Five Toy Industry Hall of Fame Inductees Named for 2027

Five careers that helped define very different kinds of play will enter the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2027. The new class spans established brands, electronic gaming, construction toys and tabletop sports: Jay Foreman of Basic Fun!, Robert Pasin of Radio Flyer, and posthumous honorees Ralph H. Baer, Charles Crandall and Norman Sas.

The group’s range is the story. Foreman and Pasin represent leaders who carried familiar names into new eras, while Baer, Crandall and Sas are recognized for creating new ways to play. Their induction brings together business leadership and invention, showing how the toy industry’s history has been shaped both by extending beloved products and by imagining entirely different play experiences.

Five careers, five distinct contributions

Foreman, founder and CEO of Basic Fun!, is recognized for his entrepreneurial leadership and ability to connect toy properties with contemporary audiences. Pasin, Radio Flyer’s Chief Wagon Officer, is honored for expanding the company’s reach while building on the legacy of its Little Red Wagon. In remarks shared by The Toy Association, its president and CEO, Greg Ahearn, described the two leaders as people who have spent decades bringing ideas, brands and memorable play experiences to children and families.

Ahearn singled out Foreman’s instinct for connecting toys with culture and Pasin’s work taking Radio Flyer in new directions while preserving what generations have valued about the brand. He also pointed to both men’s support for the toy community. That mix of commercial leadership and community involvement helps explain why the class includes executives whose contributions have extended beyond a single product.

The three posthumous inductees trace a different path through toy history. Baer, often called the “father of video games,” envisioned the television screen as a place to play and invented Simon. His work helped establish electronic and video gaming as a category of play. Crandall, inventor and founder of Crandall Toys and Waverly Toy Works, developed new ways for children to build, balance and solve. Sas created Electric Football and founded Tudor Games, bringing the energy of the sport to a tabletop format and helping open the way for sports licensing in toys.

These achievements are notable for the play patterns they introduced. A television could become an interactive play space; building could center on balance and problem-solving; and football could move from the field to a tabletop. Each idea gave children a different way to engage with play, while leaving a legacy that reached beyond its original product.

A Hall of Fame with a long history

The 2027 group joins 101 industry leaders already recognized by the Toy Industry Hall of Fame. Established in 1984, the Hall has honored people from manufacturing, retail, entertainment, licensing and other parts of the toy business. Past inductees named by The Toy Association include Walt Disney of Disney; Ruth and Elliott Handler of Mattel and Barbie; Joan Ganz Cooney of Sesame Street; Maxine Clark of Build-A-Bear Workshop; Alan Hassenfeld of Hasbro; Neil Friedman of Fisher-Price; and Andrea Barthello of ThinkFun.

For collectors and industry watchers, the names offer a useful way to read the range of the Hall’s remit: it recognizes people who shaped companies and brands, as well as people whose inventions helped define new forms of play. The 2027 selections continue that broad approach, pairing the development of enduring businesses with ideas that changed what a toy could do.

Selection and the February ceremony

Foreman and Pasin were nominated and selected by members of The Toy Association in recognition of their contributions to the industry and their lifelong commitment to toys and play. Baer, Crandall and Sas were recommended by the Hall of Fame Subcommittee on Posthumous Selection and selected by the Hall of Fame Committee. The posthumous process is intended to recognize deserving contributors to the U.S. toy industry dating back to 1800, including people who may have been overlooked in earlier years.

The five inductees will be honored at The Toy Foundation’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards on Friday, February 19, 2027. The Toy Industry Hall of Fame is presented alongside the National Toy Hall of Fame in a special exhibit at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The location puts the industry’s leaders and inventions in a setting devoted to the history of play.

The Toy Association, founded in 1916, represents businesses involved in creating and delivering toys and youth entertainment products. Its work includes producing Toy Fair in New York City and supporting inventors and designers through People of Play and related events. The organization also describes its role in promoting the benefits of play and supporting toy safety work. The Toy Foundation serves as its philanthropic arm and has delivered play opportunities to 33 million children in need worldwide.

The 2027 class will be formally recognized at the February gala. Until then, the five honorees provide a compact view of the industry’s reach: from the Little Red Wagon to Electric Football, from construction play to electronic gaming, and from ambitious inventions to the work of sustaining familiar brands across generations.