He-Man, Lite-Brite, and Spinning Top Enter National Toy Hall of Fame

It’s yet one more slap within the face for the Nerf blaster, which as soon as once more discovered itself as a runner-up because the National Toy Hall of Fame introduced its 2022 inductees: the spinning high (which is among the many world’s oldest toys), Lite-Brite, and Mattel’s Masters of the Universe toys.

Organized by The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, the National Toy Hall of Fame has, for years, highlighted probably the most notable objects of play with an annual ceremony that previously has inducted such iconic toys because the swing, Fisher Price’s Little People, and Matchbox’s die-cast automobiles. Each yr, three inductees are chosen from a bigger lineup of 12 finalists, which up to now have included Mattel’s Masters of the Universe line, which not has to drive a smile for the digital camera and faux it’s an honor simply to be nominated.

This year’s finalists included video games like bingo, Catan, Phase 10, and Rack-O, recognizable toy strains and types like Breyer Horses, Nerf, Pound Puppies, and Spirograph, in addition to the celebration mainstay, the piñata (which simply missed the reduce for 2022).

It’s truly sort of shocking that it’s taken this lengthy for the spinning high to be inducted, as a result of because the museum factors out, it has “more than 5,000 years of history behind it,” and was independently developed by numerous cultures as a play toy. It’s about as primary and pure as a toy can get, and doubtless deserved the Hall of Fame nod many years in the past.

Lite-Brite is the second-oldest of this yr’s inductees (however first in problematic spelling). First launched by Hasbro in 1966 and impressed by stained-glass home windows, it allowed children to create glowing photographs by jabbing mild channeling plastic pegs into black sheets of paper that have been illuminated from behind by a light-weight bulb (or LEDs within the fashionable variations of the toy).

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*lightsaber hum*

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The final addition, Mattel’s Masters of the Universe line, helped outline the toys of the ‘80s, and was one of the first to garner popularity through an accompanying animated series specifically designed to serve as a promotional tool for the toys. He-Man and Skeletor remain an iconic pairing of good and evil, and have enjoyed a resurgence and renewed interest among collectors in recent years. Did the power of Grayskull help sway the judge’s opinions this yr? Who’s to say it didn’t?