TLL Staff
The Toy Association has named four inventive visionaries as the 2026 inductees into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame.
The new inductees include Melissa and Doug Bernstein, co-founders of the toy company Melissa & Doug; Isaac Larian, founder and CEO of MGA Entertainment; and posthumous honoree Stanley Weston, inventor of the G.I. Joe action figure and founder of Leisure Concepts.
The three industry figures will join 98 previous inductees recognized for shaping the global toy business and influencing generations of children through play. Because they are co-founders, Melissa and Doug Bernstein are considered a single entry in the Hall of Fame, bringing the total number of honorees to 101.
Established in 1984, the Hall of Fame honors leaders from manufacturing, retail, entertainment, licensing and related sectors, with past inductees including Walt Disney, Ruth and Elliott Handler, Charles Lazarus, Milton Bradley, Joan Ganz Cooney and Alan Hassenfeld.
“Melissa and Doug Bernstein and Isaac Larian have earned their place among the very best of our industry by redefining play for generations,” said Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of The Toy Association, in the announcement. “Melissa and Doug built a legacy of timeless, beautifully crafted wooden toys that have sparked imagination and discovery for decades, and Isaac’s entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation have given rise to global brands that took retail and children’s imaginations by storm.”
Ahearn described Weston as a history-making innovator who introduced a new category in children’s toys.
“The Toy Association is equally proud to posthumously induct Stanley Weston, who changed toy history by introducing a new genre of play known by many today as ‘action figures’,” Ahearn said. “His creation of G.I. Joe gave children the power to imagine themselves as heroes, while his work in licensing built a foundation for modern entertainment.”
The Bernsteins and Larian were nominated and elected by members of The Toy Association in recognition of their long-term contributions to the industry.
Weston was selected through a separate process overseen by the Hall of Fame Subcommittee on Posthumous Selection and approved by the Hall of Fame Committee. The committee evaluates individuals who have contributed to the U.S. toy industry since 1800 and who may have been previously overlooked.
The 2026 inductees will be honored during The Toy Foundation’s Toy of the Year Awards on Feb. 13, 2026. The Toy Industry Hall of Fame is featured alongside the National Toy Hall of Fame in an exhibit at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
More information is available at toyassociation.org/HOF.