Highlights from NY Toy Fair 2015

The equivalent of more than seven football fields were filled with toys and games last weekend at the 112th annual New York Toy Fair.

April 6, 2018

5 Min Read

The equivalent of more than seven football fields were filled with toys and games last weekend at the 112th annual New York Toy Fair.

Among the highlights were new toys for Disney, Warner Bros., Saban and a host of other licensors' brands, as well as the winners of the Toy of the Year awards and the Women in Toys awards. Read on for all the top licensing news from this year's show.

Serving as the official kick off to the trade show, the Toy Industry Association hosted its Toy of the Year Awards Friday.

Spin Master’s “pet” dinosaur Zoomer Dino took home the overall Toy of the Year award and was also named Boy Toy of the Year, while Crayola’s Paint Maker customizable arts and crafts kit snagged the People’s Choice, getting the most online votes from consumers.

The event also welcomed the induction of two individuals into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame: Pat Feely, former chairman of the Toy Industry Foundation and retired chief executive officer of Radica Games, and Leslie Berger, founder of Cardinal Industries.

The TOTY award winners were selected with the input of consumers, retailers, media and members of the toy industry. The winners include:

Toy of the Year–Zoomer Dino (Spin Master)
Property of the Year–Frozen (The Walt Disney Company)
Game of the Year–Simon Swipe (Hasbro)
Specialty Toy of the Year–Gravity Maze (ThinkFun)
Boy Toy of the Year–Zoomer Dino (Spin Master)
Girl Toy of the Year–Shopkins Small Mart play set (Moose Toys)
Preschool Toy of the Year–LEGO Juniors (LEGO Systems)
Infant/Toddler Toy of the Year–Go! Go! Smart Animals Zoo Explorers play set (VTech)
Activity Toy of the Year–Crayola Paint Maker (Crayola)
e-Connected Toy of the Year–LEGO Fusion (LEGO Systems)
Educational Toy of the Year–LEGO Technic (LEGO Systems)
Innovative Toy of the Year–MiPO (WowWee)
Outdoor Toy of the Year–Nerf Rebelle Dolphina Bow (Hasbro)

Warner Bros.' licensees showcased a slew of product for DC Entertainment, Scooby-Doo, Jupiter Ascending and more. Among the products on display were:

Batman figures and an accompanying Batmobile from Mattel
The new line of Scooby-Doo building sets from LEGO
A Jupiter Ascending doll collection from Tonner Doll
Pop! Vinyl Harry Potter figures from Funko
DC Comics figurines from Schleich including Batman, Superman and Green Lantern
DC Comics plush figures from Bleacher Creatures
20-inch DC Comics figures from Jakks Pacific
Activity puzzles from Buffalo Games

Nickelodeon partners introduced a new line for the preschool series "PAW Patrol" including partywares from American Greetings, electronics from Blip Toys, scooters from Bravo Sports, puzzles and games from Cardinal Industries, musical instruments and accessories from First Act and plush from PTI, among others.

Bandai was named by Toys 'R' Us as the vendor of the year for the boys action category and secured a deal with Nickelodeon to bring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand to its line of SprüKits action figure model kits.

American Greetings Properties kicked off celebrations for the 35th anniversary of the Strawberry Shortcake brand with a party at the booth of master toy partner The Bridge Direct and new 2015 toy line. (The brand was recently sold to Iconix Brand Group earlier this month.)

NFLPI, the licensing arm of the NFL Players Association, released its Kids Top 25 Player Sales list based on total sales of NFLPI licensed children’s products from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, 2014.

NFLPI Top 5 Player Toy Sales Rankings (for the full see scroll to the bottom of this story):

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos
Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks

TIA Elects New Board

At its annual general meeting held Monday during the show, the Toy Industry Association elected three new members to its board of directors for two-year terms.

Nominated to serve their first terms on the TIA board were Kerry Cunnion of Tomy International, Howard Kahn of Madame Alexander and Kahn Lucas, and Bruce Raiffe of Gund.

Re-elected for a second term were John Barbour of LeapFrog, Richard Barry of Toys 'R' Us and Manuel Torres Nickelodeon Consumer Products. Additionally, Tim Kilpin of Mattel was named to fill the board seat left vacant by Mattel’s David Allmark.

Retiring board members Joel Berger of Cardinal Industries and Pete Henseler of Tomy International were also recognized for their service.

WIT Honors Women Leaders

More than 500 industry executives attended at the 11th Annual Wonder Women in Toys, Licensing and Entertainment awards dinner Sunday. Hosted by the trade organization Women in Toys in conjunction with NY Toy Fair, winners were selected from a list of more than 40 nominees. WIT also presented special honoree swards to executives from Sesame Workshop, Amazon and Disney Consumer Products.

Wonder Woman Award Winners:

Manufacturer of the Year–Irene Li, public relations and social, The Bridge Direct Media–Julie Duffy, vice president, global communications, Hasbro
Social Responsibility–Deborah Dicochea, corporate philanthropy, Mattel and Mattel Children’s Foundation
Licensing and Entertainment–Samantha Freeman and Angela Santomero, Out of the Blue Enterprises
Designer/Inventor–Ditte Bruun Pedersen, Future Lab, the LEGO Group
Marketing and Advertising–Tamara Stewart, Moose Toys
Rising Star–Bettina Cheng and Alice Brooks, Roominate