People of Play, a division of The Toy Association, has announced the finalists for the 18th annual Toy and Game International Excellence (TAGIE) Awards. These awards honor the inventors, designers, and creative teams whose innovations spark joy, inspire play, and bring people together.
Public voting is open through Oct. 24. The winners will be celebrated at an awards ceremony on Nov. 8 in Rosemont, Illinois. Industry professionals and consumers are encouraged to vote online.
This year’s categories include Preschool Toy Innovator of the Year, Adult/Family Game Innovator of the Year, and Innovative License of the Year, among many others. Families will recognize brands like Fisher-Price, Moose Toys, Hasbro, Mattel, and more among the nominees.
“Every year, we are inspired by the talent of the TAGIE finalists,” says Mary Couzin, Senior Vice President And Founder/Leader of People of Play at The Toy Association. “These innovators are risk-takers and dreamers who have turned ideas into toys and games that bring joy to millions, and we can’t wait to celebrate them together in November.”
The 2025 TAGIE finalists are listed by category below:
PRESCHOOL TOY INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
- Design Edge and Sterling Life for Redi Rampz
- KID Team’s Brian Clemens and Dan Klitsner for Chuckle & Roar Pop It! Book with Buffalo Games
- Reisa Schwartzman for BobBee — The Ultimate Water Toy with Griddly Kids
- Sankyo Toys for Rail Cube Magnetic Monorail
- Indy Toy Lab’s Jordan Goddard for Room Patrol Chase with Spin Master
- Goliath Team for Jelly Blox
- Red Racer Studio’s Tony Morley for Konvertibles with Mindware
PRESCHOOL GAME INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
- Brian Clemens, Dan Klitsner, and Buffalo Games for Pop It Color Mix with Buffalo Games
- Jen Hickey for Patch’s Pockets with Mindware
- Moose Games for Bluey Hide & Seek Game
- Product Development Team at Educational Insights for Campfire Chatmallows, Storytelling and Dressing Skills Bean Bags
- Jumbo Group for Stratego Junior
- Richard Levy and Peter Pook for Dizzy Duckies with Mindware
- Die 7 Bazis for Cloudship with Amigo Games
KIDULT TOY INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
- Toot Sweet Toys and Design Edge for Pillow People
- Pop Mart for Labubu
- Valentina Pereyra for Pixo —- Build Your Own Game Console Kit
- Hunt Rettig for Lumadrop
- Build-A-Bear Workshop for Emo Axolotl
- Moose Toys for FANDROP Star Wars
- Fisher-Price R&D Collector Team for Little People
ADULT/FAMILY GAMES INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
- Eric Olsen for Flip 7 with The Op
- David Yakos with Fat Brain Toy Co. for Why? Because! and for Ringer with Mindware
- FUSE London for Crash Cats with ThinkFun
- Brady Peterson, Bob Kamp, Anchor Creative’s Jessica Butler, Joe Barron, and Sophia Ricciardi for Rhymes With Duck with Gray Matters Games
- Nick Hayes and Mattel Games Team for UNO Show ‘Em No Mercy
- Identity Games Team for The Hangover and The Traitors Board Games (JM and Team) and Blue
- Matter’s Nick Cravotta and Rebecca Blu for Medical Mysteries NYC Emergency Card Game
- McMiLLER for Fish Fight
- Elan Lee and Design Edge for Exploding Kittens: The Board Game
TECH TOY INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
- Hasbro’s Fashion Team and IDEO for Nano-mals
- Fuse London for Pets Alive Polly The Magic Surprise Bird with ZURU
- KID Group for Monster Jam Smash & Bash Grave Digger RC with Spin Master and Chuckle & Roar ABC & Spelling Pop Keyboard with Buffalo Games
- Indy Toy Lab’s Jordan Goddard for Room Patrol Chase
- SG Labs and Bang Zoom Design for FurReal Handfuls line with Just Play
- DreamWorks Dragons How to Train Your Dragon, Tame & Train Interactive Toothless with Spin Master
- Abacus Brands for ESPN Virtual Reality
TECH GAME INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
- Abacus Brands for Pixicade! Instant Game Maker
- Bay Area Innovation Center (formerly Shoot the Moon) and IDEO for Rubik’s Pulse Cube with Spin Master
- Educational Insights for Wheel of Fortune Electronic Game
- Michael Lichodziejewski and Spin Master Games Team for Rubik’s Timer 3×3 Cube and Beat the Parents
- 7 Pips Studio’s Scott Dean, Rich Heayes, and Amanda Birkinshaw for Brainwright Color Sudoku with Gamewright
- KID Group for No Brainer and Soccer Dash with Golden Bear
- Valentina Pereyra for Pixo — Build Your Own Game Console Kit
BREAKOUT INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
- Flip 7’s Eric Olsen for Flip 7 with The Op
- Mattel’s Hot Wheels Design, Development, Marketing, and Packaging Team for Hot Wheels Speed Snap Track System
- South Beach Bubbles for World’s Only Color Bubbles Hydra Water and Color Blaster
- Sabrina Gareau for Cool Maker Stack’d Heishi Studio Bracelet with Spin Master
- Kate Meyerhoeffer for KEVA Planks Architecture Modules
- Mattel Building Sets Design Team’s Martin Boudreault, Charlotte Laflamme, Pierre Dion, and Thierry Beaurgard for Mattel Brick Shop
- Jordan Goddard with Indy Toy Lab
INNOVATIVE ART AND DESIGN VISUALS OF THE YEAR
- Nate Schimelpfenig for Vertigo with Mindware
- Mattel’s Jurassic World Packaging and Product Design Team
- Moose Games’ George Guy and Prospero Hall for Menagerie
- Moose Toys for Gui Gui
- Dominic Yard and Gil Zalayet for Spidey’s Construction Zone Chaos Play Set with Jazwares
- Jazwares’ Design Team and KID Group
- ST8MNT Brand Agency and Hootenanny Games
- Sky Castle and JMP Creative for Sticki Rolls
INNOVATIVE PR AND MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR
- Sky Castle for Sticki Rolls
- Brian Greenwald and The Op Games Marketing Team
- MAGNA-TILES and Playwise Partners for World’s Tallest Magnetic Tile Tower PR Campaign
- Hasbro’s Peppa Pig Marketing and PR Team for Peppa Pig’s New Baby Announcement
- Ren Beanie PR & Moose Games Marketing Team for Bluey Hide & Seek Game PR Campaign
- Disney’s Amanda Rubinos Luna, John “Cody” Hampton, and Tatum Yusz for The Key to Disneyland Interactive Experience
- Adam Krell and Mattel’s PR and Marketing Teams for Hot Wheels & Ferrari
INNOVATIVE LICENSE OF THE YEAR
- Play-Doh x Barbie
- Tim Walsh, The Playmakers for A Daily Cloud The Game
- Disney and Sky Castle for Stitch Sticki Rolls
- Octopus Creations’ Robert Marino for Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Tiger Shark Climber RC Vehicle
- Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Besties Bakeoff
- Carlyle Nuera for Barbie You Create
- Adam Krell and Mattel’s Hot Wheels Licensing Team for Hot Wheels & Formula 1
INNOVATIVE RETAILER OF THE YEAR
- FAO Schwarz
- Steven Zhang for TikTok Shop
- Rick Derr for Learning Express Lake Zurich
- Pop Mart
- Piccolo Mondo Toys
- 5 Little Monkeys
- Mattel Creations Team: Jess Kirkman, Jeremy Bernstein, Ted Silverman, Stephanie Smith, Francesca Forrester, Luke Lamson, and Kayla Bugucki
- Amazon
INNOVATIVE VENDOR & PARTNER OF THE YEAR
- Matt Nuccio and Design Edge Team
- Jake Laser and Christian Eveleigh for JLaser Video / Bounce Disc
- Eastar Board Game Company
- Longshore
- Indy Toy Lab
- Creative Fold
- SG Labs
YOUNG INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR (UNDER 18 YEARS)
- Palash Bhasin for Ultramons
- Keegan Franck for Endless
- Persy Arcement for Drizzle
Voting is open until Oct. 24. Attendees can purchase tickets online.
JELLY BLOX CREATIVE KIT
Bend rules and stretch imaginations with blocks that kids can squeeze, stretch, and squish. Some blocks feature sensory materials such as sand, foam balls, and more.
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CAMPFIRE CHATMALLOWS STORYTELLING SET
The 12 squishy Chatmallows include 48 illustrated story starter icons to stoke self-confidence, thinking, and speaking skills in this storytelling game.
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FISHER-PRICE LITTLE PEOPLE COLLECTOR BACKSTREET BOYS
Adds ’90s throwbacks to your collection with Little People figures featuring AJ, Brian, Howie, Kevin, and Nick. Each Backstreet Boy holds a microphone and comes dressed in their iconic all-white outfits, as seen in the “I Want It That Way” music video.
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WHY? BECAUSE!
In this party game, players answer “Why?” questions with silly “Because” answers written on a dry-erase board. The funniest answer wins the round.
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NANO-MALS INTERACTIVE PETS
Discover a world of fashionable, pocket-sized pets with Nano-mals. These electronic interactive pets feature an electric heart meter that communicates their needs to their young caregivers. The more the pets are played with and cared for, the more interactions they unlock.
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HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON TAME & TRAIN INTERACTIVE TOOTHLESS
This interactive dragon features movement-tracking, evolving personalities, sound effects, and spring-loaded wings. It includes a fish accessory to help kids earn trust and unlock games, reactions, and flight sounds as their bond with Toothless grows.
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MONSTER JAM SMASH & BASH 1:15 GRAVEDIGGER R/C
The legendary Grave Digger monster truck crashes and repairs itself with the push of a button. This full-function R/C performs stunts, drives in crash mode (pictured), and easily conquers any wild terrain.
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PIXICADE! INSTANT GAME MAKER
Draw characters and levels, snap a picture of your creation, and start playing your very own video game. Includes five washable markers and a 108-page game design book.
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SOCCER DASH
Contact: Claire Vernon c.vernon@goldenbeartoys.co.uk Transform any space into a training ground with Soccer Dash, the all-new interactive soccer trainer. Through six high-speed game modes and AI learning, players can elevate their dribbling, ball control, and reaction skills.
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HOT WHEELS TRACK CREATOR TRIPLE LOOP SPEED KIT
Kids can learn STEM concepts while building three unique tracks to race their Hot Wheels cars on. The set includes one inline loop with a kicker and two inline loops, and can be added to other track sets.
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KEVA MODELS: VEHICLES
Kids can build four wooden vehicles — steam train, backhoe, race car, and pickup truck — using more than 150 precision-cut KEVA planks. No glue or connectors needed. This STEM-friendly set includes base plates and a guidebook to spark critical thinking and creativity while kids construct, deconstruct, and rebuild for hours of hands-on fun.
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MATTEL BRICK SHOP HOT WHEELS MASERATI MC20
Builders can create a brick replica featuring butterfly doors, a visible motor, interchangeable wheel covers, and exclusive racing decals.
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GUI GUI
Inspired by beauty brands, this elevated, collectible slime features a layered unboxing experience, unique textures, a hidden surprise figure, and sweet scents. Kids can choose from four textures: gloss, clear, butter, and cloud.
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STICKI ROLLS SERIES 2
Series 2 of the wearable, shareable sticker bracelets includes new sticker designs, additional themes, and surprise holographic stickers.
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OINKS & SNUGGLES INTERACTIVE BABY EVIE DOLL
Peppa Pig’s baby sister will arrive in June, and kids can help care for her! This interactive doll makes more than 20 sound effects when playing with her pacifier, drinking her bottle, bouncing up and down, and getting ready for naptime. The set also includes oinktastic accessories like a playmat, bib, and blanket.
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PEPPA’S BIG FAMILY CAR
This open-top car includes Peppa and Baby Evie figures, working doors, bonnet (hood), and boot (trunk), plus space for five figures (additional characters sold separately). Preschoolers can pop the suitcase in the boot and install the car seat for a road trip.
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PLAY-DOH BARBIE RUFFLES AND BOWS DESIGNER DOLL SET
Place the doll on the stand and use the Play-Doh pattern sheet and tools to create ruffle and bow-themed clothing, accessories, and hairstyles. The set includes three cans of Play-Doh, a Barbie doll, a pre-made Play-Doh pattern sheet, and molding tools.
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HOT WHEELS FORMULA 1 SPRINT RACE CIRCUIT
Using the kid-powered gas pedal booster, F1 fans can launch into a head-to-head race and battle to overtake each other in high-octane racing. Racers can hit the chicane or get diverted to the inner track and see who is the first to the checkered flag. Also includes Lap Mode.
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