This holiday season, each American shopper will spend an average of $594.80 on gifts for family and friends, according to the National Retail Federation.
Many will spend the bulk of that budget during the annual Black Friday sales bonanza, which now stretches to include Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
As ever, toys and electronics are proving two of the most sought-after categories for bargain-hunters.
IBM's artificial intelligence platform Watson has been mining the web in real-time through its Trends app, identifying the most popular and fastest-trending products as parents rush to score deals for their kids' holiday wish lists.
This Black Friday, the clear winners across the category are Danish toy giant Lego and all things Star Wars.
Lego Star Wars characters. Image: Lego.com.
The number one toy is perhaps predictably Star Wars Lego: brick sets inspired by the film franchise, which has seen unprecedented levels of buzz thanks to the anticipated December 18th release of The Force Awakens.
Generating the second highest level of chatter online is Lego Friends, the building sets aimed specifically at girls. The line has been a huge hit for the toymaker since its 2012 release.
Watson notes that this particular Black Friday buying frenzy may be due in part to a projected shortage thanks to high demand. Lego's factories are running at full capacity, the brickmaker warned in October.
The Billund-based toymaker's classic Lego City building blocks and Lego Minecraft -- a collaboration with the Swedish construction computer game -- are also among the top trending toys, according to Watson.
Almost as high up the Black Friday list: two toy robots based on Star Wars droids, the $150 Sphero BB-8 and the pricier R2-D2 Astromech. The latter appears to be sold out on Walmart.com and ToysRUs.com.
Now in her 56th year, Barbie is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. The National Retail Federation recently noted that the fashion doll is back atop girls' wish lists this year after losing out to characters from Disney's mega-hit Frozen in 2014.
IBM posits that Barbie's sales have been bolstered by marketing buzz related to its recent collaboration with Italian design house Moschino.
An ad for the limited-edition Moschino Barbie released in mid-November marked the first time a boy has starred in a campaign for the doll, appearing alongside an ethnically diverse line-up of little girls.
For more on toys trending across the internet per IBM's Watson, see here.
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