This is no game! It's time to find out the new inductees to The National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York.
My money is on the scooter and Twister. But I hope that Wiffle ball makes it and won't complain if coloring book gets inside the lines.
Induction into the Toy Hall of Fame, of course, is one of the biggest stories of the year. And this year's field of 12 nominees for just two spots is one of the strongest in memory. In addition to the aforementioned four nominees, there's also American Girl dolls, Battleship, Jenga, Playmobil, puppet, super soaker, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the top.
Can you imagine a Hall of Fame without puppets? Or the beloved top? You will likely have to, for at least another year. Because they're unlikely to get enough support for enshrinement.
My support for Twister comes from my childhood, when it was a boxed game that was physical, unlike The Game of Life (2010 inductee) or Aggravation.
Scooters get my backing because of the late-1990s Christmas when every kid in my neighborhood (including the two Stanhope squires) received Razor scooters. There were 12-wide races down our street – the kind of signature moment that Hall of Famers need.
As you likely know, there are already 56 toys in the Hall of Fame. Twister (or Battleship) would be the fifth board game, joining Candy Land, Life, Monopoly and Scrabble (I don't consider checkers, chess or dominoes – all inductees – board games).
Hall of Fame watchers speculate that puppet could create the kind of controversy that erupted when cardboard box (2005) stick (2008) and ball (2009) were inducted as general items. More than one critic wondered if invisible friend or rocks might be future inductees – a chorus that only got louder when blanket made it in 2011.
Although this year's field is very strong (expect some significant protests from Generation X members if super soaker and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are left out for a baby boomer toy), it still will pale in comparison to the strongest classes since the shrine opened in 1998.
Other than the initial class of 11 (including Barbie and Legos, the Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb of toys), most Toy Hall of Fame experts consider the 2000 class the best ever. That, of course, was the year of bicycle, jacks, jump rope, Mr. Potato Head and slinky.
All we can hope is that we avoid the debacle of 2013, when chess and rubber duck (neither of which have been a part of this columnist's life) made up the entire class. There were rumors of a rebellion among the other toys, which conspiracy theorists cite as the reason for last year's induction of green Army men into the shrine: A bargain to keep the military on the sidelines.
Here's what we know: Whether it's a board game, a doll or a old-school item, this year's field guarantees two happy toys that will be high as a kite (2007).
But making the final choice is as difficult as solving a Rubik's Cube (2014) or jigsaw puzzle (2002).
Play time ends Thursday.
Brad Stanhope is a former Daily Republic editor. Reach him at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.
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