It's time for the Toy Hall of Fame to honor legendary Nerf

This is Nerf's year.

There hasn't been an easier slam dunk for the National Toy Hall of Fame since that uncontested dunk I made on my bedroom Nerfoop in eighth grade (That's what it was called, not Nerf Hoop.). There hasn't been an easier choice since I decided to fire the original Nerf ball at my older sister when she walked into the living room so I could make her flinch.

This is Nerf's year.

The National Toy Hall of Fame announced the 12 nominees for this year's class last month, including the collective "Nerf Toys." It's been more than 20 years since the second-greatest honor for toys began (honor No. 1: A key role in a "Toy Story" movie) and Nerf isn't in. Ridiculous.

If you ask me, the original Nerf ball should be in the Hall of Fame, as should Nerfoop, the Nerf football and the various Nerf guns.

This year, the entire Nerf family is up for a spot. Come on.

Think about how Nerf changed the toy game. It was like how recordings changed the music business or how mobile phones changed communication. Thanks to Nerf, you could suddenly throw balls indoors (original advertising slogan: "Throw it indoors; you can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old people." Their advertising included that you can't hurt old people. Brilliant.).

Thanks to Nerf, you could put a hoop on any door and shoot baskets (in my first apartment, shared with three friends, we had a huge kitchen, so we put Nerfoops on opposite ends and played full-court basketball).

Thanks to Nerf, any 8-year-old could grip a football and throw it to their friends. And except for when it got so wet that the Nerf football turned into a sponge, it was easy to catch.

This year's 12 nominees include Lite-Brite, the magical art tool that allowed you to make your own pictures (or write dirty words) on a screen; Spirograph, the cool shape-making art toy; Bingo, the game beloved by everyone from age 4 to 104; Pound Puppies, the cause of mall fights between 1980s parents at Christmas time; Pinata, which really is more of a food source than a toy; Top, which has amused children for millennia; and Masters of the Universe action figures. There are others, but who cares? Only three will make the Hall

An educated guess is that voters will lean toward younger toys and induct Masters of the Universe. Either Bingo or the Top should be in for longevity. But the dead-certain, it's-not-a-Hall-of-Fame-Without-It toy is Nerf.

That the Toy Hall of Fame has inducted 78 toys since 1998 and left out Nerf is like the Baseball Hall of Fame inducting 78 members and leaving out Lou Gehrig.

Nerf is the Lou Gehrig of toys. Durable, honorable, consistent. OK, a little too much baseball there, but you get the point.

As someone who had countless Nerfoop dunks and free throws, who played with Nerf footballs after neighborhood dogs tore out a piece and who threw the O.G. Nerf ball at all three of my sisters repeatedly, I say it's time. This is the year to put Nerf next to the legends of toys, making it a Hall of Famer alongside Barbie, Jump Rope, Checkers, the Skateboard, Puppet and the other mainstay of my childhood, the Wiffle Ball.

Dear  Toy Hall of Fame voters: It's time for Nerf. Don't make me fire one at you so you flinch like my sisters did.

Repeatedly.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.