Target took an early lead in holiday price-cutting on toys this year, forcing Walmart to cut prices in response, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Other retailers, including Amazon and Toys R Us, are also in the mix with low prices on the hottest items.

Additional discounts are also available, with Target offering 5% off anything paid for with a Target card. 

Walmart has expanded its toy circular to 52 pages, and is trying to show that it has the selection it cut back last year (see “Walmart Cutting Toy Space”).

Discounts on games have been out there over the past couple of weeks, with Barnes & Noble running “buy two get one” sales on games in its stores, and Amazon running a “buy two get one” sale on Hasbro games on its Website.   

Meanwhile B&N is testing bigger toy departments; it rolled out 3,000 square foot mega-boutiques in five stores last week.  The nation’s largest book chain already has expanded toys and games departments in its stores nationwide.  They’re organized into Educational Toys & Games for kids form infancy through 12, and Adult Games and Puzzles for 13 and up.