My Little Pony, Transformers, Phase 10 join the National Toy Hall of Fame
The new inductees into The National Toy Hall of Fame have been announced: My Little Pony, the card game Phase 10, and Transformers.
The competition was stiff. The National Toy Hall of Fame recognizes both branded and generic items. Among this year’s 12 finalists were Hess Toy Trucks, Pokémon Trading Card Game, the trampoline and your run-of-the-mill balloons.
The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, established the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998 to recognize what chief curator Christopher Bensch called “the elite of the toy world.”
My Little Pony was a finalist seven times before finally landing the coveted award. Bensch pointed out that it’s not just kids who are charmed by the line of pastel colored horses and their multimedia empire.
“In recent years there’s been an entire fanbase of sort of 20 and 30 something guys who call themselves ‘bronies,’ who are fans, especially of some of the TV versions of My Little Pony,” he said. “So these things touch lots of different lives in lots of different ways.”
The criteria for this kind of lifetime achievement award for toys, are longevity, recognizability, and “play value.” The judges include historians and educators who Bensch said look for toys that “encourage learning, creativity, discovery, socialization.”
All three of this year’s inductees were created in the 1980s. Bensch said the judges do not look at sales when selecting finalists, nor are any toy company executives involved in the process. He said the National Toy Hall of Fame is a way to honor toys that are more than just a passing fad.
“There are evergreen playthings that deserve being included in children’s lives and grownups lives because they have shown their value generation after generation,” he said.
Alec Baldwin sues New Mexico officials over handling of ‘Rust’ shooting case
Actor Alec Baldwin has filed a civil lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie Rust.
‘Pizzagate’ gunman killed by police in North Carolina, authorities say
A man who fired a gun inside a restaurant in the nation's capital after a fake online conspiracy theory motivated him to do so nearly a decade ago was shot and killed by North Carolina police.
Winter Storm Cora brings cold and snow to the Southern U.S.
A major winter storm is expected to be the biggest in years as cold air moves in from the Arctic bringing snow and frigid temperatures across 20 Southern States.
Trump loses Supreme Court appeal to block hush-money sentencing
This was the only one of Trump's criminal charges to reach and complete a trial, making him the first former or future U.S. president to be convicted of criminal charges.
The Gulf South needs more sexual assault nurse examiners. Is teleSANE the answer?
While some see telemedicine as a useful tool to help provide care to sexual assault survivors, others believe it's not enough to solve the nursing shortage.
Lebanon chooses a new president after two years without one
Lebanon's parliament chose the head of the country's armed forces, Joseph Aoun, to be its next president, a post that's been vacant since October 2022.
