Often the best toys are the simplest ones and this certainly applies to the classic doll. Children instinctively know how to play with dolls. Stereotyping is becoming less evident with more companies designing dolls for girls and boys

Kaloo Bear
Mumbo Jumbo Toys £22.50
For an extra special gift, Kaloo has a special edition Snowflake Bear for Christmas which comes in a presentation box. The bear is extremely soft and white with a snowflake embroidered on the pad of one foot. It is under stuffed in the middle, which makes it very floppy and easy for little hands to hold. www.bundlesofjoy-shopping.co.uk

BABY born doll
Zapf Creation £33.99
BABY born has added swimming to her talents. As well as crying, feeding and needing her nappy changed, BABY born is now waterproof. We tested her in the bath and had no problems with her head becoming waterlogged, which can happen with other dolls. She has lots of accessories that can be bought later and needs no batteries, just a child's imagination, to provide hours of play. www.mailorderexpress.co.uk

Baby Stella
Manhattan Toy £19.99
The Baby Stella doll is delightfully detailed, from her embroidered belly button to her bendy legs. She comes with a removable nappy, a super-soft two-piece sleeping outfit and a dummy that attaches magnetically to her mouth. Young children will find her easy to hold - she is very light to carry around. A lovely, best friend soft doll for ages 18 months + www.mailorderexpress.co.uk

My Lovely BABY
Zapf Creation £12.99
A new set of cloth dolls suitable for boys and girls from birth. The dolls and their pals - Bruno the bear, Benno the bunny and Berta the duck - are wonderfully cuddly and incorporate textures and sounds to stimulate a baby's senses. The My Lovely BABY range also includes dummy holders, pram rattles, padded picture books, colourful soft activity blocks and cloth balls as well as tiny wrist rattles and toy lullabies with calming melodies. www.mailorderexpress.co.uk

Bratz Tokyo a Go-Go
Vivid Imagination £25.99
Bratz are tipped to be the most popular fashion dolls for Christmas. With their heavily painted eyes and collagen lips, Bratz are the envy of every six- and seven-year-old girl dreaming about being grown up and fashionable. Tokyo a Go-Go has lots of clothes, a cool suitcase, robo-pet and CD player with headphones - not an iPod, that would be too cool. Bratz is catching up with Barbie when it comes to accessories so there are plenty of extras to buy later. www.mailorderexpress

Spiderman
Vivid Imagination £26.99
Action figures at most tend to articulate around the hips, shoulders and head. Once you have posed them standing and turning, there's not a lot more you can do. This new Spiderman figure is meant to be the ultimate action figure. Every joint is fully articulated so there are hundreds of dramatic ways for him to pose and he will move in whichever way you want. Our testers liked this better than the Spiderman web toys, which they said were over-sold by the packaging. Hamleys