With the holiday season nearing, we took a look at a variety of toys — both new and old — to see which ones retailers are betting on.  It looks like there’s no clear winner among the rookies:

However, there is a clear winner among the veterans:

Interestingly, Toy Story has more shipments than the three rookie front-runners — combined.  To be fair, Toy Story is not a typical veteran — it benefited from the release of Toy Story 3 this year.  But it seems clear that retailers are placing big bets on an oldie-but-goodie.

On a related note, check out shipments that included the word “toys” (below).  Up 24% from August to October, versus the same period in 2009.