Games, dolls, even sand compete for 2021 Toy Hall of Fame honors

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WISH) — Vote now to decide which three of 12 toys will be added to the National Toy Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Play.

The winners will be revealed at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 4 at the Rochester, New York, museum. Toys already in the Hall of Fame include alphabet blocks, Barbie, the cardboard box, LEGO blocks, Monopoly and the Rubik’s Cube. See them all at the Top Hall of Fame’s website.

Here are this year’s nominees and some information from the museum’s website about each one:

• American Girl Dolls: Created in 1986 by educator and newscaster Pleasant Rowland, the 18-inch American Girl dolls and their accompanying books explore America’s social and cultural history. 
• Battleship: Do you remember playing it with pencil and paper as early as the 1930s? Milton Bradley’s 1967 plastic adaptation made it a hit
• Billiards: The game evolved from earlier European outdoor games, such as croquet in the 14th and 15th centuries, and became extremely popular in the 1800s.
• Cabbage Patch Kids: The cuddly dolls were the must-have Christmas toy in 1983, with parents searching shelves from store to store.
• Fisher-Price Corn Popper: Push it, cause the balls to fly and hear the toy pop. The goal was to increase a child’s motor skills.
• Mahjong: Evolved from 18th and 19th-century gambling card games in China, the game caught on in the 1930s, especially with Hollywood starlets and high-society types.
• Masters of the Universe Toys: As Skeletor says, “Everything comes to he who waits.” He-Man was the other popular character in the cartoon series from 1983-1985 that led to the creation of the action figures.
• Piñata: Bust it open for toys, confetti, fruits, candies or coins. Commonly associated with Mexican culture, the object may date back to early 13th-century China.
• Risk: Based on the French game Le Conquete du Monde, Risk translates the hobby of wargaming with miniature figures into a mass-produced war and strategy board game.
• Sand: Arguably the most universal and oldest toy in the world.
• The Settlers of Catan: Now called Catan, the board game was first published by Kosmos in Germany.
• Toy Fire Engine: Although toy fire engines have evolved in materials, design, and technology over time, the benefits of play with these vehicles remain the same.