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.