The Top 5 Toys of Christmas 2022
Squishmallows, a guinea pig that has babies overnight, a cartoon cat's dollhouse, a Pokémon box and a Star Wars walker: five toys from Christmas 2022.
November 3, 2026 · ZABI LLC
Christmas 2022 arrived in a hard year for many families, and the people who compile the UK's DreamToys list said so openly. Their committee called it a challenging year, said it wanted the list to suit different budgets, and the chair said it mixed classic toys with the year's biggest brands. It is a fair summary of the season: a few reliable names, a few newcomers, and a general wish not to waste money on a present that would be forgotten by Boxing Day.
The five below come from that list and from the awards of the year. They are a mixed lot, a soft toy, a pet that does something unexpected, a dollhouse from a streaming series, a box of cards and a set of bricks, and they suggest different ways of choosing a gift. One question runs through all of them: what will the person you are buying for still be doing with it in February?
The five
Documented on: 2022 DreamToys list; 2022 Toy of the Year and People's Choice (Toy Foundation)
Squishmallows
The DreamToys panel listed the original 7.5-inch Squishmallows from Jazwares. They are soft, round, collectable plush animals, and each one has its own name and backstory, a detail that turns a stuffed toy into a character to collect.
The awards bear out the list. The Toy Foundation announced on November 21, 2022 that Squishmallows had won the overall Toy of the Year, chosen by a panel of expert judges, as well as the People's Choice prize, which came from votes by toy fans. At a September ceremony it had already been named both Plush Toy of the Year and License of the Year. The range is huge, so if you are buying one for a collector, find out which character they want before you go looking.
Documented on: 2022 DreamToys list
Little Live Pets Mama Surprise
Moose Toys describes Mama Surprise as a soft guinea pig that responds to care. Brushing her, petting her and feeding her make her heart glow, which is her signal that she is ready for bed in her hutch. Overnight, a baby arrives with a care package. Each Mama has three babies, one arriving per day, and the deliveries can be repeated.
It made the DreamToys list in November 2022. The idea behind it is a sound one for a Christmas present: it asks for a little attention each day, and the reward comes while the house is asleep. If you are weighing it up, think about whether your household has the patience for a daily routine, and check the age grading on the box.
Documented on: 2022 DreamToys list
Gabby's Purrfect Dollhouse
Spin Master's dollhouse comes from the Netflix series about Gabby and her cat friends, and a Toy Insider report from July 2021 described what is in the box: a Delivery Tower where a parcel is dropped in and retrieved with a button, a working Cat-a-vator, a Gabby figure and a Pandy Paws figure, furniture for each room, three accessories and two deliveries. No assembly is needed.
It reached the DreamToys list about sixteen months after that report, so it was still being picked well after its launch. The same report mentioned a code in one of the deliveries that unlocks a reward in a free app, so if you would rather keep screens out of a present, it is worth knowing that this part is optional.
Documented on: 2022 DreamToys list; Pokémon won License of the Year in the February 2022 awards
Pokémon Elite Trainer Box
The Elite Trainer Box is a boxed set for the Pokémon trading card game, and the DreamToys panel put one on its list, supplied in the UK by Asmodee. The sources we could read did not say which expansion the box belonged to, so we leave that open; there are many sets, and collectors care very much which one is in the box.
Pokémon also won License of the Year at the Toy Foundation's awards, announced in February 2022. Together the two documents make a modest case: a long-running game that keeps turning up in the lists. For a parent, the practical advice is to ask what the player already owns, since duplicates are the common disappointment.
Documented on: 2022 DreamToys list
LEGO Star Wars Hoth AT-ST
The DreamToys list for 2022 included a LEGO Star Wars set based on the AT-ST walker as it appears on the ice planet Hoth. The sources we could open gave only the name and the maker, so we do not list the piece count or the age rating; check both on the box before you buy.
It sits on this list as the building-set pick of the year. A set like this is as much a project as a toy, and it suits a Star Wars fan who enjoys building more than playing. If you are buying for a younger builder, a conversation about whether they like instructions, or prefer to make their own models, is worth having first.
What the year tells us
It is easy to read a toy list as a list of things. It is also a record of what grown-ups felt able to buy. The 2022 panel wanted a spread, and what we see is a spread of ways to be given: a collectable, a daily routine, a story set, a card hobby and a build. None of them tries to do everything.
If you want to see how the story went on, the toys of 2023 follow, with Squishmallows and Pokémon both back on the lists, and the classics that outlived every craze takes the longer view.
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.
- DreamToys reveals the big 12 Christmas toys, Toys n Playthings (Nov 9, 2022) — DreamToys 2022 list of 12, panel, longlist of 72, cost-of-living comment, makers
- Here's the 12 toys that will fly off the shelves this Christmas, Newstalk (Nov 9, 2022) — Committee chair's comment on classics and big brands; the 72-toy longlist
- 20 toys set to be big for Christmas 2023 (DreamToys), PA via RTE — Description of Squishmallows as named collectable plush (from the next year's list)
- DreamToys unveils top 12 toys for Christmas, Toy Retailers Association press release — List date (Nov 9, 2022), independent panel, supplier names
- Squishmallows from Jazwares wins Toy of the Year, Jazwares newsroom — Overall Toy of the Year and People's Choice, announced Nov 21, 2022; Plush Toy of the Year in September 2022
- The Toy Foundation crowns 2022 Toy of the Year award winners, Licensing International — February 2022 awards: Pokémon as License of the Year
- New Mama Surprise from Little Live Pets, Moose Toys — How Mama Surprise works: care, overnight babies, three babies, repeatable
- Gabby's Dollhouse toy collection, The Toy Insider (July 2021) — Purrfect Dollhouse contents and features, app reward code