6 Most Exciting Products We Saw At Toy Fair 2026

Once a year, Toy Fair turns New York into a preview window for the next wave of playthings. The expo is one of the biggest stages in the U.S. for designers and manufacturers to show off their upcoming product lines, for distributors to help these products reach store shelves, and for investors to meet and shake hands with prospective partners. Oh, and for members of the press to cover it all. From February 14-15, I was one of those lucky journalists.

Now, I know what you're thinking, and yes, many toys are designed for children. But sometimes interest in a particular product or property seeps out of the original intended demographic — the adult fandom surrounding "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is proof of that. And besides, many of today's high-end toys are aimed at adult collectors, and as the underlying tech gets better, toy makers can build more of those advances into their products, resulting in new features and ways to play.

While I only attended for two days (the event runs for four), I saw many of these products firsthand and even tried a few out. A handful of products are still being saved for later announcements, but I can share this no-particular-order roundup of my favorite toys and toy-adjacent items from the convention. You might want to keep an eye on the products in this article.

The toy manufacturer Spin Master has its fingers in a ton of pies, including custom and licensed IPs. The company specializes in toys, puzzles, and card games, all of which are kid-friendly categories in general. But Spin Master is exploring PG-13 territory with the new board game "Murder Phone," which it showed off at the expo in a private room.

The game of "Murder Phone" is a social deduction experience that revolves around the titular murder phone — a battery-powered device designed to resemble an old '80s cordless landline phone (one of many old-school gadgets nobody uses anymore). Players must split up into groups and search for keys to rescue a friend being held prisoner by a slasher villain, but some participants are secret turncoats. The only problem is nobody knows who is who and must deduce whether their "friends" can be trusted, which is where the phone comes in. At the beginning of the game, the phone assigns roles, and it will occasionally interrupt players and ask to speak to one of them.

While "Murder Phone" doesn't rely on especially fancy hardware, it is designed to ensure each player is the only one privy to the information they are given — so long as they maintain a good "poker face." Why did one search with one team succeed, but another search with the same team fail? Was a player called because they're working with the villain or because they wanted to mock them? "Murder Phone" is what happens when you mix "Among Us" with the 1991 game "Dream Phone," and it's a clever recipe for chaos.

Bandai put virtual pets on the map with Tamagotchi, which were so successful that Digimon followed as a spin-off line. In fact, if you still have one of Bandai's original Tamagotchi models, you might be sitting on rare vintage tech worth thousands. But if you never caught the craze in the first place, you can still jump in now because Bandai is releasing new versions.

At the Toy Fair, Bandai had a ton of Tamagotchi products on display, the most impressive of which was "Tamagotchi Paradise." Admittedly, this product was released in 2025, but it pushes the limit of the technology engineers can put in a small plastic egg that you can store in your pocket. The device has all of the features we have come to expect from Tamagotchi — feed digital creatures, raise them, play with them — but on a large color display that also has a zoom dial. You can scroll out to see the entire Tama-universe or examine individual Tama-cells. Plus, you can insert your device into specialized Lab Tama kiosks to receive unique digital items.

While "Tamagotchi Paradise" is basically the flagship product of the Tamagotchi line, Bandai showed off plenty of other offerings. Among these were the "Tamagotchi Connection," a revamp of the classic device that lets you play games and trade items via IR technology, and the micro-sized "Tamagotchi Nano,"  which is primarily used in crossovers with other properties. Those might be established products, but the Bandai rep I met with also stated the company is planning to bring back Digimon in a big way and showed off some upcoming digivices. No word on the models' features, but fingers crossed for rechargeable batteries.

When manufacturers design toys for adults, they often go for the nostalgia factor. What did their target audience like when they were children? Those are usually solid bets, and you can't get more nostalgic than arcade cabinets. However, not everybody has the space to build their own retro arcade with Costco finds. Enter Quarter Arcades and World's Smallest.

Quarter Arcades is a brand that specializes in manufacturing classic quarter-munching replicas of games like "BurgerTime," "TMNT: Turtles in Time," and "Space Invaders." And at ¼ scale, no less, which makes the name "Quarter Arcades" a lovely double entendre. And these aren't just screens in plastic boxes; each device is built out of wood, and some use the same mirror screen technique as the original cabinets for an authentic experience. It's a miracle the manufacturers managed to cram so much authenticity into the "toys," although at ¼ scale, playing "Turtles in Time" with several friends might get a little crowded. I got to play some of the games at the Toy Fair, and I walked away wanting more.

If you have the urge to go even tinier, you literally can't get any smaller than World's Smallest. This toy line prides itself on creating toys as small as possible while also making them fully functional, and that includes their video games. Currently the company offers downright microscopic "Pac-Man" and "Tetris" cabinets, as well as a tiny Atari 2600 with nine working games. But the expo also showed off a few future games that hopefully should release soon. How their engineering wizards got these games to work on something so small is yet another miracle.

The name "Toy Fair" can make it sound like the show is all dolls and action figures. However, companies like Abacus Brands made an impression at the expo thanks to their high-tech edutainment products.

Abacus Brands specializes in VR adventures designed to educate children. The bulk of the experience comes from virtual safaris that plop children in trains, the Mesozoic era, and football fields. Everything you need, from the book to the VR headset, comes in the box — the only item it doesn't include is a compatible phone or tablet (and no, you can't repurpose your old VR headsets to play). Abacus Brands collaborates with esteemed publishers such as Dorling Kindersley Limited and National Geographic, with more planned for the future. While the exhibitor had a veritable library on display, I wasn't allowed to experience all of them, but I was blown away by the ones I did see. Such is the magic of VR.

While Abacus Brands mostly specializes in VR, the company also has plenty of AR for children to try. I got to see two of these at the expo; one was a large jigsaw puzzle that could be used for AR games once completed, and the other was the "Pixicade" book that lets children turn their doodles into video games via an app. These products are simple and interactive ways to get kids interested in learning, while also teaching the basics of game design and giving them a reason to draw.

A growing number of modern toys are being designed for adult collectors who have disposable incomes, and they are more advanced than normal kids' toys as a result. It's hard to get more sophisticated, expensive, or awesome than Robosen's robot "toys" — especially if you love the properties they tackle.

Robosen made a name for itself with its line of "Transformers" robots. They walk, talk, transform, and roll out with voice and app commands — well, Soundwave can't roll out because he turns into a tape player, but you get the idea. The exhibitor had its full catalog of robots on display, and while these products look impressive enough in videos, they are infinitely more so in person. They have a presence that cameras just can't capture, especially for fans of the "Transformers" cartoon. What I wouldn't give for their Grimlock robot.

While "Transformers" are Robosen's bread and butter, the company is branching off into Disney properties. These include a moving life-size recreation of the Buzz Lightyear toy from "Toy Story" and Robosen's new Mini Robots line, all of which were displayed at the expo. While the mini bots were much more limited in articulation, they retained most of the interactivity factor thanks to their app integration. Plus, the Mini Robots will be much less expensive than Robosen's other offerings, even if they require a dock to move and talk. Comparing the two product lines is like comparing humanoid robots designed for your smart home to the various animatronics in Disney theme park rides; it's aluminum apples and osmium oranges.

Audiobooks are insanely popular. According to Edison Research, in 2025, 8% of the U.S. population over the age of 13 listened to them on a daily basis. But how do you introduce audiobooks to children under 13? Try the Toniebox, the recommended choice of outlets such as Forbes.

The Toniebox is the central pillar of the Tonies brand. It is an audio player that relies on magnetic NFC-powered figures. Just slap one on and the Toniebox starts to play the pre-loaded program, no screen needed. Depending on the figure, kids can listen to popular books such as "Charlotte's Web" or "Stuart Little," or even the legendary 1978 symphonic rendition of "Peter and the Wolf," read by the late, great David Bowie.

Tonies offers figures, and thus content, for children of all ages. Parents looking for more interactive activities can buy Tonieplay games, which include books that grill children with quizzes, scavenger hunts, and more. Tonies also sells softer, toddler-safe My First Tonies, large plush Cuddle Tonies, and Night Light Tonies that do exactly what you think. And these aren't just standalone products; they are fully compatible with the Toniebox. At the Toy Fair, Tonies showed off upcoming products for existing lines, as well as the next big property to the Tonies family: Pokémon. Fingers crossed the company will bring back Rodger Parsons to narrate the stories.