Toy Industry Association (TIA) has partnered with The Strong to archive and exhibit all past and future Toy of the Year Award (TOTY) winners at the National Museum of Play – one of America’s leading history museums featuring 150,000 square feet of dynamic, hands-on exhibits that engage adults and children alike.

Each year’s TOTY winners in all categories will be credited and visible in the Online Collections section of The Strong’s website; additionally, The Strong’s curators have indicated that they will explore the development of a display of TOTY winners at the museum, which is located in Rochester, NY.

“We’re pleased to be able to help celebrate the excellence in the world of toys and games and to provide a permanent repository for examples of those achievements,” said Christopher Bensch, vice president for collections at The Strong. “We’re also grateful for the opportunity to expand awareness of the museum throughout the industry.”

The call for product submissions for the 2012 TOTY Awards – a TIA-administered event in support of the Toy Industry Foundation – is open now through COB on October 14, 2011. Toy companies, inventors and retailers are invited to submit products in each of the eleven (11) product categories. All of the products selected for the official TOTY ballot will also be considered for the overall “Toy of the Year” award. Winners will be announced at the TOTY Awards ceremony on February 11, 2012 at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Centre.

The fee for each product submission is $75 for TIA members and $125 for TIA non-members. To be eligible, products must be available at retail in the U.S. on or before November 21, 2011, and have been introduced to the marketplace within the last two years. A brief description plus a statement explaining why the product is deserving of recognition is required.