Christmas robot toy will be out of date by February

As parents flock to the shops to try to snap up the robot, which raps, dances, kung-fu kicks and talks, as well as replicating those cruder bodily noises, its creator has revealed that a new, improved Robosapien 2 will be launched in just two months’ time.

Sales of the robot, which was named toy of the year by the London store Hamleys in October, have already reached 180,000. Many shops across the UK have sold out for Christmas.

But its inventor, Mark Tilden, 43, a former NASA scientist, told the website GadgetMadness that the current model will be history in just a few months.

He said: "Robosapien 2 is top secret. But all will be revealed at the New York Toy Fair in February next year. Watch the skies, watch the skies."

The boffin would not reveal the new model’s tricks, but there is speculation that Robosapien 2 will be able to see. He has hinted his new gadget will be a female robot that can comb her owner’s hair, give hugs - and even order her male counterpart around.

The Consumers Association reacted with anger to the planned launch, branding it "depressing". A spokesman, Phil Evans, said: "It’s not very good practice but depressingly common for manufacturers to be storing up releases for the New Year.

"Consumers will not forget this tactic. It is hardly good timing. Parents will not realistically be able to persuade their kids to wait for the new version after Christmas and so will stump up for a product that will be replaced in a few months."

The department store John Lewis reported as early as last month that Robosapien was "flying off the shelves". The device requires seven batteries and is capable of walking, dancing, kung fu moves, and - to the unbounded delight of its young owners - flatulence.

Toys such as Robosapien highlight the expense to which some parents now have to dip into their wallets to satisfy the yearnings of their children. Recent figures revealed that Scottish children were set to receive an estimated 300 million worth of presents this year, as families lavish an average of 308 per child on gifts. That is about 60 per head more than youngsters are set to receive south of the Border.

The statistics were compiled by Giftrak, the gift-buying analysis section of market research firm TNS, which conducted interviews with 50,000 gift-buyers across the UK to find out who is buying what and for whom.

It found that the average UK child under 16 years of age will typically receive eight presents from parents and family, including aunts, uncles and grandparents.