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Toy Hall of Fame
Star Wars action figures hit the market in 1978 after the big blockbuster movie came out in 1977.
The latest toy legends to ascend into the vaunted Toy Hall of Fame are... duhn duhn duhn.... Star Wars action figures and dominoes!
From a field of twelve finalists, a national selection committee picked the final two, beating out the Fisher-Price corn popper, Lite-Brite, Clue, the Magic 8 Ball, Simon, the tea set, and Twister. Each committee member was asked to pick two and then write a brief essay passionately advocating their choice.
The toys will now become part of the collection at the national Toy Hall of Fame, a real place in Rochester, N.Y., which you can visit.
Star Wars action figures hit the market in 1978 after the big blockbuster movie came out in 1977. Dominoes have been around since the 1300s in China.
Anyone can nominate a toy for entry into the hall of fame, and then a museum committee narrows that list down based on toys that are real superstars. They must have remained popular for generations, and stimulate child development.
Dominoes and Star Wars action figures certainly meet those criteria, selection committee member Jeff Gomez told TODAY.
"Dominoes are an iconic form of play," he said. "Particularly among Latinos." Gomez, the CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, recalled his Puerto Rican upbringing where family friends and neighbors would gather to play the centuries-old matching game with a mix of swagger to shuffling the tiles, a little trash talk, and a lot of fun. When the set of Dominoes came out, it meant "peace in the family, a break in the chaos," he said.
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"Dominoes are an iconic form of play," said election committee member Jeff Gomez. "Particularly among Latinos."
Likewise, the fun force is strong with the Star Wars action figures. The epicness of its story was in some ways surpassed by its universe of mass-market merchandise tie-ins. Which helped because back then if you wanted to experience the tale again, you had to buy another movie ticket. Star Wars action figures "offered a level of richness that was additive to the mythology."
While for centuries children have played with dolls, which is what action figures essentially are (sorry boys), the popularity of the movie meant that when the kids played, everyone knew the story.
A lot of the early Toy Hall of Fame winners, Gomez said, showed an "archetypal innocence. But as you move up through the sixties and seventies, it starts reflecting the technological development."
"What we play with," said Gomez, "provides context to the society in which we grew up."
Hm, I wonder what it says about our society that this year's hot toys are the Furby and the Nerf N-Strike Elite Hail-Fire Blaster?
Magic 8 Ball vs. army men: Toys vie for hall of fame
Scott Eklund / Red Box Pictures
A new book co-written by a TODAY.com producer looks at the lost toys, tastes and trends of the 1970s and 1980s. Where are you, Quisp cereal, Malibu Barbie, and Dynamite Magazine?
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Awesome museum. HIGHLY recommend to adults and adults with kids! Very interactive and fun.
I'll pass Joe. You must be one of the people getting rich off this thing to be touting it so highly...
Love Star Wars, but picking the action figures over Twister and the 8 Ball???
And skepticism is what you get when you've lost touch with your childhood memories.
I had each one of those Star Wars figures. Many, many hours of fun .... but that Magic 8 ball was cool too.
I wonder if they asked the Magic 8 Ball if it would get into the Toy Hall of Fame this year and it said "my sources say no".
I love the magic 8 ball and I have one and it's MINE MINE MINE lol.
I'm sorry but can someone explain to me how Star Wars Figures support child development, which is a criteria? I can see dominoes because you have to use your brain. I loved the Star Wars movies but go figure.....is anyone making intelligent decisions these days????????
Kids replayed the Star Wars stories in their own ways, made card board space ships, used cut-up plastic pop bottles for escape pods, put together space ship kits, Legos, whatever to create new worlds and new stories lines--fan fiction with the full stage.
But I'm wondering what happened to the little green army men who were in the stories yesterday, and Star Wars wasn't. Another NBC reporting error?
Star Wars toys were in the origianl story. I missed it the first time I read the article and went to the Toy Hall of Fame and saw that Star Wars toys were in the lead. I came back to the article and re-read it and found the mention of Star Wars toys I missed. What confuses me is that Green Army Men were in 2nd place with no other toy even close to the same amount of votes of SW toys and GAM so dominoes seems from out of left field.
i am sooo glad i still have all my original star wars figures
Do they have a Hall of Fame for all the Halls of Fame? Because they should.
LOL
stupid moniker...says more about you that anyone else.
What the choice tells me is that there are Star Wars geeks on the panel. The movie is iconic.....the action figures are not.
Any of the other toys mentioned would have been a better choice.
Star Wars action figures not iconic????? What planet do you live on? Every toy produced for the original movies is iconic and worth YOUR weight in gold.
Im waiting for them to induct the G1 Optimus Prime toy...
Get a clue.
Not to mention the toys exceeded their expectations on how well they were going to sell.
Liberals might suck, but Conservatives swallow..........LOL
Even though I'm a Conservative, I agree, except I don't swallow, only agree with you on everything else.
What happened to the little green army men? They were an overwhelming hit here yesterdaay.
i hope they are planning a counter attack myself.
I was wondering the same thing. I'm suspecting that, once again, NBC has failed in the research department known as "reading the press release correctly before writing the story."
Was thinking exact same thing!! Where's the army men??
Ask our government, they bent the rules on toys too.
Oh darn! I thought 'RISK' the board game of world conquest would make it!
Naw, but the US is trying hard.
I agree with the northwestern girl, what happened ? In my opinion, the army men, are much more deserving of the honor.
as far as i know there's aoard game hof. Ic don't see how dominoes or clue even got on the list. 8ball and the army men for sure!
Typical judges. They are either prejudice or taking money under the table. No? The green army men were overwhelming favorites yesterday. The Star Wars action figures wouldn't even be in the contest in my opinion. Pretty lame.
Yep i agree Army men..that panel failed us and our lil green heroes!
If you are talking about the little GI Joe figures they were put in the toy hall of fame in 2004.
Inducted Toys: Alphabetical List
To date, the following 51 toys have made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame®. Select a toy from this list to reveal its history or learn more by browsing the online National Toy Hall of Fame collection.
Alphabet Blocks
Inducted 2003
Etch A Sketch
Inducted 1998
Nintendo Game Boy
Inducted 2009
Atari 2600 Game System
Inducted 2007
Frisbee
Inducted 1998
Play-Doh
Inducted 1998
Baby Doll
Inducted 2008
G.I. Joe
Inducted 2004
Playing Cards
Inducted 2010
Ball
Inducted 2009
The Game of Life
Inducted 2010
Radio Flyer Wagon
Inducted 1999
Barbie
Inducted 1998
Hot Wheels
Inducted 2011
Raggedy Ann and Andy
Inducted 2002
Bicycle
Inducted 2000
Hula Hoop
Inducted 1999
Rocking Horse
Inducted 2004
Big Wheel
Inducted 2009
Jack-in-the-Box
Inducted 2005
Roller Skates
Inducted 1999
Blanket
Inducted 2011
Jacks
Inducted 2000
Scrabble
Inducted 2004
Candy Land
Inducted 2005
Jigsaw Puzzle
Inducted 2002
Silly Putty
Inducted 2001
Cardboard Box
Inducted 2005
Jump Rope
Inducted 2000
Skateboard
Inducted 2008
Checkers
Inducted 2003
Kite
Inducted 2007
Slinky
Inducted 2000
Crayola Crayons
Inducted 1998
LEGO
Inducted 1998
Star Wars Action Figures
Inducted 2012
Dollhouse
Inducted 2011
Lincoln Logs
Inducted 1999
Stick
Inducted 2008
Dominoes
Inducted 2012
Lionel Trains
Inducted 2006
Teddy Bear
Inducted 1998
Duncan Yo-Yo
Inducted 1999
Marbles
Inducted 1998
Tinkertoy
Inducted 1998
Easy-Bake Oven
Inducted 2006
Monopoly
Inducted 1998
Tonka Trucks
Inducted 2001
Erector Set
Inducted 1998
Mr. Potato Head
Inducted 2000
View-Master
Inducted 1999
Thank you maggiemay! That clears up a lot!!
Thank you, maggiemay-309947, but, no, we're not talking about G.I.Joe, we were talking about the little green army men that also came in grey, that were less than an inch high, and got lost in the carpet until an adult stepped on them. They were in Pixar's "Toy Story" movies. You bought them in the J-hook area of the toy stores, usually for a dollar or two, about 30 to a bag. G.I.Joe was about 8" tall, wore clothes that could be stripped off and looked like a Ken doll with muscles and a crew cut.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gNgHOYb9WV8/STN7Jj1i23I/AAAAAAAADKI/NHvdJ8WJDPs/s1600-h/Army+Men.JPG
I had a set of the little green army men, and a set of dinosaurs that were appropriately scaled. It was great! All kinds of adventures in the sand box, etc.
Since one of the elements of getting in is longevity, it makes the fact that the army men did not get in a little puzzling.
The army men was and still are the best. A little imagination, blackcat firecrackers (for land mines), and tiger bottlerockets (mortars) kept me busy all day.
but as you can see that Gomez and all his people do not know anything about army men
Star Wars toys? Really? WTF.
Does anybody remember the metal crickets or whistles you would get out of Crackerjack box or the knockers (2 class balls on a string) those were so much fun, kind of like numb-chucks for Rednecks. LOL
Uses to make the little whistles out of steel bands that had the little holes in them. Fold them over, stick your tongue in it, and blow.
The knockers were awesome! Those might not be around these days with all the lawyers and all.
Love Star Wars and even collect the figures.. They should NOT be in a hall of fame.
I would pick G.I. Joe, they only guy to go from 12 inches to 4 inches and not complain..
Oops, he is already on the list... Good for him.
http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys
The Commies will do aything to keep the Little Green Army Soliders out of the Hall of Fame.
A TOY is something you play with again and again. The SW figures are collector-items. They should have made a better choice.
Dudes, really, It was Star Wars action figures that started the whole 3 inch action figure wave in 1977-78. Gi Joe caught on in 1982. And come NO ONE thought they would be worth hundreds of dollars in 1978? Get real, so any that survived kids tearing them open, consequently become extremely valuable. That was 1978, go to Walmart or Toys R US and Bingo, the 3 inch Star Wars figures are still being sold in the action figure aisle. They rightfully deserve a place on the hall of Fame. Though in thesixties i did love my Marx green soldiers, grey germans and tan japanese plasic troops. (They be worth bucks too!)
G.I. Joe dolls were being stripped naked on playgrounds back when President Kennedy was vacationing at Martha's Vineyard. They looked like Ken dolls, but had crew cuts and didn't smile.
Is this a new hall of fame? How is it that Dominoes are only now being entered into a toy hall of fame? Did playing cards just make it in last year? Maybe dice next year? Maybe this is like the rock and roll hall of fame and a calculator is already in.
Sucky choices. Star Wars figures? Get real. What can you do with dominos? Stack and make a tower, and now the popular domino falling designs, and play dominos. Star Wars figures since the 70's. How can those be icons? Sucky choices. Good for ComiCon, but Hall of Fame?
And to S3usarmy: GI Joe exploded on the scene in the 60's, when I was a kid. Sorry to burst your bubble. Green army men were around before that.
You could get 100 green army men for a dollar with a mail-in coupon in the same comic books that advertised Sea Monkeys, eyeglasses that could see through clothing, build-your-own submarines, and Charles Atlas body building programs. All this while the Kennedy family was still in the White House, and for a few administrations after them. Good reads!
Grpahics LA, how about "READING MY POST" before blabbing. I was commenting about the 3 INCH action figure line, NOT the large GI Joe Action Figure line, by the way, which I am a fan of. The Star Wars 3 inch line spurred the rebirth of the 3 inch GI Joe line in 1982-83. FACT.
I was a nine year-old boy when Star Wars came out. My neighbor worked at Kenner and he gave me and a friend a box of action figures before the original toys were released. My friend and I were the coolest kids on the block. I still wish I had them.
I was seven when the film came out, and I owned a number of the original 1978 "Star Wars" toys (and the inflatable light saber from 1977, the first marketed "Star Wars" product while the industry scrambled to meet the new, unexpected demand). But my mother made me give them away to a neighbor boy. "Those are boys toys," "You have your Barbies" and "He doesn't have anything to play with" were the excuses laid out. So I lost my original Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, R2D2, C-3PO, the landspeeder... and whatever other action figures that I've blocked out of my memory. A few years later, I do remember getting and being allowed to keep Yoda, though, and "The Story of Star Wars" was a part of my LP collection until I finally had to get rid of all my records a few years ago.
The nostalgia of those days still has a hold on me, I'm sorry to say... last year, I picked up a "Mini Match-Me" (1980) from eBay. And in 2009, I was on a "Doctor Who" kick and bought a couple of 10th Doctor action figures (the one in the brown coat/brown suit and in the orange space suit--oh, and the TARDIS), because I admired the details on them (which are reminiscent of the quality put in to the "Star Wars" Kenner/Palitoy action figures).
Unsure if you all were fortunate or I was UNFORTUNATE
My brother and I cracked open mercury thermometers and rolled the mercury around on our tongues
I had a set of Bill Ding if anyone shared that joy
We had a flashlight that you could attach litte discs to and it made various shapes , stars , moons ...we'd hide in the attic for many hours from our alcoholic father
Then we progressed to puttin 2 hoses side by side and rolling marbles down our highly sophisticated race track
Luckily sports came along to save the day
When I visit the homeland I play board games with my nieces kids , Uno and others I cant recall ,they mock my Pictionary skills
As an "adult"...ok OLD MAN I enjoy the value of spending time with them , I know those teenage years are not far off and they wont have time nor interest
I have a few Magic 8 Balls , they dont make em like they used to - skimping on the quality of the fluid I bet , or learning it was TOXIC
My brother cracked mine open to "prove" to me it wasnt real
One night I cracked his toe with the same hammer and asked "Is THAT real"
Twister was a ton of fun , I actually bought a Pocket Twister once.... it consisted of a box about the size of half a playing card with a spinner on top and opened to hold the color dots , just toss the dots down and have at it
A bad back rules out ANYTHING on the floor now
Didnt mean to be a bummer with the "woe is me childhood"
Luv n Stuff
Wait...how did dominoes beat the army men? The dominoes were no were near getting the amount of votes that the army men were getting. That vote was rigged!
Does anyone remember Shootin' Shell cap pistols by Mattell? They were a favorite of mine!! LOL!!!!!
Ha yes i do!!!!! I had a pistol and a winchester. I just got the shootn shll winchester on EBAY. and a box of Greenie stickem caps for it. They were the coolest. I love my old toys and am trying to get afew memorable ones back.