Ball, Big Wheel, Game Boy Make Toy Hall Of Fame

BEN DOBBIN

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Bounce it, kick it, catch it. Chase, throw or smack it. The ball, arguably the most popular plaything of all time, has finally earned a place inside a glass case at the National Toy Hall of Fame in New York.

Along with the Big Wheel and the Game Boy video device, the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester chose the ball Thursday to join its all-star lineup of 41 classics, including the bicycle, the kite, the jump rope, the teddy bear, the stick, marbles and Mr. Potato Head.

The low-slung, muscular Big Wheel tricycle was launched at the 1969 Toy Fair in New York, and Game Boy was an instant hit for Japan's Nintendo Co. in 1989.

Longevity is a key criterion for getting into the 11-year-old hall of fame, which the museum acquired in 2002 from A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village in Salem, Ore. Each toy must be widely recognized; foster learning, creativity or discovery through play; and endure in popularity over generations.

Many judges on the hall's national advisory panel recognized the ball's inclusion was long overdue.