The Toy Hall of Fame, which has in the past inducted sand and a stick, is going organic again with the nomination of snow.
“Is snow just precipitation—or the ultimate vehicle for play?” asked the announcement of finalists on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
A dozen contenders are vying for induction in November into the hall of fame, overseen by the Strong National Museum of Play, in Rochester, N.Y. Most recent years have seen three selections.
Besides snow, the 2025 finalists are:
• Board games Battleship, Catan, Connect Four and Trivial Pursuit
• Creative toys Spirograph and Slime
• Active toys cornhole, the scooter and Star Wars Light Saber
• Doll/plush creatures Furby and Tickle Me Elmo
The “player’s choice” ballot will be open through Sept. 24, allowing one vote per day on the finalists.
Toys that don’t make the cut can try again: My Little Pony finally got into the hall last year, its seventh time on the ballot.
The hall of fame was inaugurated in 1998 and now has 87 inductees.
Toy Hall of Fame inductees: Full list through 2024
- alphabet blocks
- American Girl Doll
- Atari 2600 Game System
- baby doll
- Baby Nancy
- ball
- Barbie
- baseball cards
- bicycle
- Big Wheel
- blanket
- bubbles
- Cabbage Patch Kids
- Candy Land
- cardboard box
- checkers
- chess
- Clue
- coloring book
- Crayola Crayons
- dollhouse
- dominoes
- Duncan Yo-Yo
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Easy-Bake Oven
- Erector Set
- Etch A Sketch
- Fisher-Price Corn Popper
- Fisher-Price Little People
- Frisbee
- G.I. Joe
- The Game of Life
- Hot Wheels
- Hula Hoop
- jack-in-the-box
- jacks
- Jenga
- jigsaw puzzle
- jump rope
- kite
- LEGO
- Lincoln Logs
- Lionel Trains
- Lite-Brite
- little green army men
- Magic 8 Ball
- Magic: The Gathering
- marbles
- Masters of the Universe
- Matchbox Cars
- Monopoly
- Mr. Potato Head
- My Little Pony
- Nerf
- Nintendo Game Boy
- paper airplane
- Phase 10
- pinball
- Play-Doh
- playing cards
- puppet
- Radio Flyer Wagon
- Raggedy Ann and Andy
- Risk
- rocking horse
- roller skates
- rubber duck
- Rubik’s Cube
- sand
- Scrabble
- sidewalk chalk
- Silly Putty
- skateboard
- Slinky
- Star Wars action figures
- stick
- Super Soaker
- swing
- teddy bear
- Tinkertoy
- Tonka Trucks
- top
- Transformers
- Twister
- Uno
- View-Master
- Wiffle Ball