2017 National Toy Hall of Fame Nominees Ranked

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Every Year in September, The Strong National Museum of Play releases its 12 finalists for the National Toy Hall of Fame. Since 1998, the The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame “recognizes toys that have inspired creative play and enjoyed popularity over a sustained period.” Selections to the hall are made on the advice of “historians, educators, and other individuals who exemplify learning, creativity and discovery through their lives and careers.” I think that last part should read, “adults who still plays with toys,” which covers most of us here at Funkhouser.

These “historians” have inducted 62 toys to the Hall of fame since 1998, including the Atari 2600, Crayola Crayons, Lincoln Logs, LEGO, Mr. Potato Head, Play-Doh, roller skates, and most recently in 2016, Dungeons & Dragons, Fisher Price Little People, and the Swing. Also, three times in the history of The Hall, an item that wasn’t a “finalist” earned admittance into the Hall of Fame: Cardboard Box (2005), Blanket (2011), and Stick (2008).

Recently, The Strong put out the list of 12 finalists for induction into the Hall of Fame in 2017: Clue, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox Cars, My Little Pony, Paper Airplane, Pez Despenser, Play Food, Risk, Sand, Transformers, Uno, and the Wiffleball. The expert committee will help select just “two or three” of the 12 toys to enter the hall on the following criteria:

Icon-status: The toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered

Longevity: The toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations

Discovery: The toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play

Innovation: The toy profoundly changed play or toy design. A toy may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.

While the newest inductees won’t be added to the hall until November 9th, we at Funkhouser thought we’d go ahead and make our vote for who we thought should get in. Our “expert committee” included the entire Funkhouser staff along with Nick Roush, Shannon The Dude, Tyler Thompson, Maria Taustine and Ryan Lemond. Votes were tabulated on a 3-2-1 points system to find our definitive inductees.

#10 (Tie) – Sand (0 Points)

Sand is a Finalist of the Strand Toy Hall of Fame for the first time, earning that status with items like Stick, and Blanket, which prove to be very non-traditional ‘toys’. The idea behind Sand’s nomination is that kids can play in it and unleash their creativity, based on the ability to sculpt and manipulate the substance into whatever they want. It’s always amazing to see people who are able to build incredible sand sculptures at the beach, only to have them washed away by the high tide. Sand doesn’t make our list, but I could see it earning a spot in The Strong’s Hall of Fame.

#10 (Tie) – Play Food (0 Points)

Play Food got no love from our voting committee, mainly because of the much stronger choices listed below. However, play food is an integral part of growing up as a child. Play food teaches a lot of skills to kids: manners, social skills, shopping, and that risotto is just simply not possible in a 30 minute time frame Sally, and that’s why we had to chop you. Toys like Play Food are important to the imagination of children and the world of make believe, which would be a great representation in the Toy Hall of Fame.

#10 (Tie) – My Little Pony (0 Points) – Four Time Finalist

My Little Pony last appeared in the Strong Toy Hall of Fame finalists list in 2014, which is the first year Funkhouser started weighing in. At that time, none of our esteemed panel voted for it either. Maybe it’s because our group has a more collective focus, but My Little Pony has been in the pop culture lexicon for over 35 years. Between the popularity of the toy in the 1980s (where it briefly outsold Barbie), and its resurgence in the 2010s, My Little Pony eventually deserves to make the Strong Toy Hall of Fame.

#9 – Pez Dispenser (2 Points) – Two Time Finalist

Is the Pez Dispenser actually a toy? In reality, probably not, but who are we to ague with the Strong Toy Hall of Fame. I get a Pez Dispenser in my stocking every year, this year being the WWE 3-Pack, with the Rock, John Cena and the Undertaker, but it appears I can only see two of them in the box. There are over 550 various character head Pez dispensers at this point. The Tweety Bird dispenser is famously featured in the Seinfeld episode where he ruins a performance by just simply setting the dispenser on Elaine’s leg. The candy is alright, but Pez will always be well known more for the dispensers.

#6 (Tie) – Magic 8 Ball (5 Points) – Seven Time Finalist

I imagine a lot of poor decisions have been made via Magic 8 Ball over the years. The Magic 8 Ball is a plastic ball filled with liquid and a large die (more or less) with outcomes printed on each face. Ask the Magic 8 Ball a question, shake it up, and your fate will float to the top, sort of, after rattle it a bit so that a side with a response actually comes to the surface. This is the seventh time since 2003 that the Magic 8 Ball has been on the finalist list. Will this be the year for the prognostication toy? All signs point to no…

#6 (Tie) – Risk (5 Points)

Risk makes the Strong Hall of Fame Finalists list for the first time in its illustrious history, and that’s probably because the voting committee just finished their first game. Risk joins the list of games that Just. Never. End. I’ve once played a Risk game where we kept it in a separate room, and gave a neutral party the key so that no one would mess with the board. Risk, The Game Of Strategic Conquest is a war strategy game, in which the goal of the game is to eliminate all players and capture all 42 territories on the board. Attacking, dice rolling, and area control are key factors in the game which has been around for 60 years now. There are various versions of Risk, the most current (I believe) is Risk: Europe, which is available at Target, and is a remaking of Castle Risk from the 80s. If you can get your hands on one Risk Game, make it Risk Legacy, where you get to write on the board, rip up cards, and more, all to make your game different than any other Risk Legacy game in existence.

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#6 (Tie) – Paper Airplanes (5 Points) – Three Time Finalist

Granted, none of the paper airplanes we ever made looked like the one pictured above, but Paper Airplanes played to our creativity. Think about it, it took one sheet of paper, but you could try out millions of different variations. The first paper airplane that you made, the one that flew straight into the ground, sparked your interest for trial and error. What went wrong? How do I fix it? You make a change, and it flies a little further. Make another change, and flew in a loop and ended up behind you. Then you bought that book from the Scholastic Book Fair and you made an overly complicated airplane, but it flew 20 feet. Either way, Paper Airplanes have been a toy that has and will surpass the test of time, making it a perfect entry into the Toy Hall of Fame. (In 2014, Funkhouser voted Paper Airplanes into its Toy Hall of Fame, but amongst this collection of toys, Paper Airplanes does not make the cut).

#5 – Matchbox Cars (7 Points)

Outside of LEGOs, Matchbox cars might be the #1 cause for parental swearing in the household based on the level of pain they cause when stepped on with bare feet. This is the first time since 2003 that Matchbox cars have been a finalist in the Strong Toy Hall of Fame, which is quite surprising. Matchbox has been around since 1953, introduced by a British company, and got its name based on the packaging that the cars were originally sold in. Over time, you could find cars based on actual models, service vehicles, and today with replications of cars that existed in television and movies. Combine the cars with plastic track, or street mats, and children could have a blast reimagining car chases, races or everyday situations, and now you have a whole world of creativity for kids.

#4 – Transformers (8 Points)

Drew Franklin recently asked on the radio show, “How many Transformers are there?” Well, when Transformers hit North America in 1984, there were 28 (18 Auto-Bots/10 Decepticons). My response to him was “There’s More Than Meets The Eye”. The concept behind Transformers are that the robots change from cars/vehicles or other objects into robots that fight off the Decepticons. As many a toy property in the 80s, Transformers were greeted with a back-story which was supported by cartoons, movies, video games, cereals, you name it. Transformers are still relevant today as there have been five blockbuster movies made of the series, with a sixth coming out in 2018, which is titled “Bumblebee”. Transformers toys move up from our vote last year, but just don’t crack the top three for the Funkhouser Toy Hall of Fame.

#3 – Uno (11 Points) – Two Time Finalist

Uno hit the scene in 1971 as a game where players try to get every card out of their hand before the other players are able to do so. Play cards to the stack that either match the number or color to rid cards from your hand. The game also saw itself as a way to make children angry at one another, as a game that taught the “Take That” mechanic of board and card games. Also, the key component to the game was that when you were down to one card, you had to say UNO, and if someone said it before you could, you had to draw five cards. Sometimes you can’t get UNO out fast enough before someone jumps all over you. Despite all the bickering this game causes, it is an easy game to learn and teach to kids, and a game they will want to play over and over again. Congrats to UNO, for making it into the Funkhouser Toy Hall of Fame.

#2 – Wiffle Ball (14 Points – 4 First Place Votes) – Five Time Finalist

If someone asked me right now to have a Wiffle Ball game, I would drop everything I’m doing to play. I keep a velcro scoreboard in the trunk of my car, just in case a Wiffle Ball game breaks out (no joke). My senior year May Term at Transy probably suffered because of the Wiffle Ball league I ran in back circle. Needless to say, I love that yellow bat and plastic ball with half holes. Don’t get confused either by any imitation products. If I’m playing Wiffle Ball, I want to see exactly what’s in the picture above. No Junk Ball. No Blitz Ball. There is a skill to throwing curves/slurves/risers/sinkers with the Wiffle Ball, and I hold those to a very high standard. There was always something as a kid, when you could just get a group of kids together in the front yard to play a full game, getting outs by pegging each other from 20 feet away. This is one of the greatest toys of all time, and rightfully earns a spot in Funkhouser’s Toy Hall of Fame

#1 – Clue (15 Points – 3 First Place Votes) – Seven Time Finalist

I’ll go ahead and say it, Clue is my favorite “classic” board game of all time. I’m a Monopoly apologist, but Clue just has a soft spot in my heart. In Clue, players are trying to deduce who murdered Mr. Boddy, based on three cards (person, location, weapon) that are secretly placed in an envelope in the middle of the board. Players must then traverse the mansion to make accusations on who they think did it. If someone is holding a card of something or someone they accused, that person can secretly show the accuser that card, and they’re one step closer to solving the mystery. Also, this is the seventh time Clue has been a finalist for the Toy Hall of Fame, tied for the most of any other toy on this list. Can we finally get justice for this game, and more specifically Mr. Boddy? Well Clue’s about to go in The Hall… Whodunnit? Funkhouser’s Toy Hall of Fame, that’s who…

Which of these toys do you think should make the Strong Toy Hall of Fame? Let us know on Twitter: @FunkhouserKSR