Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s TAGIE Awards, who were honoured with a ceremony and evening of entertainment last week.
Almost 350 attendees from 20 countries gathered to honour the winners of People of Play (POP)’s Toy & Game International Excellence Awards (TAGIEs). Sponsors included Disney, Oxford Games, Mattel, The Michael Kohner Corporation, Hasbro, Longshore, Spin Master, ASTRA, Nextoy, Super Impulse, Backdrop.com, Baby Paper, Jazwares, Peggy Brown Creative and Barry & Jason Entertainment.
Jill Barad, former CEO and chairman of Mattel, and Rouben Terzian, co-founder of BMT, were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards, presented by Jeffrey Breslow, co-founder Big Monster Toy. “The evening was celebratory, entertaining, emotional and full of surprises.” said Mary Couzin, president of People of Play.
The evening opened with the Anima Children’s Choir dressed in Spider-Kids costume, singing a parody, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Play in Perfect Harmony”, interspersed with The Toys that Didn’t Make It and other entertaining interstitials.
The winners of this year’s awards are
- Toy Innovator – Sara Farber, Bryan Wilson and Will Sakran for Burstin’ Bubble Clouds with Funrise and Rescue Tales Tickle Pup with MGA/Little Tikes.
- Game Innovator -Scott Brady for Boop with Smirk & Dagger.
- Rising Star Innovator – Disney’s John “Cody” Hampton for Limited Edition Cal Kestis Legacy Lightsaber.
- Most Innovative PR and Marketing Team – Mattel and Barbie PR and Marketing Team for Barbie Movie Promotion & Painting the World Pink.
- Most innovative Art & Design Visuals – Design Edge and Spin Master for Rubiks Influencer Box.
- Most Innovative Supplier – Grant Lyon for Grant’s Game Recs.
- Most Innovative – Hilary Key for the Toy Chest in Nashville.
- Most Innovative Licence – Mattel & Barbie Licensing, Consumer Products and Product Teams for Barbie the Movie.
- Young Innovator (under 18 years old) – Zoe Oli for Beautiful Curly Me.
Alongside the winners, POP honoured the following with Games Changers: Unsung Heroes awards:
- Michael Gramelspacher, Jon Harter, & SG Labs for Club Organizers for St. Clare School Innovator Club
- Tara McGrath. Creative Director, Inventor Relations and Innovations, Mattel.
Entertainment throughout the evening was provided by Barry and Jason Entertainment, Magician Mark Setteducati and Skip Town and the Greyhounds.
