The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2014
A sold-out snow queen, two robot dinosaurs, a spaceship from a film about bricks and a game with a long memory: five toys the 2014 lists agree on.
November 3, 2026 · ZABI LLC
If one toy had to stand for Christmas 2014, it would be a doll that sang about letting something go. Reuters, reporting in mid-December, said the National Retail Federation's survey had Disney's Frozen in first place for girls, ending an eleven-year run at the top for Barbie. In the same piece, Reuters said about fifteen high-demand items had already sold out nationwide.
But a year is never one toy. Look at the lists from that November and December and you find a second thread running through them, which is dinosaurs: one that reacts to your mood and one that transforms from a robot. Add the bricks that carried a film, and a game old enough to have been played by the parents of the people receiving it, and you have the shape of that December.
The five
Documented on: 2014 DreamToys list; CNBC hot toys; Fortune; the National Retail Federation survey (for Frozen as a whole)
Disney Frozen Snow Glow Elsa doll
The Snow Glow Elsa talks and sings, and the dress lights up and sparkles, as CNBC described it in its autumn round-up, where it appeared on six retailer lists and carried a warning that it might be hard to find. That turned out to be an understatement. Fortune reported on 23 December that the doll had often been sold out both online and in shops, and that stores had been limiting sales to two per customer.
Business Insider, looking back, called the Elsa doll the top toy of 2014, in a year when Frozen dominated the toy industry. If you were the adult trying to find one, you probably remember the hunt better than the doll. The practical note, if you are buying a Frozen gift today, is that the doll is a line, not a single product, so check which version a listing describes and whether it matches the character your own child actually likes.
Documented on: 2015 Toy of the Year awards (Toy of the Year); CNBC hot toys; 2014 DreamToys list
Zoomer Dino
Spin Master's Zoomer Dino is a robotic dinosaur whose behaviour changes with its mood. CNBC noted that it can be trained to dance and attack, and that when it is cross it spins, roars and makes a rude noise. It appeared on five of the retailer lists CNBC drew on, and a version called Zoomer Dino-Boomer was on the DreamToys list of twelve in the UK.
The Toy Industry Association gave it the Toy of the Year award at the ceremony on 13 February 2015, along with Boy Toy of the Year. It is a good example of an expensive-feeling toy that rewards patience: the early minutes are about working out what it wants. Before you buy a robot of this kind, check the battery type and charging arrangements, and be honest about whether the person receiving it will like a toy that does not always do what it is told.
Documented on: 2014 DreamToys list (Benny's Spaceship); National Retail Federation boys' list
LEGO sets from The Lego Movie
The Lego Movie opened in the United States in February 2014, and by that winter bricks were doing well in their usual way. The National Retail Federation survey, reported on 26 November 2014, put Lego at the top of the boys' list at 14.2 percent. The Reuters report agreed that Legos were the leading boys' choice. The Lego Movie Benny's Spaceship was on the UK DreamToys list of twelve.
LEGO also collected three category awards at the February 2015 Toy of the Year ceremony: Lego Fusion for e-connected toys, Lego Technic for educational toys and Lego Juniors for preschool. The age on the box is the useful number here. Juniors is built for younger builders, Technic for older ones, and a set pitched at the wrong age is the usual way a brick gift ends up in a cupboard.
Documented on: 2014 DreamToys list; CNBC hot toys
Transformers Stomp & Chomp Grimlock
Grimlock is a Hasbro Transformers figure, about 20 inches tall according to CNBC, that converts from a robot to a dinosaur and back in a single step. CNBC said it was designed for preschoolers, and it appeared on three of the retailer lists the article drew on. The DreamToys committee in the UK had it in its top twelve as well.
For adults who grew up on the original robots, there is a particular pleasure in a Transformer made simple enough to transform without a manual. For a younger person, the appeal is the dinosaur. Either way, the key check is size: it is a big figure, so make sure there is room, and read the age grading on the box before assuming it will suit a toddler as well as a preschooler.
Documented on: 2015 Toy of the Year awards (Game of the Year)
Simon Swipe
Simon first appeared in 1978, invented by Ralph Baer and Howard Morrison and launched by Milton Bradley. Toytales calls it an instant hit, and IEEE Spectrum says it was a huge hit that Christmas season. The game plays tones and lights, and you repeat the sequence as it grows.
Simon Swipe, from Hasbro Gaming, is a newer take on the four-colour memory game, with touchscreen technology and four modes, including Classic and Party. It won Game of the Year at the Toy Industry Association awards in February 2015. A game like this suits a family room better than a bedroom, and it is a gift to give when there are grandparents who remember the original and want to see whether they still have the touch.
What the year tells us
Christmas 2014 was the year a film took the top of the girls' list from Barbie, and the aisles showed it. The next year was different again, with a rolling droid and a game of whipped cream taking over, while the year before it belonged to a hugging Elmo and a rubber-band loom.
The toys that are still around from this list, Lego and Simon, are the ones with the longest histories. That says something about what lasts. For more of those, read classic toys that outlived every craze.
Sources
Where the facts in this post come from. Rankings and lists belong to the people who published them; the selection and the stories are ours.
- Toy of the Year 2015 award winners revealed, Gifts & Decorative Accessories (February 2015) — Toy Industry Association awards of 13 February 2015: Zoomer Dino, Simon Swipe, Lego Fusion, Lego Technic, Lego Juniors
- Top 12 toys for Christmas 2014, Lovemoney (DreamToys list) — The 2014 DreamToys twelve, including Snow Glow Elsa, Zoomer Dino-Boomer, Lego Movie Benny's Spaceship, Grimlock
- Hottest Holiday Toys for 2014, CNBC (Kelli Grant), 2 November 2014, updated 25 November — Descriptions of Elsa, Zoomer Dino and Grimlock; how many retailer lists each appeared on
- Frozen is the toy of the year, Fortune, 23 December 2014 — Snow Glow Elsa often sold out; purchase limit of two per customer
- Frozen dethrones Barbie on holiday top toys list, Animation World Network, 26 November 2014 — National Retail Federation survey: Frozen top for girls, Lego top for boys at 14.2 percent
- Hottest Christmas toys 2014, International Business Times (Reuters), 15 December 2014 — Frozen ended Barbie's eleven-year run; about 15 high-demand items sold out; Legos top boys' choice
- The hardest-to-find toys each holiday season since 1983, Business Insider (via Yahoo Finance) — Elsa doll as the top-selling Frozen item of 2014
- Simon from Milton Bradley (1978), Toytales — Simon's 1978 origin, inventors, Milton Bradley, instant hit
- Simon game, IEEE Spectrum — Baer and Morrison, 1978 launch, huge hit in the Christmas season
- Tap, swipe and turn with Simon Swipe, The Toy Insider — Simon Swipe from Hasbro Gaming, touchscreen, four modes
- The Lego Movie, Box Office Mojo — US release date 7 February 2014