.  You’ll see from the video that they’ve tested it running downhill, which kinda worries me as there seems little ability to stop at all!!!  But it does look great fun.

Other great gadgets and gizmos in this section at Iwantoneofthose.com include:

• Mechanical robots
• Robot web camera (I’m really not sure why!!)
• Sports Sat Nav/GPS
• 6 in 1 casino bar

Their website is great fun and I’ve often used to for presents for the person who’s very hard to buy – and they do stock presents and gifts that you won’t find elsewhere including stuff like home and office gadgets, kitsch and daft gifts, super toys and hard to find games.

Check here for I Want One of Those discount codes…

Maplin Electronics will be offering 3 for 2 on toys online this weekend as the Christmas rush builds up in the retail sector.  The offer actually runs from Friday until Monday (December 1).  As with many of these offers, expect it to be extended if it proves a success.

The cheapest of the three toys will be free in the Christmas offer.  Maplin is not well known for toys but it does stock some great remote controlled helicopters, quad bikes and trikes, powerballs, games and Meccano.

More information…