Hottest toys 2026: 18 toys on two or more of the big holiday lists · checked
3 toys made all four lists this year: PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie Megasaurus, Primal Hatch Megalodon Hatching Shark Egg and Sesame Street Tickle Me Elmo Giggle Max. We compared Amazon Top 100+ Toys, Target Bullseye’s Top Toys, The Toy Insider Hot 20, STEM 10 and 12 Under $20, Walmart Top Toys and kept every toy that at least two of them pick on their own.
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On all four lists
Amazon, Target, The Toy Insider and Walmart · ages 5+
Amazon, Target, The Toy Insider and Walmart · ages 18 months+
On three lists
Amazon, The Toy Insider and Walmart · ages 4+ · Rumi, Mira and Zoey are sold separately
On two lists
Amazon and The Toy Insider · ages 6+ · List price $49.99; Amazon sells it by invitation while supply is short
Amazon and The Toy Insider · ages 2+ · Amazon’s version adds figures and a car
Target and Walmart · ages 3+
More by age: Toddlers · Toddlers · 3-Year-Olds · 4-Year-Olds · 5-Year-Olds · 6-Year-Olds · 8-Year-Olds
The lists
- Amazon Top 100+ Toys, September 9. The full list is on Amazon’s site; for toys its announcement doesn’t name, we went by TODAY’s and BestReviews’ write-ups of it.
- Target Bullseye’s Top Toys, October 5. 50 toys, 27 of them sold only at Target, which is why few of those appear on a second list.
- The Toy Insider Hot 20, STEM 10 and 12 Under $20, September 11. Three lists from one publisher count once here.
- Walmart Top Toys. Walmart hasn’t announced a dated 2026 list; this is the Top Toys shelf on its site as it stood on October 13, 2026.
Questions
What is the hottest toy of 2026?
No single toy tops every list, but 3 are on all four of the big US ones: PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie Megasaurus, Primal Hatch Megalodon Hatching Shark Egg and Sesame Street Tickle Me Elmo Giggle Max.
Which lists are compared here?
Amazon Top 100+ Toys (September 9); Target Bullseye’s Top Toys (October 5); The Toy Insider Hot 20, STEM 10 and 12 Under $20 (September 11); Walmart Top Toys (checked October 13). A toy is here when at least two of them pick it.
Why are Target’s exclusives missing?
50 toys, 27 of them sold only at Target, which is why few of those appear on a second list.
When is the Toy of the Year announced?
The Toy Association names its finalists on Saturday, November 7 at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair, and the winners in February.