By Erik Weinbrecht
2020 may be in the rearview mirror, but the global pandemic certainly is not. With this year’s cancellation of the New York Toy Fair, that left the Toy Association no choice but proceed with the first-ever all virtual TOTY awards. And while it didn’t have the same feeling as years’ past and left us jonesing for the annual plastic spectacle at the Javits Center, we were still happy to be able to experience it at all.
Before we get into the one piece of controversy from the award show, I wanted to shout out this year’s inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame – something that is always a part of the TOTY proceedings.
It was really great to see legendary heavy-hitters from the industry like Steiff, Rowland, and Killgallon who have contributed to lasting toy legacies like Steiff plushes, American Girl Dolls, and the Etch-a-Sketch [respectively] get recognition.
Onto the “controversy.” So McFarlane’s highly-anticipated, record-breaking, Kickstarter Spawn made the list, even though few have actually laid hands on it. Yes, at the time of writing this we are told that they have passed customs in the US and will beginning shipping out any day and YES – Dave and I are both beyond excited to get our hands on it. That being said, we’re both on board with it not winning the Action Figure of the Year award that went the one of two ways it should have; that being with Spin Master’s Batman figures, or with the #thankyouheroes line from Fisher-Price (which is where it landed).
Spawn did take home the People’s Choice Award to which we say, “fair.” No doubt an exorbitant amount of people voted for it, pushed by a campaign run by McFarlane Toys and due simply to the buzz the figure has been generating since May.
Below you can find the full list of winners from the show as well as a link to watch the presentation in its entirety.
