Barbie Day to Night Dreamhouse, Mattel and Smyths Toys Superstores triumphed at this year’s Toy Industry Awards, winning the Toy of the Year, Supplier of the Year and Toy Retailer of the Year categories, respectively.

The Toy Industry Awards, which are presented by the British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) and the Toy Retailers Association (TRA) are announced on the first day of London Toy Fair 2022, which is currently taking place at Olympia London.

A TRA Outstanding Contribution Award was presented to Gary Grant, founder and executive chairman of The Entertainer, for his individual contribution to the Dream Toys event over many years. Dream Toys is a list of the top 12 toys, which is issued annually by TRA. It is regarded as the most authoritative predictive tally of what will be hot sellers each Christmas.

As part of this year’s Industry Awards preparations, it had been hoped that a physical presentation of Industry Award winners could take place. In these unique circumstances, which continue to be affected by Covid, a special video has been produced to feature all the esteemed finalists and winners for 2021. 

The full line up of winners is:

TOY RETAILER OF THE YEAR WINNERS:

Independent Toy Retailer of the Year  (single store)
Toys & Games of Worcester

Independent Multi-Store Toy Retailer of the Year (up to 10 stores)
MIDCO Toymaster

Omnichannel Toy Retailer of the Year
Smyths Toys

Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year
B & M Stores

Online Excellence Award
The Very Group

Overall Toy Retailer of the Year
Smyths Toys

TOY AND SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR AWARDS:

Action Toy of the Year
Heroes of Goo Jit Zu Figures, Character Options           

Construction Toy of the Year
Harry Potter Hogwarts Express, The LEGO Group

Kidult Toy of the Year
LEGO Technic Lamborghini, The LEGO Group              

Interactive Toy of the Year
Magic Mixies, Moose Toys                       

Vehicle Brand of the Year
Hot Wheels, Mattel           

Outdoor Sports Toy of the Year
Moon Shoes, Character Options              

Craze of the Year
Fidget Box, One for Fun (formerly H Grossman)             

Fashion Doll of The Year
L.O.L. SURPRISE! MOVIE DOLL , MGA                         

Plush Toy of The Year
Squish-a-boos, TY Toys               

Trading Game of the Year
Pokémon Trading Cards, Asmodee                     

Pre School Toy of The Year
Cocomelon Bedtime JJ Doll, Bandai                    

Collectible Toy of The Year
Mini Brands, Zuru             

Pre-School License of the Year
Paw Patrol, Spin Master               

TRA Special Recognition Award
Gary Grant, Dream Toys              

Toy of the Year
Barbie Day to Night Dreamhouse, Mattel                                             

Toy Supplier of the Year
Mattel                                

BTHA chairman Graham Canning said: “On behalf of BTHA, I would like to congratulate all the winners of this year’s Toy Retailer Awards. In what was another challenging year, all our judges were impressed with the high standard of entries received and the achievements made in 2021 by all the retailer finalists – who should be highly commended. Congratulations must also go to our worthy runners-up who, it should be remembered, were the best in their categories, and my sincere thanks goes to everyone for their participation.”

“On behalf of BTHA, I would like to congratulate all the winners of this year’s Toy Retailer Awards. In what was another challenging year, all our judges were impressed with the high standard of entries received and the achievements made in 2021 by all the retailer finalists – who should be highly commended”

THA chairman Graham Canning

TRA chairman Alan Simpson added: “TRA and our panel of retail judges were impressed with the choice of toys on sale throughout 2021 that brought education, entertainment and joy to children during the year. Congratulations to all the shortlisted toys, and especially the winners, that the retailers deemed to be the best of the year. I would also like to thank Gary Grant on behalf of the entire industry for his many years of running Dream Toys – bringing toys to the attention of the media and families in the run-up to Christmas for so many years.”