As thousands of toy industry players prepare to head to Germany next week for the 75th edition of Spielwarenmesse—also known as Nuremberg Toy Fair, the biggest in the world—the event has unveiled its ToyAward finalists for 2026. 

More than 600 toys that launched last year were submitted for consideration, and a panel of industry experts narrowed this field down to just 18 products in six core categories. Each toy was evaluated based on its originality, play pattern, concept, workmanship and the potential for retail success in the global marketplace. 

The winners will be announced on January 28, but Kidscreen is weighing in to tell kids entertainment brand owners which ones we think have the most potential for licensing deals. 

Babies boss

In the Baby & Infant category, the one to watch is German toyco Tonies‘ My First Tonies range of collectible figures for its flagship Toniebox audio system. The box—which plays unique songs, stories and games when combined with different figures—has already been a hit with older kids. But Tonies launched three waves of toddler-skewing squishable figures last year, changing up its signature bedtime routine play pattern by focusing on original songs designed to get babies moving and building their vocabulary skills. But the range has yet to secure its first brand partner, which comes as something of a shock, considering the toyco has already sold millions of licensed Tonies figures for older kids. Someone needs to get in there.

Preschool partner

Learning Resources will face off against Edx Education (Thread-to-Calm Cube) and Hutter Trade (Der Berg Ruft) in the Preschool category, aiming to win the trophy without even leveraging its Alphablocks license. Instead, the family-run toyco has reached the final judging round with its original Boxineers brand of STEAM-focused cardboard vehicles and animals. Another product line that hasn’t scored a first licensing deal yet, Boxineers construction sets come packaged with more than 75 pieces of upcycled cardboard that kids can use to craft different shapes or objects and then personalize with stickers. 

Teen titan

French toyco Robosen is best known for its licensed robotic toys, and it’s in the running this year to come out on top in the Teenagers and Adults category with a lifelike version of Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. Leveraging its experience manufacturing robots based on various Transformers characters, the team used 75 microchips and more than 3,000 individual components to create an expressive Buzz that reflects every detail from the movies. Out of the box, the toy features more than 200 authentic audio clips and actions, but users can also create new moves for it using the Robosen Studio app. Only licensing IPs from Hasbro and Disney so far, Robosen surely has room to add more to its growing portfolio. 

Beyond our licensing-friendly picks, here’s a complete list of this year’s Spielwarenmesse ToyAward nominees: 

Baby & Infant (0-3 years)

Kuby – OPPI

My First Tonies – Tonies 

Yookidoo Spray ‘N’ Roll Magic Book – EuroPlay Trading Solutions 

Preschool (3-6 years)

Der Berg ruft – Auzou jeux/Hutter Trade 

Boxineers Cardboard Vehicles and Animals – Learning Resources 

Thread-to-Calm Cube Group Set – Edx Education 

School Kids (6-10 years)

3D Shapes & Shadows – Miniland 

GyroDrive – fischertechnik 

Temple Twist – Franckh-Kosmos 

Teenager & Adults (10+ years)

CluePuzzle: The Wonderbox of Alice – iDventure 

Robosen Toy Story Buzz Lightyear Robot – Robosen Robotics France 

Rolling Drone – Wowitec Industrial 

Startup

Akte Fehltritt – Momentum Games 

Beaver Edu Construction Kit – BEAVER Edu SAL 

LOGGOS-BN-M – Frechling 

Sustainability

Arches – Waytoplay Toys 

Cartonic 3D Puzzle KITTENS TRIO – Cartonic 3D Puzzles 

Lion Leonard – Yoobie