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2023 Finalists2023 Finalists
Baseball Cards
Through the decades, kids and adults alike have collected baseball cards for the thrill of possessing images of their favorite players—or trying to collect a pricey rarity. Baseball cards are used in card […]
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Battleship
Originally a pencil and paper game, Battleship’s inspiration began with similar two-person strategy games in the late 19th century. Various manufacturers printed paper versions beginning in the 1930s. Television advertising played a part […]
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Bingo
American bingo is descended from a lottery game first played in Italy around 1530. The game came to be known as lotto and was played in France and in Germany as a teaching […]
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Bop It
Bop It debuted in 1996 and combined electronic game processes with free play and physical elements in an innovative way. The handheld game challenges players to follow voice-recorded commands and press the large […]
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Cabbage Patch Kids
When Cabbage Patch Kids launched in 1979, they offered American children a soft, cuddly playmate in a world of hard toys and cold electronics. Consumers could not get enough of the dolls, each […]
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Choose Your Own Adventure Gamebooks
With their roots in oral storytelling that asked listeners for their input, and the branching stories and role-playing simulations of the mid-20th century, Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks gave kids new opportunities to […]
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Connect 4
Connect 4—based on earlier strategy game The Captain’s Mistress—challenges players to be the first to place four tokens in a row. Its quick gameplay makes it a favorite with kids, who can detect […]
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Ken
Mattel copyrighted the line, “He’s a Doll!” to introduce Barbie’s boyfriend Ken in March 1961 at the American Toy Fair in New York. For more than six decades, Ken has been at Barbie’s […]
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Little Tikes Cozy Coupe
Cozy Coupe hit stores in 1979. The car featured the now iconic red chassis, yellow roof, a trunk, and working doors. The thoughtful design helped to minimize the risk of tipping over and […]
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Nerf Toys
Introduced in the 1960s as a foam ball harmless enough to throw indoors, Nerf toys have evolved into a line of blasters that shoot harmless foam darts for outdoor fun that encourages physical […]
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Slime
Slime has leveraged its squishy, squashy, tactile appeal to become a beloved plaything for generations of kids. From its commercial introduction in 1976, slime has gone on to become an element of other […]
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Originally created to satirize comic book heroes and action figures, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became comic book and play icons, transmedia trailblazers, and an enduring popular cultural sensation known as “Turtlemania”—generating toys, […]
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