NEW YORK (AP) – My Little Pony finally made it to the winner’s circle.
After years as an also-ran, the pastel-coloured ponies were enshrined in the National Toy Hall of Fame on Tuesday, along with Transformers action figures and the Phase 10 card game.
The honourees rose to the top in voting by a panel of experts and the public from among 12 finalists. This year’s field included: the party game Apples to Apples, balloons, Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks, Hess Toy Trucks, Pokémon Trading Card Game, remote-controlled vehicles, Sequence, the stick horse and trampoline.
“These are three very deserving toys that showcase the wide range of how people play,” vice president for collections and chief curator Christopher Bensch said in a statement.
“But for My Little Pony in particular, this year is extra validating. The beloved toy was a finalist seven times before finally crossing the finish line!”
Hasbro’s mini-horses, distinguishable by different “cutie marks” on their haunches, were introduced in the 1980s and reintroduced in 2003, outselling even Barbie for several years.
The collectibles were recognised for encouraging fantasy and storytelling – the kind of creative play the Hall of Fame demands of inductees – along with popularity over time.
“The My Little Pony line has endured for decades because it combines several traditional forms of doll play with children’s fascination with horses,” said curator of dolls and toys Michelle Parnett-Dwyer. “The variety of figures promotes collecting as a pastime, too.”
Phase 10 was introduced by inventor and entrepreneur Ken Johnson in 1982. Today, Mattel sells two million decks of the card game annually in 30 countries and more than 20 languages. That makes it one of the bestselling card games in the world, according to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, where the Toy Hall of Fame is housed.
Transformers came along in the 1980s, when Hasbro bought the rights to several existing Japanese toy lines featuring transforming robots. They were first marketed with a cartoon and have since graduated to a series of live-action films.
Regular new Transformers characters keep collectors coming back, Bensch said, “but the toys are also popular because they are so suited to the ways kids play. The toy line feeds kids’ imaginations and fantasy play”.
