The winter holidays may still be three months away, but if you’re thinking of buying someone on your Christmas list some Lego this year, toy retailers are advising you to stock up now because there could be shortages.

Lee Richmond, the owner of Kaboodles, an independent toy store with four locations around British Columbia, says Lego reps told her company back in August that they would not be able to fill her fall inventory requests.

“Hopefully we will be able to offer some things to people; we have a lot of backstock right now. But the way we sell Lego, it will run out,” she told CTV Vancouver.

Joanna Mileos, owner of The Granville Island Toy Company in Vancouver says she’s heard similar news from Lego.

“It's so popular that Lego themselves are telling us there's a shortage, in fact they are 23 per cent oversold, from what we're hearing. And as a result, we're not going to get a lot of our fourth quarter order,” Mileos says.

Richmond suspects smaller toy stores in Canada are feeling the supply pinch because Lego is putting the priority on filling orders from the U.S.

“We really are second fiddle,” she said.

But supplies of the popular block sets appear to be varied, depending on the location. In the Victoria region, CTV News spoke to half a dozen independent toy stores and none reported receiving a fall order cancellation letter.

Lego reps aren't saying there is a company-wide shortage but admit that some items might be in tighter supply this Christmas season.

They also say that contrary to some reports, no stores have been shut off from receiving shipments. They add that an online shop has been created where independent retailers can place orders for a variety of available Lego items.

Lego is always a popular item at holiday time, but Mileos says it’s especially popular this year because of the success of last winter’s “Lego Movie.”

Last month, the Danish-based company reported that because of the movie, revenues were up 11 per cent in the first six months of 2014, and they expected strong sales to continue, following the movie’s release on DVD in the summer.

Neil Rogers, owner of Timeless Toys in Oak Bay, B.C., says “Lego Movie” block sets have been very popular and will likely remain so through the holiday shopping season.

"Anything Lego Movie is going to be difficult to find. Some of the newer Star Wars sets that had an August release might also be difficult to find,” he said.

The advice to shoppers: don’t expect to find any Lego on sale for the rest of this year because it’s simply too popular.

“My advice to people whose kids are really into Lego is: If you see it, pick it up,” says Mileos. “Because if it’s on the Christmas list, you might not find it come December.”

With reports from CTV Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson and CTV Vancouver Island’s Yvonne Raymond