TAGIE Awards 2017 winners revealed

Posted on 28th November 2017 By Billy Langsworthy

The winners of this year’s TAGIE Awards – honouring innovation and excellence in the toy and game industry – have been unveiled.

Winners included Creativity Hub’s Rory O’Connor and Anita Murphy for their Extraordinaires Design Studio, Shoot the Moon’s David Small and Paul Rago for the Hero Droid BB-8 and Joyce Sprau for her Flower Fairies Secret Garden.

 A full list of winners can be found below:

GAME INVENTOR OF THE YEAR
• Don Ullman and Steve Calhoun, Soggy Doggy
• Nominees:

• Fuse – Oliver Morris, Roller Coaster Challenge
• Jim McCafferty and JMP Creative team, Catch the Fox
• KID Group, Ultra Dash
• Seven Towns, Ltd., Who’s the Dude?
• Top Notch Toys, Fantastic Gymnastics

TOY INVENTOR OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by LEGO)
• David Small and Paul Rago of Shoot the Moon, BB8
• Nominees:

• Bang Zoom Design, Barbie on the Go
• Desinbytouch, Nerf Nitro
• Ronen Horovitz, Play Doh Touch
• Ruth Green-Synowic, Paint-Sation

RISING STAR OF THE YEAR
• Joyce Sprau, Flower Fairies Secret Garden
• Nominees:

• Brady Peterson, Groovy Blocks
• Brian Gomez (Egils Grasmanis, Edgars Zakis, Janis Grunte, Reinis Butans), Ice Cool
• Dominic Yard, Thomas Adventures Sea Monster Pirate Set & Shark Escape Play Set
• Thijmen de Schipper, Spy Code Break Free

INNOVATIVE ARTS & VISUALS OF THE YEAR
• Rory O’Connor and Anita Murphy, The Extraordinaires Design Studio
• Nominees:

• Funnybone Toys, Whim, Akin, Spirot, Spectracube, Anaxi, and others
• Harmonix, DropMix
• Mattel, Enchantimals
• MGA Entertainment, Inc., L.O.L. Surprise! Collectible Dolls 

INNOVATIVE MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR
• Spin Master, Hatchimals
• Nominees:

• Mattel, Dads Who Play Barbie
• Hasbro, Nerf’s Dude Perfect
• Marektoy, Klask and Bonk
• PlayMonster, Ultra Dash

YOUNG INVENTOR OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Mattel)
• Olivia Wasilewski and Brynna Siewers, Ship of Treasures
• Nominees:

• Samaira Mehta, CoderBunnyz
• Shay Bhattessa Sharma, Football Billionaire Limited
• Sydney and Toni Loew, Poketti Plushies with Pocket Powers

 In addition to the winners determined through nominations and public voting, awards were also given in the following closed categories:

• Hassenfeld Humanitarian Award – Lurie Children’s Hospital
• Inventor Advocate – Lisa Guili, General Manager of Educational Insights
• Lifetime Achievement (Hasbro) – Judy Blau of J. Hope Designs
• Lifetime Achievement (Sponsored by The Michael Kohner Corporation) – Adi Golad, Founder and Managing Director of Goliath

 The night also saw Young Inventor of the Year award winners, Olivia Wasilewski and Brynna Siewers, surprise fellow honouree, Lurie Children’s Hospital, with a cheque on behalf of themselves and Pressman Toy. The young game inventors memorialised a classmate, Sophie Shields, who died earlier this year of cancer, by donating a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of their game. Their manufacturer, Pressman Toy, matched the donation.

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