12 Beloved Toys Named Finalists for Upstate NY Toy Hall’s Class of ’23

The National Toy Hall of Fame has released its list of finalists for its 2023 induction class, and there are some truly classic toys up for consideration this year.

The museum was established in 1998, and currently exists within The Strong Museum of Play, located in Rochester, NY. Every year since 1999, the Hall has inducted a group of world-renowned toys, with the amount of toys in each class varying from year to year.

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The original class consisted of 17 classic toys: Barbie, Crayola Crayon, Erector Set, Etch A Sketch, Frisbee, Hula hoop, Lego, Lincoln Logs, Marbles, Monopoly, Play-Doh, Radio Flyer wagon, Roller Skates, Teddy Bear, Tinkertoy, View-Master and Duncan Yo-Yo.

From 2000 through 2014, the size of each class varied between two and five inductees each year. Since 2015, however, the induction process has been standardized, and every year's class has had exactly three toys in it.

This practice is set to continue in 2023, when the inductees are announced in November.

As detailed by New York Upstate's article on the announcement of the finalists, the inductees will be determined through voting by a selection committee and the public. Each member of the 22-person expert committee will cast ballots for the top three. The three toys receiving the most public votes by Sept. 20 will make up a single ballot.

Given that 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the National Toy Hall of Fame, the Hall pulled no punches in its recently-released list of finalists. All 12 toys have a strong case for why they should be inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame, and for the nine toys that don't make the cut for the Class of 2023, we'll likely see most of them inducted in the years to come.

Without any further ado, scroll below to see the complete list of toys up for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame this November. Which classic toy was your favorite?