When one of my friends asked me to help him work on a guide to the best toys, I initially balked at the project.

It seemed like to broad an effort. After all, how would you rate toys?

Would you look for the best selling toys, the best educational toys, or the most unique and unusual toys? Are tech toys inherently better just because they seem to be selling better, or do the classics get a higher rating because they have withstood the test of time? Thinking about all of these questions, I thought the project was impossible.

Nevertheless, he convinced me to persist for a while. In retrospect, I am glad he did.

You see, a best toy guide is important for many reasons. A lot of the times, parents don't know what to get their children for presents. The right educational toy at the right time can really inspire a kid and make a huge world of difference. A kite might not seem like much, but it can be a great way to bring a family together.

An electronics projects kit might not be as high tech as the latest video game system, but it can help kids understand how things work and inspire passion for a high-technology career. The best toys both amuse and inspire

One of the things that we discovered while researching the magazine is that collectors are an excellent source of information on the best toys. I had always assumed that they collected things because of their esoteric value and rarity, but it turns out that they really know what they are talking about. Some tin toys, for example, go back decades but are still as entertaining as ever.

Robotic windup cars can be more fun than radio controlled cars for some people, and if something goes wrong with them they are easier to fix.

Of course, there is no reason to give short shrift to electronic gadgets. Today's high-tech toys are some of the best toys that have ever been invented.

Toy robots, video game systems, radio controlled vehicles, and virtual pets are just some of the many inventions that have made our lives more entertaining. Even better in my opinion are toys that help you to enhance your creativity through the use of high tech. People don't think of sound recording software as a toy, but it really is to many kids.

Similarly, digital cameras and digital photo editing software are considered some of the best toys by many teenagers.