TFs at #7 on Australian retailer online toy poll

[griffin]

In the November issue of the Toy & Hobby Retailer magazine (I just found it ), they published results of an online poll which asked for the best plaything in the last 75 years (it is the 75th anniversary of T&HR magazine that month) in Australia.
Based on some of the results, I'd say that most of the voters were retailers, because some are just recent revivals or are Brands that consumers wouldn't even know the name of.
The first-release dates of some of these iconic Brands are interesting to know though.

The top 20 were as follows...

1 - Lego (1932)
2 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1984)
3 - Barbie (1959)
4 - Monopoly (1934)
5 - Brio (Swedish wooden toy company) (1908)
6 - Sylvanian Families (1985)
7 - Transformers (1984)
8 - Schleich Animal figurines (1980) (Schleich actually started in 1950s)
9 - Cabbage Patch Kids (1983)
10 - Etch-a-Sketch (1960)
11 - Playmobil (1975)
12 - Little Tikes Cosy Coupe (1979)
13 - Lundby (doll houses) (1947)
14 - Furby (1998)
15 - Play-Doh (1956)
16 - Star Wars Figurines (1977)
17 - Slinky (1945)
18 - Scrabble (1948)
19 - Bratz (2001)
20 - Mr Potato Head (1952)


If some of those don't ring any bells, do a google-image search, and you might be surprised at what they are. (which is why I said that this was most likely votes by retailers, rather than consumers)

(beats me how TMNT got into second place)

[i_amtrunks]

(beats me how TMNT got into second place)

Probably beause all the reps for the retailers are probably in their early 20's to 30's... and TMNT was the thing after Transformers!

That Tykes Cosy Coupe is one of those things that just sells every single month after month. brio is probably the only surprise entry for me, the other lines make sense, even if their final numbered position isn't what I was expecting.

[Omega Metro]

I'm surprised that Star Wars is that far down the list.

[Trent]

Wow! Lego is THAT old?!???!

Gonna go look up what Lego offered in 1932

[Sam]

How the heck did Sylvanian Families get in the sixth spot?

Wow! Lego is THAT old?!???!

Gonna go look up what Lego offered in 1932

Yes, LEGO is quite old. The used to make wooden toys, then later on started doing plastic toys completely.

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm surprised that Star Wars is that far down the list.

Toywise Star Wars did have a considerable amount of down time - Kenner's original Star Wars toyline suffered poor sales in 1985 and they cancelled the line. Kenner was then obtained by Tonka in 1987, and Tonka was obtained by Hasbro in 1991 (and thus Kenner became absorbed into Hasbro) -- Hasbro then released a new Star Wars line in 1995 (Power of the Force)... so Star Wars suffered 10 years of being a dead toy line. On the other hand, this has never happened to Transformers -- since 1984 until now, there has always been Transformers toys in production every year. Some years were much slimmer than others, but we've never had a year when Transformers were never being produced. It nearly happened in 1995 when G2 was finishing, but then Beast Wars came along in 96 and saved Transformers from extinction -- lifting it from being a nearly dead toyline to being the 3rd best selling boys' toy line in 1997!

[griffin]

Wow! Lego is THAT old?!???!

Gonna go look up what Lego offered in 1932

As Sam said, Lego did wooden toys first, then produced plastic bricks from the 1940s. They started using ABS plastic in 1963, which is apparently what they still use today, 50 years later.

Check out the wiki for Lego's history, and there's some trivia about the History of Lego at the San Diego Legoland (which I included in my report here - beware, lots of photos).

[Sinnertwin]

Hmmm, TMNT at #2? Interesting...

[Defcon]

Im not surprised Lego is in number 1 spot, along with Barbie at number 3. At least transformers made number 7, definitely belongs in the top 10!
TMNT at number 2 seems like a big surprise, however the original cartoon series went for like ten seasons or something, plus there were like 3 action movies. I would say it was more well known than transformers, until recently with transformers movies.

[KalEl]

As Sam said, Lego did wooden toys first, then produced plastic bricks from the 1940s. They started using ABS plastic in 1963, which is apparently what they still use today, 50 years later.

Check out the wiki for Lego's history, and there's some trivia about the History of Lego at the San Diego Legoland (which I included in my report here - beware, lots of photos).

I watched a little animated documentary a while ago (months?) it was very interested, they lost the factory twice to fire and kept on coming, was a father and son for many years.