Somehow, the new year seems like the perfect time for taking stock and reflecting on successes and failures. And this couldn’t be more true than in the toy biz, which spends much of January bean-counting profits after the all-important fourth quarter. But we want to celebrate the toys that were simply the best last year, not because of units sold, but because they’re good toys. So using the nominations for TIA’s Toy of the Year awards as a starting point, we polled a healthy number of folks working in the consumer products industry to find out which products rose to the top in four key categories. Based on more than 100 responses, here are the winners, as predicted by you:

Best Infant/Preschool Toy

Aquadoodle Sing ‘N Doodle – Spin Master

Also nominated are: Cranium Sounds of the Seashore (Cranium), Elmo Giggle and Shake Chair (Spin Master), T.M.X. Elmo (Fisher-Price) and V.Smile Baby Infant Development System (VTech Electronics North America).

Best Girls Toy

FurReal Friends Butterscotch Pony – Hasbro

Also nominated are Bratz Forever Diamondz Fashion Dolls (MGA Entertainment), Digi Makeover (Radica USA), Littlest Pet Shop: Biggest Littlest Pet Shop (Hasbro) and Pixel Chix Love 2 Shop Mall (Mattel).

Best Boys Toy

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s

Chest Ultimate Black Pearl Pirate

Ship Playset – Zizzle

Also nominated are: Air Hogs RC Storm Launcher (Spin Master), Fast Talkin’ Lightning McQueen (Mattel), Hot Wheels Radar Gun (Mattel) and Spy Video Car (Wild Planet).

Most Innovative Toy

FurReal Friends Butterscotch Pony – Hasbro

Also nominated are: Air Hogs RC Storm Launcher (Spin Master), Lego Mindstorms NXT (Lego Systems) and Moon Sand (Spin Master).