The Force awakens and manages to freeze Elsa out

The force has truly awakened as deadly light sabres have knocked the cool singing dolls off the top of the Irish toy charts for the first time in more than two years.

Elsa and Anna have been frozen out this year with the popularity of Star Wars merchandise being driven not so much by children but by parents and grandparents who have a soft spot for - or at least a familiarity with - the franchise which has been around since Donald Trump was a young go-getter in the 1970s.

According to Argos, the new Droid BB-8, which makes its Star Wars debut this week, is proving to be a big hit although nothing can top the old reliable light sabre when it comes to electric killing machines.

After the light sabres and remote-controlled BB-8s, comes Lego Star Wars products. Argos said it has been selling three Star Wars products a minute since the start of December.

After the Force comes Frozen. The retailer said they were still selling “phenomenally well” despite the fact that the film came out in 2013. The Sing-Along Elsa and Elsa’s Magic Snow Sleeve are the favourites.

Talking Minions and Tumblin Stuart are popular as are minion chairs, soft lights and Minion games, such as Operation and Monopoly.

"It's ten years since a Star Wars film came out and almost four decades since the first one so we have almost two generations of followers," said Argos toy buyer Neil Bright.

“The older fans tend to be collectors desperate to get their hands on the latest models. Parents want to buy all their favourite characters to share with their children and youngsters want the latest versions of all the characters in anticipation of seeing the new film.”