The Press Release:
The Toy Book® has been on the Pulse of Play™ as the leading trade publication serving the North American toy industry since 1984. To celebrate its 40th volume and the forthcoming 40th anniversary of its first print edition (released in February 1985), The Toy Book reveals the finalists for the inaugural Pulse of Play Awards™ — a celebration of the individuals, companies, and activations that shape the heartbeat of the toy industry and drive its pulse across toys, licensing, entertainment, and the overall business of play.
Congratulations to the 2025 finalists! Click here for the official Pulse of Play Awards hub, and look for more information on the finalists in the weeks ahead!
PURVEYORS OF PLAY*
DISPLAY OF THE YEAR – Honoring achievements in merchandising and display at retail across major channels, including special sections, themed pull-togethers, endcaps, main aisle features, pallet trains, PDQs, and window displays.
Schleich: Toronto Zoo Larger-Than-Life Displays
Mattel: Walmart’s Fisher-Price “Childhood Starts Here” Trendpod
Moose Toys x MINISO: XOX Kweenie
PMI Kids’ World: Stumble Guys Toys Half Pallet Display
Spin Master’s GUND x Saatchi: Toys “R” Us at Macy’s Herald Square, International Friendship Day Presentation
REP GROUP OF THE YEAR – Honoring the sales teams that represent the toy and game industries to retailers across North America
Anne McGilvray & Company
Diverse Marketing
Enchanted Moments
Sandy Ruben and Associates
Toy’n Around
DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR – Honoring the distributors that serve retailers across North America
ACD Distribution
Asmodee North America
Everest Wholesale
Flat River Group
Toysmith
RETAILER OF THE YEAR (Mass, Mass Specialty) – Honoring the best achievements in overall toy and game retail across all fronts — in-store, e-commerce, digital marketing, brand activations, etc.
Amazon
Dollar General
Five Below
Target
Walmart
RETAILER OF THE YEAR (Independent, Specialty, and Hobby) – Honoring the best achievements in overall toy and game retail across all fronts — in-store, e-commerce, digital marketing, brand activations, etc.
FAO Schwarz
Hobby Town
Learning Express
Outback Toys
Village Toy Castle
*Open to parties in North America, including the U.S., Canada, and Mexico
MARKETING MAESTROS
PRODUCT LAUNCH OF THE YEAR – Honoring the best campaign for a new product/brand introduction across all channels
CarTuned (MGA Entertainment)
Cold Case VR (Abacus Brands)
Despicable Me 4 Toys (Moose Toys)
Fisher-Price Wood (Mattel)
Huffy Electric Green Machine (Huffy Corp.)
Littlest Pet Shop (Basic Fun!)
Miraculous Paris Heroes Playset (Playmates Toys)
RealFX Disney Stitch (Wow! Stuff)
Squish-a-longs by Original Squishmallows (Jazwares)
Stumble Guys Toys (PMI Kids’ World)
CULTURAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR – Honoring the products that connected to a wider audience beyond the toy industry and became a part of the mainstream conversation
Fisher-Price x John Legend: The Music Starts Here (Mattel)
Furby Wuz Here (Hasbro)
Rubik’s Cube 50th Anniversary (Spin Master)
Squishmallows: Jeopardy — “Going Soft for $600” (Jazwares)
Tetris x Blue Scuti (The Tetris Co.)
VIRAL HIT OF THE YEAR – Honoring the biggest hits on social media, including individual products
Funko Pop! Jason Kelce (Shirtless) (Funko)
Kanoodle Ultimate Champion (Educational Insights)
MGA’s Miniverse (MGA Entertainment)
Sticki Rolls (Sky Castle Toys)
Wham-O Slip ‘N Slide Air (Wham-O)
INFLUENCER ACTIVATION OF THE YEAR – The best use of digital influencers and product advocates
Hatchimals Alive Mystery Hatch x Jason Kelce (Spin Master)
Learning Resources x David Henrie – Playfluencer Movement (Learning Resources)
Soppycid Reusable Water Balloons (Dongguan Sionmaker Technology Co.)
Tasty Tinies “Tiny Treats, Big Flavor” Influencer Launch Campaign (Beacon Communications for Goliath)
UNO Chief UNO Player (Mattel)
THE CINEMATIC ART OF SELLING FUN: COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR – The best TVC (TV commercial) for a toy or game intended for TV, digital, streaming, or display in a public forum (movie theaters, etc.)
HOLOBRITE Pixie Lantern (Just Play)
MAGNA-TILES “Build On” (MAGNA-TILES)
Rubik’s Cube 50th Anniversary (Spin Master)
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutations Mix ‘N Match Action Figures (Playmates Toys)
Tile Town (Moose Toys)
Yummiland “Welcome to Yummiland!” (MGA Entertainment)
CROSSOVER COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR – Honoring the best crossover or brand mash-up toy or game
Care Bears x Universal Monsters (Universal Products & Experiences x Cloudco Entertainment)
Hot Wheels x Transformers (Mattel x Hasbro)
Squishmallows x Harry Potter (Jazwares x Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products)
MGA’s Miniverse Make It Mini Potions (MGA Entertainment x Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products)
Monster High x Wednesday (Mattel x Amazon MGM Studios Consumer Products)
OUTBOUND LICENSING PROGRAM OF THE YEAR – Honoring the best outbound licensing program for a property originating as a toy or game and extending into additional CPG categories
Barbie 65th Anniversary (Mattel)
Minecraft 15th Anniversary (Mojang)
Polly Pocket 35th Anniversary (Mattel)
Squishmallows McDonald’s Happy Meal Promotion (Jazwares)
Transformers (Hasbro)
ENTERTAINMENT-DRIVEN PROPERTY/PROJECT OF THE YEAR – The best overall brand or product tied to a film, TV series, or video game
Bluey (BBC Studios)
Despicable Me Franchise (Universal Products & Experiences)
Funko’s Pop! Yourself — Deadpool & Wolverine Cosplay (Funko x Marvel)
Pokémon Horizons: The Series (The Pokémon Company International)
Skibidi Toilet (Bonkers Toys, Inviz)
CREATORS & INNOVATORS
TOY INVENTOR OF THE YEAR – Honoring individual inventors or design firms for outstanding achievement in toys
Bang Zoom Design for Miraculous Hero Switch (Playmates Toys)
CONNETIX Design Team: CONNETIX 50-Piece Pastel Transport Pack (CONNETIX)
Stacey Kohler for Crawligator (Kiddy Crawler)
Yair Shilo for Power Saber (Goliath)
Soppycid for Soppycid Reusable Water Balloons (Dongguan Saienchuangke Technology Co., Ltd)
GAME INVENTOR OF THE YEAR – Honoring individual inventors or design firms for outstanding achievement in games
Bang Zoom Design for Pickleball Blast (Moose Games)
Goliath Games’ Internal Design Team for Moo Moo Achoo (Goliath)
Devanshi Kejriwal for Skillmatics Product Assortment (Skillmatics)
The Op Games Team & Eric Olsen for Flip 7 (The Op Games)
Pam Walls for Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition) (Ravensburger North America)
DIGITAL STUDIO/TEAM OF THE YEAR – Honoring outstanding achievements in video gaming
10:10 Games x Funko for Funko Fusion
AirConsole for UNO Car Party! by AirConsole licensed from Mattel
Another Axiom for Gorilla Tag
Spin Master’s Toca Boca Studio
Team Asobi for Astro Bot
TOY BOOK INTERNATIONAL
RETAILER OF THE YEAR – Honoring achievements in toy retail outside of North America
The Entertainer
Hamleys
POP MART
Smyths Toys Superstores
Toys “R” Us Asia
LOCATION-BASED EXPERIENCE (LBE) OF THE YEAR** – Best brand-, toy- or game-inspired activation or initiative at a family entertainment center (FEC), theme park, live tour, or pop-up event
Barbie: The Exhibition at The Design Museum (Mattel)
Bluey x CAMP (CAMP, BBC Studios, Ludo Studio)
MrBeast Lab at Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) (Moose Toys)
Planet Playskool (Hasbro)
The 2024 Pokémon World Championships (The Pokémon Company International)
MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR** – Honoring across-the-board achievements in delivering great play experiences to kids and families worldwide
2MamaBees
Jazwares
Moose Toys
Playmates Toys
Wow! Stuff
**Open to ALL parties worldwide
THE OVERALL PULSE OF PLAY AWARD – An industry panel will determine this award and reveal it in January. Authorized individuals and members of an industry panel submitted a field of nominees based on work and activations between Sept. 1, 2023, and Oct. 1, 2024. An anonymous panel comprised of toy industry professionals and members of the Adventure Media & Events team (publishers of The Toy Book) narrowed the field to 101 finalists. Out of respect for those impacted by the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area, the Pulse of Play Awards winners’ announcement, originally planned for January 15, has been postponed. The announcement is tentatively scheduled for January 22, 2025, and is subject to change. Winners will be honored in The BIG Toy Book, which will debut on March 1, 2025, at Toy Fair New York.
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Ken Pierce Media Thoughts: Before continuing along with some closing editorial on this let me make sure to say that the above intel was culled from the Toy Book resources directly. Sometimes I just use the PR Newswire which is great but this time around it was the TB itself. Now this is some cool stuff to absorb and my rationale for posting on KPM over PiercingMetal or Piercing Ken was that its a broader brush to the toy industry and stuff being represented apply to both sides of the sites I maintain. A brand new awards announcement for the toy industry made me feel that the KPM branding resonated louder. All this being said I had to share the great news as we’ve been media allies of the Toy Book folks based on knowing them from Toy Fair and all of the Toy Insider events that they are involved in. The curious can click the preceding hyperlinks to see our comprehensive coverage of those pair of events from over the years. Now its time to get back to everything else but rest assured I will return to this topic right here when the winners are announced. See you next time and by all means do chime in down below in the comments if you feel like it. All topical notions are welcome.
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