The TOTY Award Winners were recently announced in a first-ever virtual ceremony with the in-person event being impossible to hold due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. After a brief commentary by Toy Association President Steve Pasierb, the nominations were replayed and the winners announced. For ease of seeing who was up for what and who would eventually win the coveted award, I’ve left the original full list of nominations for your perusal. Now without any further adieu, here are the 2021 TOTY Winners…
ACTION FIGURE TOY OF THE YEAR:
Alter Nation Action Figure Assortment (Panda Mony Toy Brands)
Anime Heroes (Bandai America)
Batman 4 Inch Action Figures (Spin Master)
WINNER – Fisher-Price #ThankYouHeroes Line (Mattel)
Heroes of Goo Jit Zu (Moose Toys)
The Original Spawn Action Figure and Comic Remastered (2020) (McFarlane Toys)
Treasure X (Moose Toys)
COLLECTIBLE OF THE YEAR:
Blume Petal Pets (Skyrocket)
Charaction CUBE (Bandai America)
Hairdorables Hair Art Series (Just Play)
HEXBUG JUNKBOTS Large Dumpster (HEXBUG)
WINNER – LEGO Super Mario Character Packs (LEGO)
L.O.L. Surprise! Remix Hair Flip (MGA Entertainment)
Space Invaders Micro Player (My Arcade)
CONSTRUCTION TOY OF THE YEAR:
BRIO Motor Set (BRIO)
LEGO Friends Rescue Mission Boat (LEGO)
WINNER – LEGO Star Wars The Razor Crest (LEGO)
MEGA Construx Halo – Pelican Inbound (Mattel)
Plus-Plus GO! Street Racing Super Set (Plus-Plus)
Snap Ships Sabre XF-23 Interceptor (PlayMonster)
SolarBots: 8-in-1 Solar Robot Kit (Thames & Kosmos)
CREATIVE TOY OF THE YEAR:
Big Gem Diamond Painting: Magical (Faber-Castell USA)
Chocolate Pen (Skyrocket)
Clixo (Toyish Labs)
WINNER – Crayola Colors of the World Crayons (Crayola LLC)
Face Paintoos Party Pack (PlayMonster)
Kinetic Sand Sandwhirlz Set (Spin Master)
Swirl & Style Tie Dye Studio Maker (YULU)
DOLL OF THE YEAR:
WINNER – Barbie Color Reveal (Mattel)
Cave Club Fashion Dolls (Mattel)
Disney Junior Doc McStuffins Wash Your Hands Singing Doll (Just Play)
FailFix (Moose Toys)
Healthy Roots Dolls: Zoe Doll (Healthy Roots Dolls)
L.O.L Surprise! O.M.G. Remix Dolls (MGA Entertainment)
Rainbow High Fashion Dolls (MGA Entertainment)
The Fresh Dolls (World of EPI and Just Play)
GAME OF THE YEAR:
Drone Home (PlayMonster)
Fish Club (Blue Orange Games)
Genius Square (MUKIKIM LLC)
Poetry for Neanderthals (Exploding Kittens)
WINNER – Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy (The Pokémon Company International)
Story Time Chess (Story Time Chess)
The #UpsideDownChallenge Game (Vango Toys)
INFANT/TODDLER TOY OF THE YEAR:
Crayola Easy-Clean Fingerpaint (Crayola LLC)
Deep Sea Adventure (The Manhattan Toy Company)
WINNER – Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Grow-the-Fun Garden to Kitchen (Mattel)
Go! Go! Smart Wheels Ultimate Corkscrew Tower (VTech)
Helping Heroes Fire Station (VTech)
Little Tikes 3-n-1 Sports Zone (Little Tikes)
Step2 Ball Buddies Adventure Center (Step2)
INNOVATIVE TOY OF THE YEAR:
Alexa 2-in-1 Kitchen and Market (KidKraft)
Crayola Light-Up Tracing Pad with Eye-Soft-Technology (Crayola LLC)
Go Go Bird (Zing)
KidiZoom Creator Cam (VTech)
LEGO Super Mario Adventures with Mario Starter Course (LEGO)
L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. Remix Super Surprise (MGA Entertainment)
Squeakee (Moose Toys)
WINNER – Star Wars The Child Animatronic Edition Toy (Hasbro)
LICENSE OF THE YEAR:
Baby Shark (Pingfong)
Blue’s Clues & You (Nickelodeon)
L.O.L. Surprise! (MGA Entertainment)
Marvel (Marvel)
PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue (Spin Master and Nickelodeon)
Pokémon (The Pokémon Company International)
Ryan’s World (pocket.watch)
WINNER – Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney)
OUTDOOR TOY OF THE YEAR:
Birdie Golf (Hog Wild Toys)
Little Tikes Magic Flower Water Table (Little Tikes)
Outdoor Science Lab (SmartLab Toys)
PRIMO (Ambosstoys)
SpikeBrite (Spikeball Inc.)
Total Z70 Zipline Bundle (Adventure Parks)
WINNER – Ultimate Go-Kart (Radio Flyer)
Wind Power 4.0 (Thames & Kosmos)
PLAYSET OF THE YEAR:
Blume Rainbow Sparkle Surprise Playset (Skyrocket)
HEXBUG Nanotopia (HEXBUG)
Fisher-Price Imaginext Pop-Up Gotham City Playset (Mattel)
Kindi Kids Kindi Fun Unicorn Ambulance Playset (Moose Toys)
WINNER – LEGO Super Mario Bowser’s Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set (LEGO)
PLAYMOBIL Scooby-Doo! Mystery Machine (PLAYMOBIL)
Railway Bucket-Builder-Set (Hape International Inc.)
PLUSH TOY OF THE YEAR:
Dolce Primo Kangaroo (Magformers)
Eco Nation (Aurora World, Inc.)
Little Rebels Dolls (Little Rebels Inc.)
Shore Buddies (Shore Buddies)
WINNER – Star Wars: The Mandalorian The Child 11” Plush (Mattel)
Story Magic Unicorn Dream Dollhouse (Horizon Group USA)
Whatsitsface (Whatsitsface)
PRESCHOOL TOY OF THE YEAR:
BRIO Smart Tech Sound Action Tunnel Travel Set (BRIO)
Dimpl Digits (Fat Brain Toy Co.)
Fisher-Price Imaginext DC Super Friends Super Surround Batcave (Mattel)
Fun Fan Fryer (Hape International Inc.)
LEGO DUPLO Modular Playhouse (LEGO)
WINNER – PAW Patrol Dino Patroller (Spin Master)
Real Rigs Recycling Truck (Kid Trax)
SPECIALTY TOY OF THE YEAR:
American Girl – 2020 Girl of the Year Joss’s Ultimate Collection (Mattel)
HEXBUG nano Land (HEXBUG)
WINNER – LEGO Ideas Grand Piano (LEGO)
Monster Math Scale (Hape International Inc.)
My First Rush Hour (ThinkFun, Inc.)
Shashibo Artist Series (Fun In Motion Toys)
The Amazing Tightrope-Walking Gyrobot (Thames & Kosmos)
STEAM TOY OF THE YEAR:
3Doodler Start ‘Learn from Home’ Pen Set (3Doodler)
Crayola STEAM Paper Flower Science Kit (Crayola LLC)
Discovery #MINDBLOWN Toy Circuitry Action Experiment Set (Discovery, Inc.)
DIY Rainbow Catcher (Klutz)
Eyeclops Digital Microscope & Camera (Jakks Pacific)
Little Learning Hands World Explorers Subscription Box (Little Learning Hands LLC)
WINNER – Mega Cyborg Hand (Thames & Kosmos)
Professor Maxwell’s VR Universe (Abacus Brands)
VEHICLE OF THE YEAR:
L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. Glamper (MGA Entertainment)
LEGO Technic Lamborghini Sian (LEGO)
Monster Jam Megalodon Storm RC (Spin Master)
Pick Up Pete (Fotorama USA)
PJ Masks Transforming 2 in 1 Mobile HQ (Just Play)
WINNER – PLAYMOBIL Back To The Future DeLorean (PLAYMOBIL)
Power Treads (WowWee)
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS:
WINNER – Story Time Chess by Story Time Chess
WINNER – The Original Spawn Action Figure and Comic Remastered by McFarlane Toys
TOY OF THE YEAR:
WINNER – Star Wars: The Child Animatronic Edition Toy by Hasbro
TOY INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME:
Phillip Bloom, The Bloom Report
William C. Killgallon, The Ohio Art Company
Pleasant T. Rowland, founder “American Girl”, a division of Mattel
Margarete Steiff, Steiff Toys
About The Toy Association: Founded in 1916, The Toy Association™, Inc. is the not-for-profit trade association representing all businesses involved in creating and delivering toys and youth entertainment products for kids of all ages. The Toy Association leads the health and growth of the U.S. toy industry, which has an annual U.S. economic impact of $97.2 billion, and its 1,000+ members drive the annual $27 billion U.S. domestic toy market. The Toy Association serves as the industry’s voice on the developmental benefits of play and promotes play’s positive impact on childhood development to consumers and media. The organization has a long history of leadership in toy safety, having helped develop the first comprehensive toy safety standard more than 40 years ago, and remains committed to working with medical experts, government, consumers, and industry on ongoing programs to ensure safe and fun play. As a global leader, The Toy Association produces the world-renowned Toy Fair New York and Toy Fair Dallas; advocates on behalf of members around the world; sustains the Canadian Toy Association; acts as secretariat for the International Council of Toy Industries and International Toy Industry CEO Roundtable; and chairs the committee that reviews and revises America’s widely emulated ASTM F963 toy safety standard.
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Piercing Ken Thoughts: Congratulations to the winners of these categories. Some of them I expected to do a great job while a couple I was sad that they didn’t win out. We’re really going to miss being able to walk the aisles and see all of the friends we’ve made at Toy Fair over the past ten years but what can you do. The virus is still in control of a lot of our lives and all we can do is wait it out under a lot of restrictions. It’s my hope that we are back to as close to normal by the end of this year but let’s see if I am wrong and we get some stuff back even earlier. What do you think of the winners of the 2021 TOTY’s? Chime in down below in the comments section and I will see you next time around.
Official Websites:
http://www.toyassociation.org
http://www.thegeniusofplay.org
http://www.playsafe.org