When it comes to classic toys, nostalgia wins
12 options in running for National Toy Hall of Fame
Who remembers making awesome images with the glow of a Lite-Brite, with a line of My Little Pony horses watching nearby? If you do, you aren’t alone – and this year, the toys are up for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
There are 12 nominees for the Class of 2020, but only three will ultimately be inducted.
Here’s a look at the list of nominees, with descriptions from the National Toy Hall of Fame:
• Baby Nancy was created in 1968 by Shindana Toys, a “community-owned company dedicated to making toys that ‘reflect Black pride, Black talent and, most of all, Black enterprise.’”
• Bingo dates back to a game developed in Italy in 1530. “A marketer copied the 1920s American carnival game beano and changed its name to bingo.”
• Breyer Horses got their start in 1950, and “realistically captured the spirit and magic of the living creatures.”
• Jenga is a wooden blocks game. “The word jenga is the imperative form of kujenga, the Swahili verb ‘to build.’”
• Lite-Brite was created in 1966, and “uses backlit plastic pegs on a black background for children to create glowing images.”
• Masters of the Universe Toys – which includes He-Man and Skeletor – dates back to the cartoon series that ran from 1983-85.
• My Little Pony was first introduced in the 1980s, and “encourages children in traditional forms of doll play – fantasy, storytelling, hair grooming and collecting.”
• The board game Risk was introduced in the U.S. in 1959, and “challenges players to control armies and conquer the world.”
• Sidewalk Chalk is beloved by most kids, but chalk itself has been around to at least Paleolithic times, with traces of the material found in cave art.
• Sorry! is a board game that has its roots in an Indian game called pachisi – more commonly known as Parcheesi in the U.S.
• Tamagotchi was an electronic game in the late 1990s based on digital pets. Owners could raise their “pets” from birth to adulthood.
• Yahtzee is a dice-rolling game in which players try to roll certain combinations of dice to maximize points.
The 12 options span the course of history, and vary from board games to tradition toys and more – and it would be tough to choose just three for the Hall of Fame.
Sidewalk Chalk seems like an obvious winner, given its role in creativity throughout history, but choosing two more really depends on which options pull the nostalgia strings the most.
Children of the 80s would likely choose My Little Pony and Masters of the Universe, for example, while someone who grew up in the 1990s would have strong memories of Tamagotchi.
Readers, what do you think? Which three toys would you choose to add to the Hall of Fame? Let us know. Share your thoughts at letters@yumasun.com.
Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.