2011 TOTY Awards Deadline Looming

Playthings Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 9/28/2010 11:32:40 PM

New York — The Toy Industry Association Inc. (TIA) is calling for product submissions for the Toy of the Year Awards 2011. The call is open through end of day October 15. The fee for each product submission is $75 for TIA members; $125 for TIA non-members. Toy companies, inventors and retailers are invited to submit products in each of 11 product categories. Each product selected for the official TOTY ballot will also be considered for the overall "Toy of the Year."

For the first time, there will be nomination committees for each product category. Each of the 11 committees will be comprised of between seven and fifteen experts in the category selected from retail buyers (mass and specialty); journalists, bloggers and toy and toy trend experts; toy specialists from academia, professionals such as developmental psychologists and play therapists, teachers; and/or inventors and designers.

"The new process is intended to provide tremendous national exposure to the TOTY-nominated products during the important Holiday 2010 shopping season," said Stacy Leistner, vice president of strategic communications at TIA. "We will also be encouraging families to visit www.ToyAwards.org to vote on their favorite nominated products, download a convenient shopping list and register for fantastic prize packages."

Capping off all the changes will be a grand new location for the awards ceremony on Saturday, February 12, 2011. The new venue will be the iJazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Tickets for the February event will go on sale in early October.

TOTY 2011 Categories are as follows:

• Activity Toy of the Year: Toys that inspire creative play through various forms of activity
• Boy Toy of the Year
• Educational Toy of the Year: Toys that help children to develop special skills and knowledge through play
• Game of the Year: Children's board, card, CD-ROM or electronic game formats. (NOTE: All electronic games must have an ESRB "Early Childhood" rating)
• Girl Toy of the Year
• Infant/Toddler Toy of the Year: For ages up to 36 months 
• Innovative Toy of the Year
• Outdoor Toy of the Year
• Preschool Toy of the Year: For ages 3-5
• Property of the Year: Property that had the greatest success spreading its brand throughout the industry
• Specialty Toy of the Year: Toys primarily distributed through specialty retailers

Additional information is available at www.TOTYawards.org