He-Man, Lite-Brite, and the Spinning Top Defeat Nerf for a Spot in the National Toy Hall of Fame

It ’s yet another smacking in the face for the Nerf chargeman , which once again find oneself itself as a stolon - up as theNational Toy Hall of Fameannounced its 2022 inductee : the spinning top ( which is among the world ’s oldest toys ) , Lite - Brite , and Mattel ’s Masters of the Universe toys .

Organized byThe Strong National Museum of Playin Rochester , New York , the National Toy Hall of Fame has , for geezerhood , play up the most notable objects of free rein with an annual ceremony that in the past has inducted such iconic toy dog as the swing , Fisher damage ’s piddling People , and Matchbox ’s die - cast cars . Each year , three inductees are pick out from a orotund lineup of 12 finalists , which in the past have included Mattel ’s Masters of the Universe line , which no longer has to force a smiling for the camera and pretend it ’s an honour just to be nominated .

This yr ’s finalistsincluded games like bingo , Catan , Phase 10 , and Rack - O , recognizable toy demarcation and firebrand like Breyer Horses , Nerf , Pound Puppies , and Spirograph , as well as the birthday party keystone , the piñata ( which just missed the cut for 2022 ) .

Image:The Strong Museum

It ’s actually kind of surprising that it ’s read this long for the spinning top to be seat , because as the museum points out , it has “ more than 5,000 years of history behind it , ” and was independently developed by myriad culture as a play toy . It ’s about as canonical and pure as a toy can get , and probably deserve the Hall of Fame nod decades ago .

Lite - Brite is the second - oldest of this yr ’s inductees ( but first in problematic spelling ) . First introduced by Hasbro in 1966 and inspired by stain - glass windows , it allow nipper to make glowing images by jabbing lighter channeling plastic pin into dark sheet of paper that were illuminated from behind by a light bulb ( or LED in the modern versions of the toy ) .

The last addition , Mattel ’s Masters of the Universe line of descent , helped delineate the toy of the ‘ fourscore , and was one of the first to earn popularity through an sequent animated series specifically designed to function as a promotional tool for the toy . He - Man and Skeletor stay an iconic mating of goodness and evil , and haveenjoyed a resurgenceand renew interest among collectors in recent years . Did the power of Grayskull help rock the judge ’s opinions this year ? Who ’s to say it did n’t ?

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