Award-winning Portal innovation arrives in CONNETIX’s signature pastel palette, recognised as a London Toy Fair Hero Toy winner for STEM Education.   February 19, 2026 – Global award-winning Australian magnetic tile brand CONNETIX has announced the release of its 48 Piece Pastel Portal Pack, extending its breakthrough Portal design into the brand’s signature soft, earthy pastel tones.   Featuring two sizes of open-frame Portal tiles designed to nest neatly together, alongside mini squares powered by Smart-Spin™ technology that allows the magnets to rotate up to 360 degrees, the Pastel Portal Pack unlocks new ways to connect, overlap and build in multiple directions, enabling more ambitious, layered designs that extend beyond traditional magnetic tile play.   The new release has already been named a London Toy Fair Hero Toy winner in the STEM Education category, recognising its contribution to innovative, skill-building play.   The launch follows a landmark year of innovation for CONNETIX in 2025 with the debut of the Bright Portal Pack, which earned a Platinum Award from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio for excellence in preschool play and was featured in top-tier media outlets like Romper, The Sunday Mirror and NBC’s The Today Show in the U.S. The Bright Portal Pack exceeded expectations globally with families, educators and retailers, confirming strong demand for more advanced construction play.   “The response to the Bright Portal Pack surpassed what we anticipated,” says Glenn Harrison, Director of Sales at CONNETIX. “It showed builders were ready for more complex construction play. Bringing that same innovation into pastels was a natural next step.”   The Portal concept emerged from a hands-on product development challenge set by CEO and co-founder Brea Brand: could CONNETIX continue to keep pace with a child’s imagination? Through daily open-ended play and experimentation, the team engineered solutions to builds that once felt impossible – leading to the creation of the open-frame Portal tile and mini tile with rotating magnets.   Fully compatible with the entire CONNETIX range, the Pastel Portal Pack integrates seamlessly into existing collections while opening up new ways to build, imagine and play.   The CONNETIX Pastel Portal Pack will be available in March at select global retailers and at connetixtiles.com.