What do American Girl Dolls, the board game Risk, and sand have in common?

I'm always interested in seeing what the annual nominees are for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame. This year, they were American Girl Dolls, Battleship, billiards, Cabbage Patch Kids, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Mahjong, Masters of the Universe, piñata, Risk, sand, the Settlers of Catan, and the toy fire engine.

And the winners were: American Girls Dolls, Risk, and sand. 

But first a look at the losers.

We had a game with tiny yellow and green metal battleships on it, so it must have been Battleship. But I can't be certain. We played it, but it never took off among my family and friends. And we played an awful lot of board games. Battleship was just sort of meh. We were much more likely to play Clue, Monopoly, Parcheesi, Sorry, and a few others.

What is/are billiards doing on a list of contenders for the Toy Hall of Fame? Billiards (pool without pockets), pool (billiards wihtout pockets), and snooker (variation on a pool theme) don't exactly bring kids at play to mind. More like the smoke-filled room in The Hustler, where Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) took on Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Or The Color of Money, where Newman reprises his role as Fast Eddie, and Tom Cruise plays newcomer pool shark Vincent Lauria. I don't remember exactly, but I'm guessing Color of Money came with less smoke than in The Hustler. (1986 vs. 1961.) Just nothing I associate with toys and/or kids.

Cabbage Patch Kids were never really on my radar screen, but I remember the mania for them, their weird little faces, and the fact that the dolls came with names and adoption papers. Which I think was a bit controversial...

Although there were kids in my house the right age for the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, which was introduced in 1957, I don't think we had one. Yet I've seen plenty of them around over the years, and I regard it as a most excellent toy, guaranteed to drive adults insane with the incessant popping noise. Alas, I note that the Corn Popper, which always came in white with primary colors, has now been gendered and is available in pink and purple. Why?

Although I've loved playing TaiPei (a mahjong game) online, and am in possession of a great bracelet made from mahjong tiles, I really don't get Mahjong as much of a natural for the Toy Hall of Fame. Kids don't play Mahjong. Old ladies do. Maybe there needs to be a wing of the Hall of Fame dedicated to recreation for grownups. Like billiards and mahjong. 

Masters of the Universe? I cannot yawn wide, hard, or long enough to express my lack of interst in this franchise. It's been around for forty years now, so someone must like it. Just not me.

Even though there's always the risk of a kid getting bonked in the head as someone flails away at it, or a child being injured (physically and/or emotionally) in the scramble for the goodies, the piñata is a fine little nominee. Even though it does seem unfair that the kid who actually breaks it open is at a disadvantage in the goodie scramble, as they have to waste a precious second or two removing their mask once the piñata is spilling its guts.

I have never heard of the Settlers of Catan, and I'm not going to even look it up, as it sounds of such non-interest to me. Oh, what was I saying. Of course I looked it up. It actually sounds like a brainier version of Monpoly, so I might have even liked it. Not that I'll ever know. 

The toy fire engine? I'm kind of surprised that this hadn't already made the grade, Hall of Fame-wise. Maybe they figured that, if they let the fire engine in, the toy police car couldn't be far behind, and that might raise all sorts of political issues.

As for the winners:

I would have given my eye teeth for an American Girl Doll when I was a kid. They're beautifully made, have wonderful clothing and accessories, and are age-appropriate and altogether sweet. My nieces had Molly and Kit, and over the years I bought plenty of outfits and accessories for them, and for other little girls I've gotten gifts for. I still get the catalogue, and I still look through it. I've even been to the American Girl Doll store in NYC. (I took my niece Caroline when she was six.) I just love these dolls, although they are pretty expensive and, with the accompanying story books, sometimes leave a little to little to a child's imagination. But I think this is a wonderful choice.

For all the hundreds of hours I spent playing board games as a kid, I've never played Risk. I don't remember anyone I know having it. Too brainy, I guess.

Sand! Fabulous choice. We always had a sandbox in the back yard, and each spring, my father got a fresh dump of sand. We built roads and forts, made mudpies and other "food", and wiggled our bare feet in the cool sand on a hot summer's day. And then there was the annual day trip to the beach, which called for a new pail and shovel for each of us. The pails were tin, the shovels heavy metal, and we used them to make castles and just dig in the sand to watch it fill up with water. Sometimes we buried our feet. Never an entire body. Toys may have taken on different ways, shapes, and forms over the years, but sand hasn't changed a bit. And unlike an American Girl Doll, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. So bravo, sand! Congratulations on making the Toy Hall of Fame.

------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Museum of Play