National Toy Hall of Fame

Explore some of the best and most important toys of all time!

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The National Toy Hall of Fame is housed at The Strong Museum in Rochester, NY.

The National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong, established in 1998, recognizes toys that have inspired creative play and enjoyed popularity over a sustained period. Each year, the prestigious hall inducts new honorees and showcases both new and historic versions of classic toys beloved by generations. To learn more, see Frequently Asked Questions page.

2026 Inductees

Bingo

Inducted: 2026 Italians played Lo Gioco del Lotto d’Italia in the year 1530. In France, games with playing boards, tokens and the calling out of numbers appeared in the 1600s, and the game made […]

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Care Bears

Inducted: 2026 American Greetings, Those Characters From Cleveland, and Kenner Care Bears collaborated to develop the Care Bears in the early 1980s. Presented as sweet, pastel-colored teddy bears with personality, Care Bears promoted caring, […]

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Pokémon Trading Card Game

Inducted: 2026 The Pokémon Trading Card Game, often abbreviated as Pokémon TCG, was initially released in Japan in 1996, following the popularity of the Pokémon monster collecting video games for the Nintendo Game Boy. […]

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Slide

Inducted: 2026 People have coasted down hills for millennia, but modern slides of wood, steel, and plastic turned inclined planes into toys. By the 1900s, slides became fixtures at funhouses and amusement parks. The […]

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Inducted Toys

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Alphabet Blocks

Inducted Year: 2003 For centuries, parents understanding the connection between play and development have made alphabet blocks standard equipment of the well-stocked toy box. Alphabet blocks appeared as early as 1693, when philosopher John […]

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American Girl Dolls

Inducted Year: 2021 Following a visit to historic Williamsburg, Virginia, and a Christmas shopping trip for her nieces, educator and newscaster Pleasant Rowland developed and launched a line of 18-inch dolls representing an era […]

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Atari 2600 Game System

Inducted Year: 2007 When people play today, chances are very good they’re playing a video game. No company did more to make that true than Atari. Atari did not make the first home video game […]

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Baby Doll

Inducted Year: 2008 Crying, cooing, sleeping, eating, drinking, and wetting. What aspiring mom (or dad) doesn’t want a lifelike baby doll with all those features? But before the first baby doll appeared in the […]

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