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National Toy Hall of Fame

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

About

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.

About The Strong View Inductees

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

Recent Inductees

Baseball cards

Baseball Cards

Inducted Year: 2023 Baseball players began posing for photos in the mid-19th century. Photography, like baseball, was becoming more widespread and popular. The late 1880s saw tobacco manufacturers including the cards in packages, […]

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Cabbage Patch Kid in box

Cabbage Patch Kids

Inducted Year: 2023 Influenced by Martha Nelson Thomas’ Doll Babies, art student Xavier Roberts created fabric sculptures he called Little People in the 1970s. Roberts’ creations featured a pudgy face with close-set eyes and […]

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Fisher Price Corn Popper

Fisher-Price Corn Popper

Inducted Year: 2023 In the 1950s, scientist and inventor Arthur Holt designed the Corn Popper, a stick with a plastic dome filled with gumball-sized balls. As a child pushed the Corn Popper, the toy […]

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Nerf ball

Nerf Toys

Inducted Year: 2023 In the late 1960s, game designer Reyn Guyer and his co-workers at Winsor Concepts developed a game idea inspired by the popular Stone Age characters from The Flintstones television series. Guyer’s […]

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Inducted Toys

Alphabet blocks

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 Doll set

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

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

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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Digital screen on Toy Halls of Fame elevator with exhibit logoimage decoration top leftimage decoration bottom right

Nominate Your Favorite Toy

Is your favorite toy or game missing from the National Toy Hall of Fame? Nominate it now!

Explore More Exhibits


Visit a highly interactive, collections-based museum devoted to the history and exploration of play.

Yellow icon of a Basketball

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