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Toy shortage

NEW YORK (WKOW)--An unstable economy is not just affecting how much people are spending on holiday presents this year, it could be impacting what presents are available.

Some stores are scaling back their toy orders causing a shortage in this years "hot toys."

Many retailers, afraid they'd see a repeat of last year's dismal sales because of the recession, cut back on inventory, causing a ripple effect.

Those much sought after hot items will be few and far between.

"Normally around December 1st, you see 10 to 15 toys that are in short supply. This year about 50 toys are in short supply," Jim Silver of timetoplaymag.com said.

The Nerf-n-Strike is hard to find and when you do, like many toys we tracked down, be ready to either pay big, wait or scale back.

At one website, it was priced at about $72.

It's much cheaper at toysrus.com, but there's a purchase limit.

Then you have Zhu Zhu Pets, interactive mechanical hamsters. You won't find them online at Toys-R-Us.

The fury creature costs about $10, but someone on Amazon.com hopes to get more than four times that.

With Mindflex, your own brain waves control a ball through a maze. Online it 's going for about $145.

At K-Mart, it's a whole lot cheaper.

Store manager Charlie Moore says, unlike many, this chain is optimistic and actually ordered up from last year.

"We expect a great 4th quarter this year. Customers are coming back. A lot of people had a tough year last year and are happy to spend this year," Moore said.

Experts say the best way to approach all of this: do you homework and buy online now, but come December head to the stores.

"There's a higher chance that a consumer will make additional purchases, so better for the retailer to have in stores," Silver said.