National Toy Hall of Fame Snubs Trains!

[Jac's Lines]

Thought some of you would get a kick out of this article in the local paper this morning:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051111/LIVING/511110398

The Strong Museum is in Rochester, NY. So far, the panel of "experts" has inducted Alphabet Blocks, Barbie, Bicycle, [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Candy Land, Cardboard Box, Checkers, Crayons, Yo-Yo, Erector Set, Etch A Sketch, Frisbee, G.I. Joe, Hula Hoop, Jack-in-the-Box, Jacks, Jigsaw Puzzle, Jump Rope, LEGO, Lincoln Logs, Marbles, Monopoly, Mr. Potato Head, Play-Doh, Radio Flyer Wagon, Raggedy Ann, Rocking Horse, Roller Skates, SCRABBLE, Silly Putty, Slinky, Teddy Bear, Tinkertoys, Tonka Trucks, and View-Master. This year Candy Land and the Jack-in-the-Box got in while Lionel Trains specifically got snubbed. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I just can't get my head around the absence of any train related toys on that list.

[/font]

 

[nachoman]

Interesting...

I am glad LEGO and lincoln logs made it, but NO LIONEL?

kevin

 

[Catt]

I'm not a Lionel fan,but I'll be darned if I can figure why Lionel isn't included.

 

[N Gauger]

It's because trains aren't toys..... they are a way of life.

Model Trains, not toy trains

................ but seriously - I don't understand it either

 

[eightyeightfan1]

Thats messed up....The guy that invented the Erector Set...Also started Gilbert Trains.
Go figure.....

 

[ezdays]

Well, according to the article, Lionel was battling it out with the Cabbage Patch Kids for second place. That right there tells you how important "toy" trains are to some and how confused these people can be.

But.... I gotta agree with Mikey that there is a difference, there are toy trains, and there are model trains and there are full-scale trains. Model trains and full-scale ones are very closely related, we here all know that. Toy trains on the other hand can be just about anything else from a wind-up lithographed tin train to a plastic or wood Thomas the Train. For a goodly number of years, Lionel was indeed put in that catagory and no amount of time will erase that association. So yeah, it does belong, and before any Cabbage Patch Kid.:thumb:

I'm glad Tinker Toys made the list though.

 

[steamhead]

Hi,

My first train was a tin wind-up train - European, I think, 'cause it had those bumper things on the ends. It also had two levers in the cab - one for stop & go, the other for forward & reverse. Three cars brought up the rear. I'd give my right arm to have that train again!!

Trains don't belong in THAT Hall of Fame...They deserve a Hall of fame all to themselves.

Gus (LC&P).

 

[MilesWestern]

PERHAPS WE SHOULD MAKE OUR OWN HALL OF FAME FOR CERTIAN TRAIN ITEMS! (eg. Lionel 2-4-0 'scout', or tyco F7) for starter stuff that started us into trains!!

 

[Tileguy]

Frisbee's Rule!!!!

 

[hooknlad]

I dunno why the trains are not included, The cardboard box is showcased there. Boy I do remember some fun times with cardboard boxes. I personally feel that Kids these days don't have that much of an imagination to figger out the fun wonderful world a cardboard box has to offer. I always had a train set in the background. Atlas track on the carpet. My brother and I ( hes 3 years older ) always got similar Xmas presents. We thought we were "IT" when we combined the 2 sets of trains. My $0.02 .

 

[Gil Finn]

Beats me..........................................is this long enough to post now?

 

[nachoman]

carboard box - what about a pile of dirt, or a sandbox?

personally, i am quite glad cars did not come with DVD players when I was a kid. Sure, i am young enough to grow up in the age of atari, but I often thank my parents for NOT buying me one. I remeber once my brother and I found some of those cardboard tubes that they pour concrete columns in sitting in a dumpster up the street. We hauled them home in a radio flyer wagon, and they became spaceships one day and sumbarines the next.

kevin

 

[eightyeightfan1]

Ahhh.........
Remember the days when a stick from a tree became machine gun?

 

[ausien]

I remeber once my brother and I found some of those cardboard tubes that they pour concrete columns in sitting in a dumpster up the street. We hauled them home in a radio flyer wagon, and they became spaceships one day and sumbarines the next.

kevin[/QUOTE]The hights and depths of the then kids, "imagination" ..I think they may have lost that, today....steve

 

[60103]

Othr than the cardboard box, I don't think I had any of those toys, and the only one that would have interested me would be Erector. The best on the list would have come in about 6th place after the trains, and the other trains, and a few more trains, and ...

 

[steamhead]

Hi,

American Flyer (0-8-0) and Erector sets were my bread 'n butter on weekends. TV?? My parents didn't let us watch but maybe a couple of shows a week. Now the TVs wake up before the parents do...

Gus (LC&P).