D&D Rolls Into the 2027 Toy of the Year Awards With Two Nominations
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Article Summary
- Two official D&D products have earned nominations for the 2027 Toy of the Year Awards.
- The new D&D Stranger Things box set is a finalist for Kidult Toy of the Year, while Basic Fun!’s D&D Questers figures are up for Action Figure of the Year.
- Fans can vote for the People’s Choice Award at ToyAwards.org through January 6, 2027.
- Winners will be revealed in February 2027, with the the Awards gala set for February 19, 2027 in New York City.
Dungeons & Dragons is hoping to score a crit at one of the toy industry’s biggest award ceremonies. US-based charity the Toy Foundation has just unveiled the finalists for its 2027 Toy of the Year Awards, and two official D&D products made the cut: the Stranger Things tie-in box set Welcome to the Hellfire Club and the D&D Questers action figure lines from Basic Fun!.
So just what are the Toy of the Year Awards and who is D&D going up against? Below, we take a closer look at all the details.
What are the Toy of the Year Awards?
The Toy of the Year Awards are an annual awards program honoring the top toys, games and entertainment properties in North America. Often billed as the “Oscars of the toy industry,” the awards are hosted by The Toy Foundation, a US-based children’s charity that serves as the philanthropic arm of The Toy Association, which itself is one of the industry’s largest professional organizations.
The awards also double as The Toy Foundation’s main annual fundraiser, with nomination fees, sponsorships, ticket sales and auction bids all going toward getting toys into the hands of children in need.
This 2027 finalists are spread across 17 categories, ranging from Action Figure and Collectible of the Year to Plush, Preschool and Vehicle of the Year. Notably, Toy companies submit their own nominations, and in past years finalists have been narrowed down from hundreds of entries by an independent panel of play experts, journalists, academics and retailers.
Each category will crown its own winner, alongside two marquee honors: the overall Toy of the Year, chosen by a panel of experts, and the People’s Choice Award, decided entirely by public votes.
Which D&D products were nominated?
The D&D Stranger Things: Welcome to the Hellfire Club box set is a finalist for Kidult Toy of the Year, a category covering products aimed at fans 14 and up. The set is designed to introduce new players to D&D 5.5E and features a Level 1 to 3 adventure with accompanying maps, booklets, character sheets, tokens and dice and retailed for $49.99 USD.
The timing, however, is a bit unusual in that the set was actually released in October 2025.
Welcome to the Hellfire Club is up against six other finalists:
- Disney Princess Mahjong Collector’s Set (The Noble Collection)
- LEGO Super Mario Donkey Kong Arcade (LEGO Systems, Inc.)
- Mattel Brick Shop Hot Wheels Lamborghini Miura (Mattel, Inc.)
- MGA’s Miniverse Real Music Record Player (MGA Entertainment)
- SmartGames IQ Puzzler Deluxe (Smart Toys and Games, Inc.)
- Star Wars: Ultimate Grogu (Hasbro, Inc.)
In the Action Figure of the Year category, Dungeons & Dragons Questers by Basic Fun! has also earned a spot among the finalists. First announced in February 2026, D&D Questers are a line of D&D figures designed for children ages 5 to 8. The figures come in three scales (Creatures, Adventurers and Monsters), feature interchangeable parts, and each includes a d20 and a “story starter” to help kids invent their own adventures. The initial wave includes a Red Dragon, a Dragonborn Cleric and a Mimic, and the line launched at retail this past summer, with Creature blind boxes listed at $8.99 USD.
Questers is up against six other finalists:
- Disney and Pixar Toy Story 5 Ultimate Action Figures (Mattel, Inc.)
- LEGO Spider-Man Hero Figure (LEGO Systems, Inc.)
- Power-Charge Spider-Man (Hasbro, Inc.)
- Primal Hatch Megalodon Shark (Spin Master Ltd.)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x G.I. Joe Action Figures (Playmates Toys, Inc.)
- Super Mario Yum Yum Yoshi! (JAKKS Pacific)
How can fans vote?
Fans can have their say through the People’s Choice Award, which is decided entirely by public votes. Voting is open now at ToyAwards.org and runs through January 6, 2027.
When will the winners be announced?
Category winners, along with the overall Toy of the Year and People’s Choice honorees, will be announced in February 2027. The TOTY Awards gala is scheduled for Friday, February 19, 2027 at Pier Sixty in New York City, though the event is open exclusively to toy industry professionals. The evening will also see new inductees welcomed into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t Dungeons & Dragons’ first brush with the TOTY Awards. Back in 2025, the LEGO Group earned nominations for both its D&D: Red Dragon’s Tale set and its D&D Collectible Minifigures series. This year’s pair of nominations, however, are further proof of how far the brand has spread beyond the gaming table.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the months ahead and will update this page once the winners are announced. In the meantime, you can learn more and vote for either product at ToyAwards.org.
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Jason Volk is the Publisher of Dungeons & Dragons Fanatics and lives in the wilds of Western Canada. He has been playing D&D for over 25 years and is a huge fan of Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms. His favorite character of all time was a Necromancer named Neek who spent most of his adventuring career resurrecting the corpses of slain monsters. When he’s not playing TTRPGs, Jason enjoys video games, Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, watching football and spending time with his wife and adorably nerdy children.
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