LEGO Toy of the Year 2022 nominations
Posted by CapnRex101,
The annual Toy of the Year awards have revealed the nominations for 2022, including seven LEGO products, across five categories.
You can vote for your favourites on the Toy of the Year website and view the different LEGO nominees below...
Collectable of the Year
71033 The Muppets Collectable Minifigures
Construction Toy of the Year
60351 Rocket Launch Centre
76217 I am Groot
Grown-up Toy of the Year
21336 The Office
Playset of the Year
71403 Adventures with Peach
Vehicle of the Year
42141 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car
I never place too much stock in the nominations phase because there have been numerous peculiar selections in past years. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see which products stand out for those working in the toy industry and related academia.
Which sets released so far during 2022 would you nominate for different categories? Let us know in the comments.
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44 comments on this article
90s year of play castle for the grown up nominee
Is there a tag in Brickset or any way to view Lego sets that have won TOTY in the past?
@Wellspring said:
"Is there a tag in Brickset or any way to view Lego sets that have won TOTY in the past?"
Yes, they are tagged: https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Award-Winning-Product
@Keegan_MC said:
"90s year of play castle for the grown up nominee"
I love the Office, but I 100% agree, why not the castle? It's way better than Michael declaring bankruptcy.
Nothing against these sets, but are these the best LEGO sets of the year for these categories? Hm...
Really? That's the Technic set they picked? Come on.
60351 definitely earned its spot here, but it's strange that an unreleased set is on this list. Also strange choice of technic vehicle here.
These nominations seem super arbitrary, just like vague picks from the year. The 90's castle, 90's space set and the At-Te should be on here or any sets actually enjoyed across the hobby like maybe the republic tank.
I thought Klutz stopped producing new LEGO books years ago....
Totally daft
How can anyone genuinely vote for an item that is not yet available. Ridiculous.
Who’s choices are we being railroaded with?
Oftentimes these awards base their nominations off what the COMPANY sends in for review - do we know if Lego is the one submitting these or if TOTY is doing this on their own?
If so, I can understand Lego wanting to promo THE OFFICE set since winning a TOTY category would bubble up into mainstream news a bit. The Lion Knights castle likely doesn't need the promotion as it's targeted at AFOLS with high awareness of Lego.
Feels like the same thing with I Am Groot and the McLaren car - sets that non-Lego fans would have a higher interest in.
The Black Panther toys are not dolls, they’re action figures!!! Jeez ;)
"A nomination committee comprised of play experts, journalists, academics, retailers, and other toy experts will determine the official TOTY 2022 finalists."
So the selections are being made by people with a casual interest in LEGO, NOT the LEGO company or the AFOL community.
https://www.toyassociation.org/toys/events/toy-of-the-year-awards-home.aspx?New_ContentCollectionOrganizerCommon=2
These do seem like strange choices. Can't disagree with the Muppets, though.
I can very well understand 71033 and 60351, and to a lesser extent also 76217 and 71403, perfectly fine products for their intended target audiences. But is The Office really the best "grown-up toy" Lego released this year? Oh wait, they didn't yet, so how can a product that hasn't been on shelves even be nominated? And I think we can all agree that McLaren was a terrible joke, which with all the great vehicles Lego makes it even more ridiculous it's here?
I think the Galaxy Explorer would have been a perfect choice for the grown-up category: not only is it a great set, but I like the idea behind it that it is appropriately scaled up for adults (and how well that was done). And since Friends is having an exceptionally strong year, they should have gotten at least one nomination. As for vehicle, I'd go with either the SC Countach or the Vespa....
Hmm... The TOTY awards. Bit of an unfortunate acronym!
Some of these are not avaliable yet. And 2022 is not over.
@AndroidDomain said:
""A nomination committee comprised of play experts, journalists, academics, retailers, and other toy experts will determine the official TOTY 2022 finalists."
So the selections are being made by people with a casual interest in LEGO, NOT the LEGO company or the AFOL community.
https://www.toyassociation.org/toys/events/toy-of-the-year-awards-home.aspx?New_ContentCollectionOrganizerCommon=2 "
No, each toy company can submit the toys they choose for each category, and the TOTY panel choose the finalists from those nominations.
"Representatives from any toy-related company are eligible to nominate products and/or properties for the TOTY award categories."
That said, even though these may not be the best Lego sets of 2022, they're a whole lot better than a lot of the other finalists.
@CCC said:
"These awards have little to do with what the public buy and more to do what experts think they want to buy."
Ah, yes, much like the comment section on Brickset.
weak lineup
Don't get me wrong. This might have been one of my favorite years in terms of releases to date, yet none of them made the list...
It's weird to the "The Office" there, given it is much more niche than "Friends" or "Seinfeld", even for adults.
Also, I don't get "Adventure with Peach", it just got released, how can it win anything? Did it really add new play value Mario or Luigi didn't have?
This feels like Pixar being auto nominated for Oscars every year.
Like most awards, they’re basically rigged.
Companies lobby to get their product pushed up the ranks. They pay, they schmooze.
Awards are advertising.
The Oscars for example aren’t real awards in a sense.
If you have pull, power and money you can push your film to the top.
As usuall really weak choices.
Best Lego Toy are the MISSION sets.
Well priced, great pieces, actually allow kids to learn and experiment.
@CCC said:
" @LegoMike said:
"Totally daft
How can anyone genuinely vote for an item that is not yet available. Ridiculous.
Who’s choices are we being railroaded with?"
These awards have little to do with what the public buy and more to do what experts think they want to buy."
Hehe, ‘Experts’…..ROFL
Ps. If I’m showing as being in the US, apologies, I’m in the UK but for some reason it’s not displaying correctly again
For the grown up set I would have to say the new roller coaster. The Time machine or SC Countach would be my vehicle choice. For playset I would again choose the new roller coaster, as it will be my favorite playset, once I can afford to get it. I had to bump sets on the new price list ahead of it.
Muppets! Maybe this nomination will trigger a Muppets series 2. Fingers crossed! The Muppets CMF series is for me the best cmf series yet.
The Office is nominated?!?
Dear god. The most lame and boring set of the year.
Nothing more than a collection of minifigures and a grey plate… o wait a minute. It should have been nominated in the category collectible minifigures. Than again… the muppets are better in all accounts.
Some of the nominations here just make me believe these awards can't be taken seriously.
I’m not super opinionated but I didn’t look at the Klutz one that much until now, I saw it at a store where I got the Venom buildable figure early but somehow the ramp slipped my mind. I’m a sucker for play features (albeit not as much as I once was) so I might get it at some point, they had something similar at a church event and I enjoyed it.
I have 60351 and can't wait to build it
I agree that something other than 21336 should have gotten the "best adult toy" nom. My personal pick would have been 10302, for the transformation and the nostalgia factor.
In the Collectibles category I voted for the Muppets. The other categories may have more interesting options than the ones shown above.
60351 Rocket Launch Centre certainly is a good set, also as a toy, many play features and functions.
While the rocket is obviously toy scale and not a 2 meter "minifig scale" rocket, I think this is a much nicer looking rocket compared to 2019 as well, and could be used as a stand-in for a couple LEGO space shuttles as well to serve as fueltank/boosters at a decent scale like the current 31117 : Space Shuttle Adventure.
I don't think the fact the pilots sit inside the fuel tank is an issue either for a set like this, and you can change the cockpit easily with the transparent version of the other 2022 space sets to make some fantasy rocket.
The launch tower is an impressive, very sturdy build, reinforced with technic axles inside, and holds the rocket in place well.
Observatory/Garage is a nice addition, and easily enough the launch control could be added to it for a bigger building.
If Lego are putting so much stock in 60351-1 then perhaps they could actually give it a proper release in Australia! It looks good, but without the prospect of a discount I’ve struck it from my wish list and my kids don’t know it exists.
I generally dislike these kind of things as they're usually all picked out by what business types want to sell, rather then what people actually want to buy and find fun.
I mean come on... they have an entire 'Creative' section, but theres not a single lego set in it when Lego is litterally a creative toy? Nuff said.
The Office isnt even out yet..???
Best Toys of the Year...
Action Figure: Mezco One:12 Conan the Barbarian
Large Action: Marvel Legends HasLab GALACTUS
Small Action Figure: Super7 The Iron Giant Attack 3 ¾" ReAction Figure
Accessories: McFarlane's Munitions Pack
Vehicle: Star Wars The Vintage Collection HasLab Razor Crest
Construction Set: Lego Galaxy Explorer
What else is the best out there now?
Makes sense a lot of these got picked. Outside voters don't have the context a nostalgic Lego throwback set would give. Office makes sense as a desk display set an adult would have. Whereas the castle probably would've gotten removed from the selection for that category, as large and throwback aren't the main criteria for the category - it's still an impressive playset. Would expect a lot of the usual suspects being thrown about in the comments here were submitted by Lego as contenders and were eliminated prior to the voting stage.
Also, for all those confused as to why unreleased/newly released sets are on the ballot, mostly it's Christmas. Not all companies have an average two year production of sets, so stuff has to be voteable for proper awards to pin before most people start thinking of tinsel.
On a minor note, I literally just noticed that the current City theme rocket launch is *$160* of all things? I can literally pick up the Saturn V Rocket off Lego's own website right now for less than that.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Wellspring said:
"Is there a tag in Brickset or any way to view Lego sets that have won TOTY in the past?"
Yes, they are tagged: https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Award-Winning-Product"
Why is 8275 missing from the list I believe it was toy of the year in 2007.
@Shadowcloner said:
" On a minor note, I literally just noticed that the current City theme rocket launch is *$160* of all things? I can literally pick up the Saturn V Rocket off Lego's own website right now for less than that. "
Totally. That Saturn V is one of the all time best Lego sets ever made and always at a great price.
And yeah, the City Rocket Launch is like at least $20 overpriced (should've been $120 or so tops) but it's a GREAT playset for kids.
Lots of great individual builds that have so many features and play fun/unique functions and lots of NASA figs. Simple enough for the young ones to build too.
10302 Optimus Prime is far better nominee for that category than I'm Groot. Where is 10497 Galaxy Explorer (You can build two other classic sets, too) or 10305 Lion Knights' Castle for the playset of the year? And my nominee for the grown up toy of the year is definetly 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine. Vehicle of the year... 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3, whatelse? Muppets I agree with. Other than that, these would have been my choices.
@Shadowcloner said:
"Makes sense a lot of these got picked. Outside voters don't have the context a nostalgic Lego throwback set would give. Office makes sense as a desk display set an adult would have. Whereas the castle probably would've gotten removed from the selection for that category, as large and throwback aren't the main criteria for the category - it's still an impressive playset. Would expect a lot of the usual suspects being thrown about in the comments here were submitted by Lego as contenders and were eliminated prior to the voting stage.
Also, for all those confused as to why unreleased/newly released sets are on the ballot, mostly it's Christmas. Not all companies have an average two year production of sets, so stuff has to be voteable for proper awards to pin before most people start thinking of tinsel.
On a minor note, I literally just noticed that the current City theme rocket launch is *$160* of all things? I can literally pick up the Saturn V Rocket off Lego's own website right now for less than that. "
Yep, I often feel people here on brickset are so wrapped up in their little AFOL bubble they completely ignore the outside context to things like this. Like if you think about these choices from the perspective of someone who isn't an AFOL they start to make a lot more sense.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Wellspring said:
"Is there a tag in Brickset or any way to view Lego sets that have won TOTY in the past?"
Yes, they are tagged: https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Award-Winning-Product"
Wow, I’m surprised to see I own 13 of the 24 award-winning sets, including the 4 largest (UCS Falcon, Roller Coaster, Hogwarts, Disney Castle)!
There’s 27 winners, but 3 are complete CMF series, so I’ve removed these from calculations.
Haven't seen that Racers book before. Looks kinda cool!