Voting Opens for TAGIE Awards

People of Play (POP) has named the 2023 finalists for its sixteenth annual Toy and Recreation Innovation Excellence (TAGIE) Awards, and voting is now open to the general public by means of Oct. 20. These awards honor essentially the most progressive inventors, designers, suppliers, retailers, entrepreneurs, and PR groups within the toy and recreation trade.

Winners in 9 classes will obtain their TAGIE awards on Nov. 3 at Joe’s Dwell Live performance Venue in Rosemont, Illinois. As well as, POP will honor Michael Gramelspacher, Jon Harter, and SG Labs, Membership Organizers for St. Clare Faculty Innovator Membership, in addition to Tara McGrath, Inventive Director, Inventor Relations and Improvements, Mattel, as Recreation Changers: Unsung Heroes.

“We’re excited to kick off the vacations by shining a light-weight on the innovators that encourage us, and who’re the beating coronary heart of the toy trade,” says Karri Bean, TAGIE Awards Host and Senior Supervisor, Licensing at Disney Shopper Merchandise, Experiences and Shopper Merchandise. “You all encourage us day by day. The TAGIEs are our alternative to offer again and have fun your accomplishments. Mark your calendars!”

Tickets for the occasion may be bought at eventbrite.com. Go to peopleofplay.com to solid your vote.

TOY INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR

• Spin Grasp’s Innovation Group for Bitzee
• FUSE and Mattel’s Sizzling Wheels Group for the Sizzling Wheels Metropolis T-Rex Final Hauler
• Pixlings Group at Moose Toys for Magic Mixies Pixlings
• Sara Farber, Bryan Wilson, and Will Sakran for Burstin’ Bubble Clouds with Funrise and Rescue Tales Tickle Pup with MGA/Little Tikes
• FAO Schwarz’s Design Group led by Sam McCellan for the Fabulous Household Mansion Luxurious Dollhouse and the Pottery Wheel Studio All-In-One Sculpting Workstation
• PACE Growth Group and Mattel Sizzling Wheels Group for Sizzling Wheels Monster Vehicles Remodeling Rhinomite R/C Car
• IDEO for Mindware’s Bubble Barista
• Spin Grasp’s PAW Patrol Design Group for PAW Patrol: The Mighty Film toy product line
• Choon’s Design Group for Rainbow Loom Loomies and Beadmoji
• Marvel and Jazwares Product Design Group for Spider-Rex and Venomosaurus Inflatable Costumes
• Amy Holden, Karlos Garcia, Lucie Lamham, Josep Pastor, Rebecca Grzesiek, Marta Bracia for World Alive Freak Marbles
• WowWee’s Sydney Wiseman for MINTiD Canine-E

GAME INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR

• Enjoyable-damental Invention’s Gary Pyper, Stacey Pyper, and Toby Kinsey. Collaborators embrace John Wallis, Jacqui Gahan for TOMY’s Pillow Bash, College Video games’ Irritable Vowels, Hachette’s Artwork Problem, Dujardin’s Poseidon, Bizak’s Burger Growth, Golden Bear’s Farty Freddie, Martinex’s Canine + Doughnut, Fats Mind Toys’ Make That Most Magnificent Factor, and Biggies with the Toyzone Group
• Kim Vandenbroucke for PlayMonster’s Pigs on Trampolines
• David Yakos for Hasbro’s Battleship Royale Get together Recreation and Id Video games’ Escape Room: The Recreation — The Golden Resolution
• KID Group for Goliath Beat Blast and Gotta Go Gecko, Buffalo Video games’ Pop It! Professional and Pop It! Go, ThinkFun/Ravensburger’s FreeFall, Hasbro’s Crystal Caper, YULU’s Taco Smash, John Adams’ This Aspect Up
• Peggy Brown for John Adam’s Smash Down, Lansay’s Snap Lure and Go! Toys and Video games’ Who’s the Goat
• Large Potato Group for Rooster vs Hotdog
• David Fuhrer, Rob Antonio, Brent Geppert for Instructional Insights’ Reel Large Catch Recreation
• Scott Brady for Boop with Smirk & Dagger
• The Marvel United Group for Marvel United: Multiverse with Spin Grasp, CMON, and Marvel
• Scott Brown and Tim Swindle for PaddleSmash
• Christian Castro, Nicole Christenson, Emma Miller, Silviana Henriquez, Isabel Steckel, Kai Hovland, and Margaret Seleznev for Relatable’s (previously What Do You Meme) Search Get together: Chaos on the Park

RISING STAR INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR

• Indy Toy Lab’s Jordan Goddard for Blue Orange’s Pawvocados and College Video games’ The Evening Hunter
• Danielle Reynolds for Underdog Video games’ HerStory, Secret Clue: Animals, and Scavenger Hunt: Animal Traits
• Disney’s John “Cody” Hampton for Restricted Version Cal Kestis Legacy Lightsaber
• Liat Waks, Naama Weiss, and Uri Streigold for Spin Grasp Video games HQ and Goliath’s Ice Cream Meltdown
• Actually Enjoyable for Blooming Tongue Twisters, Halloween Trick-or-Deal with Tongue Twisters, Santa’s Tongue Twisters
• Lemonic Video games’ Kristian Karlberg and Kenny Zetterberg for Dungeons & Dragons: The Yawning Portal
• Emily Nichol and Priya Gill for Solar Moon Rising with Hasbro
• Pink Tiger Video games’ Ami Baio for Cloud 9: A Recreation of Great Issues and Misplaced for Phrases: A Recreation of Untranslatable Emotions
• Harrison Brooks for Fourth Down
• Yarro’s Studios’ Tanner Yarro for FlipDie

MOST INNOVATIVE PR AND MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR

• Instructional Insights’ Lee Parkhurst, Sheena Wakely, Dezirae Clarke, and Alyssa Weiss for Kanoodle on TikTok
• PlayWise Companions and FAO Schwarz for the launch of the primary FAO Day! Celebrating FAO Schwarz a hundred and sixtieth Anniversary
• Hasbro’s Crystal Flynn, Stacy Forgang, and Caleigh Crocker for Furby
• Spin Grasp’s Bitzee PR and Advertising and marketing Group for the launch of Bitzee
• LEGO and Disney Advertising and marketing Groups for the Making Surprise Collection Marketing campaign
• Jessica Kalichman, Sydney Wiseman, Andrew Yanofsky, and Dave Malacrida for WowWee’s MINTiD Canine-E
• Hasbro’s Crystal Flynn, Stacy Forgang, Caleigh Crocker for the reimagined Clue recreation
• Spin Grasp’s Molly Zito, Drew Luster, and Brian Hansen for The Discard Pile marketing campaign for If You Know You Know!
• LEGO DREAMZzz Marketing campaign Advertising and marketing Group
• Mattel and Barbie PR and Advertising and marketing Group for Barbie: The Film and Portray the World Pink

MOST INNOVATIVE ART AND DESIGN VISUALS OF THE YEAR

• Joshua Cappel and Claire Lin for KTBG — Youngsters Desk Board Gaming’s Diced Veggies
• Design Edge and Spin Grasp for Rubik’s Influencer Field
• Jeff Lawber for Marmals
• Eolo Toys’ Mari Luz Riu for Biggies
• Deadly Rooster Video games’ Alex Mackey, Mike Szalajko, and Laura Messing for Yeti Snowbrawl
• Furby’s Design & Growth Group for Furby
• Anna Ten for Papaton Youngsters’ Papaton Shadow Theater
• Mindware’s Scott West for Chicken Bash, Tightrope, Dig It Up! Shipwreck packaging and poster and graphics for Gray Duck line
• SayKid and McHale Design for The ToyBot Field Packaging
• Instructional Insights’ Alejandro Garcia for Design & Drill Bolt Buddies Bulldozer — Packaging

MOST INNOVATIVE SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR

• The Nuccio Household and the Group at Design Edge
• Allison Miller for Comfortable Camper Dwell
• Robert Yusim for Product Counsel
• Ben Goloff for Black Field Productions
• The Morrison Household and Group at SoSound
• Candy Spot Studio’s Jon Vanderbeek, Sarah Vanderbeek, and Julien Seafort
• Wai Or and the Toy & Recreation Manufacturing Group at Longshore
• Sally and Charles Albert and the crew at Creativity
• SCORE
• Grant Lyon for Grant’s Recreation Recs

MOST INNOVATIVE RETAILER OF THE YEAR

• Theresa Duncan Villa Villekulla Neighborhood Toy Retailer
• FAO Schwarz
• Amy Saldanha for Kiddywampus
• Leah Pickering for Kazoodles Toys
• David Middleton and Richard Derr, “Brothers in Retail”, Midco Toymaster (UK) and Lake Zurich’s Studying Specific (US)
• Hilary Key for the Toy Chest in Nashville, Tennessee
• Julie Burczyk for Instruments 4 Instructing
• Michael Kristula for Treasures Naperville
• Pat and Paula Fuge for Gnome Video games

MOST INNOVATIVE LICENSE OF THE YEAR

• Abacus Manufacturers and Penn & Teller for Penn & Teller Magic Lab Digital Actuality
• Mattel and Barbie Licensing, Shopper Merchandise, and Product Groups for Barbie: The Film
• Nickelodeon and Funrise for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Pizza Hearth Van
• Disney Shopper Merchandise – Disney 100 Hundred Years of Surprise
• Playside and Spin Grasp Video games’ Sam Susz for Dumb Methods to Die
• Funko Video games and Hasbro for Skull twenty fifth Anniversary Version
• Simply Taking part in Video games’ Leo Taylor, Duvey Rudow, and George Feledichuk for Dungeons & Dragons: Bedlam In Neverwinter
• Jazwares and Relatable’s Christian Castro, Nicole Christenson, Emma Miller, Silviana Henriquez, Isabel Steckel, Kai Hovland, Margaret Seleznev, and Alex Uballe for Squishmallows Take4
• Marvel and Jazwares for Spider-Rex and Venomosaurus Inflatable Costumes
• Disney and Simply Play for Disney Doorables

YOUNG INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR

• Zoe Oli for Lovely Curly Me
• Jory Cappel and Rowan Cappel for Diced Greens
• Jimmy Zhang for the MapGoMap recreation