KTV– Magic 8 Ball, Uno, and pinball have made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame

The three are being inducted Thursday in recognition of their staying power and influence.

The honorees were chosen from a field of 12 finalists that also included American Girl Dolls, chalk, Chutes and Ladders, the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Masters of the Universe, sled, tic-tac-toe, Tickle Me Elmo and Tudor Electric Football.

This year’s inductees will be on permanent display at the Hall of Fame, located inside The Strong museum in Rochester, alongside 65 previous honorees that include playthings ranging from the stick and cardboard box to Barbie and Lionel Trains.

Anyone can nominate a toy. A panel of experts makes the final selections, considering things such as a toy’s longevity and influence on toy design.

Hand up on this one, I didn’t know that the National Toy Hall of Fame was a thing. I consider myself a pretty big Hall of Fame guy (and an even bigger Hall and Oates guy but that’s not here nor there), so not knowing that this existed is a really bad look for me. Call it ignorance, call it uninformed, call it whatever you want, the bottom line is I needed to learn everything I could about this hall of fame. Naturally, I found myself on their website, and it looks absolutely marvelous, this hall was so great that five minutes after being on this website I found that my sore throat had gone away.

68 toys have the crowning distinction of being in this Hall of Fame. These are the best of the best, the magnum opi of our childhoods, the Monopolies of the world, the Twisters, Barbies, the list goes on and on. They have been electing toys gradually into this elite group since 1998, and after a quick skim through the inductees, I wanted to talk briefly about some of the members.

Easy Bake Oven (class of 2006): What else can be said about this amazing device. My culinary skills were forged in the fires of this thing, it taught me how to be domestic, it taught me patience. A fun idea for a cooking show would be similar to Chopped but the professional chefs had to turn on the light and use one of these bad boys.

(I learned how to wrap text on this thing, big day for me) 

Frisbee (class of 1998): An inaugural member to this Hall, its legacy cannot be matched. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Red Grange, James Naismith, The Frisbee, all of these names were the first to be elected into their respected halls due to their impact on the game and everlasting legacy. I often wonder to myself “why is that Frisbee getting bigger” and then it hits me.

G.I. Joe (class of 2004): G.I. Joe has been a staple in most boy’s rooms since he launched in 1964 in the midst of the Cold War.  He was actually set to be inducted in 2001 but was arrested a couple of months before on domestic battery charges. (He was later found not guilty). Regardless, they decided to wait for the bad PR to blow over before making him a member of the Hall of Fame. After the war, Joe spurned a successful movie career, appearing in six films.

Rubik’s Cube (class of 2014): The most popular puzzle in history, slightly beating out the mind of a woman, Being able to solve one of these bad boys is the ultimate sign of dominance, solve it in front of a group of people and watch them bow down to you like the god you are. A lot of people don’t know this but, when you buy a Rubik’s cube, it comes solved, I exploited this little life hack. I went out, spent $14.99 on one of these puppies, took it out of the box, and just left it on my desk. On the off chance, I’d bring a friend or a lady to my place, they would see this solved cube and look at me as an intellectual. Thus far, I can happily report that one person has seen my solved Rubik’s cube and thought, “Damn, this guy must be pretty smart.” (It was me).
Rubber Duck (class of 2013): One of the more controversial names on the list is none other than Rubber Duck. This toy’s induction was met with some backlash and resistance because apparently, he is a huge pervert. He has been caught numerous times peeping on kids while they bathe, even going as far as getting into the bath with them! I wasn’t going to comment on his status as a member in the Hall but wanted to bring awareness to the despicable crimes Jerry SanDucky is accused of.

Stick (class of 2008): I was shocked when I was going through this list and saw Stick being inducted, the numbers aren’t the greatest, and was really just a product of longevity. Seemed like a reach to me. Maybe that’s just me looking too far into it, being a narcisstick. However, from what I heard his induction speech killed it, as it was full of jokes.

View-Master (class of 1999): I’m going to sound old saying this but back in my day we didn’t have Instagram, we had the View-Master. Everyone’s favorite thing on Instagram is the Boomerang feature, well I hate to tell you, the View-Master had that long before Zuck did, pictures going side to side, it was the original gif when you really think about it. Want your pictures to look pretty so you have to put a Hudson filter on it? The View-Master had made everything look like a bad acid trip. All I see kids playing with is VR, well I grew up with the VM, and it rocked.

Magic 8 Ball (class of 2018): Ah yes, the baby doll of this group (shoutout class of 08). I didn’t realize that the magic 8 balls were regarded as a toy, but then again a fucking stick is in The Toy Hall of Fame so I guess anything goes. This is the first toy in the hall of fame to be responsible for multiple Hollywood deaths (RIP Chris Farley and John Belushi), and believe it or not, took 7 years on the ballot to finally be let in. Personally, I wouldn’t have let it in due to all the pain this ball has caused me. I once asked the Magic 8 ball, “If I ask a girl to Homecoming, will she say yes?” during my sophomore year of high school and it replied with “Without a doubt” So I did, and guess what, a homecoming date was not in my future. You’re still a bitch Stephanie.

You can look at the rest of the list of inductees here, but I figured I would give you a quick glimpse at the most exclusive Hall of Fame in the world.