Baseball cards date nearly to the beginning of the national pastime, to the mid-19th Century. In the early days, tobacco makers included cards in packets of tobacco in order to stiffen the packets so that they wouldn't crumple up. In time, the cards inside the packets became an extra incentive to make the purchase. Baseball started to become inordinately in the 1920s, when Babe Ruth burst on the scene and became famous well beyond his sport. Another famous baseball player associated with his card was Honus Wagner, whose card became instantly rare because Wagner refused to be associated with tobacco and demanded that no more cards featuring him be made. Only a few dozen Honus Wagner cards were printed, in the end. One of his cards sold for $7.25 million at auction in 2022. Independent of value, baseball cards have long been a collector's item for fans. It wasn't long before the cards were kept out of tobacco packets and then inserted into bubble gum packets.

Xavier Roberts, Martha Nelson, and Debbie Moorehead feature in the creation of Cabbage Patch Kids, which were first mass-produced by Coleco in 1982. The plastic-headed dolls wearing various sets of clothes and shoes were world famous, partly because each came with a birth certificate and adoption papers and some of them talked. A number of companies have since owned the rights to the Cabbage Patch Kids, including Hasbro and Mattel. Companion products issued through the years include bedding, record albums, board games, and television specials.

The Corn Popper from Fisher-Price arrived in the 1950s, the brainchild of inventor Arthur Holt, who envisioned it as a means to help children learn to walk. He sold his design to Fisher-Price in 1957 for all of $50. The company has sold a great deal of the toys since then, a variety of colors and styles.

The inspiration for Nerf toys, according to their creator, Reyn Guyer, was something he saw on television–characters on The Flintstones throwing rocks. Guyer's idea was to make the projectiles out of foam, so as not to hurt anyone. He offered the idea to Parker Brothers, who took the idea and ran with it. Soon, Nerf balls of various colors and sizes were everywhere. Also popular have been Nerf footballs and Nerf bows and arrows.

Those four emerged from a field of 12 finalists for inclusion into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The other finalists were these:

• Battleship
• Bingo
• Bop it
• Fisher-Price Corn Popper
• Choose Your Own Adventure Gamebooks
• Connect 4
• Ken
• Little Tikes Cozy Coupe
• Slime
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Examples of the winners will be displayed in the Hall of Fame, which is part of the Strong National Museum of Play, in Rochester, N.Y.

The National Toy Hall of Fame announces its inductees each year, after the toys are selected by a committee of curators and historians, and has done so since 1998. This year's additions brought the total of inductees to 66. The hall has resided in its current location, the Strong, since 2002.

Criteria for induction include:

• being widely recognized enduring in popularity for many years
• fostering learning and/or creativity through play.

The Toy Hall of Fame first inducted toys in 1998, when the list included Barbie®, LEGO®, the Frisbee®, and marbles.

To nominate a toy, click here.