# The greatest toys of all time

Toys inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong museum (Rochester, NY), chosen for icon status, longevity and innovation. Our order: how universal and lasting each one is.

- 34 votes · 23 items
- Aug 7, 2026 · shane_tacoqueen
- https://even.best/en/l/147/the-greatest-toys-of-all-time

## Top 20

1. **Crayola crayons** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — The 1903 box of eight that gave every child colours.
2. **Teddy bear** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Named after Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, made by Steiff in Germany and Ideal in the US.
3. **Trivial Pursuit** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The 1979 Canadian trivia game, inducted in 2025 with Battleship and slime.
4. **LEGO bricks** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Danish interlocking plastic bricks, patented in 1958; in the Hall of Fame since its first year.
5. **Barbie** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Mattel's fashion doll launched in 1959, one of the original inductees.
6. **Mr. Potato Head** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — The first toy advertised on TV (1952).
7. **My Little Pony** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Hasbro's colourful ponies from 1982, inducted in 2024.
8. **Etch A Sketch** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Red-framed drawing screen with two knobs, a 1960 hit.
9. **Play-Doh** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Modelling compound that started life as wallpaper cleaner.
10. **Monopoly** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The property-trading board game sold by Parker Brothers since 1935.
11. **Rubik's Cube** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Ernő Rubik's 1974 puzzle, the best-selling puzzle ever.
12. **Hot Wheels** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Mattel's die-cast cars with low-friction wheels, launched in 1968.
13. **Frisbee** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Wham-O's flying disc, inspired by pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company.
14. **Game Boy** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Nintendo's 1989 handheld with Tetris.
15. **G.I. Joe** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Hasbro's 1964 'action figure', the term invented to avoid calling it a doll.
16. **The stick** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Probably the oldest toy of all, inducted alongside the classics.
17. **NERF** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Foam balls and blasters that made indoor play safe, inducted in 2023.
18. **Tamagotchi** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Bandai's handheld digital pet, launched in Japan in 1996 and sold in tens of millions worldwide.
19. **Slinky** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Steel spring that walks down stairs, invented by an engineer in 1943.
20. **Atari 2600** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The console that brought video games into the living room in 1977.
21. **The cardboard box** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Inducted because children turn it into anything.
22. **Transformers** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Robots in disguise from Hasbro and Takara, inducted in 2024.
23. **Cabbage Patch Kids** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Dolls with adoption certificates that caused 1983's Christmas riots, inducted in 2023.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.