Image: John Ceceri
The National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, NY, is taking nominations for a classic toy to add to their collection. Housed in The Strong’s National Museum of Play, the National Toy Hall of Fame is a wonderful place to visit, for kids and adults alike. (It’s also where you can find eGameRevolution, an exhibit from the International Center for the History of Electronic Games.)
Past inductees to the Toy Hall of Fame include generic playthings such as the ball, the stick, the cardboard box, and checkers. There are also name-brand items like Barbie, Tonka trucks, Mr. Potato Head and the Atari 2600 Game System. The criteria for nominees for this year’s induction are:
- 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.
Looking over the list, it might be hard to come up with new choices. But Jonathan Liu named three contenders in his post citing his 5 Best Toys of All Time.
What do you think should make the list this year? You have until July 29, 2011 to submit your nomination. If you’ve got a truly geeky entry, maybe we can start a campaign to get the GeekDad Classic choice in the running!
