Slime, Battleship and Trivial Pursuit join the Toy Hall of Fame

The quirky owlish Furby toy isn't fooling anyone at the Pentagon or at NASA. *** new Air Force memo forbids anyone to bring *** Furby into areas like this at the Cape. It's here that engineers track the launches of rockets and space shuttles so that they can destroy them if they go off course. Furby is not permitted in areas where secret satellites are processed or where classified discussions take place. The reason Furby cannot be trusted. His electronic brain is capable of recording and repeating almost anything, including military secrets. *** forgotten Furby left in the corner of *** secure area could be learning all kinds of classified information which could later be repeated to unfriendly ears. We tested this theory on *** brand new Furby. Furby, can you say satellite? Can you say classified military information? It didn't sound threatening, but perhaps the clever Furby was being evasive. And here's another bit of alarming news. Furby is still selling like hotcakes. As soon as *** customer sees us putting them on the shelf, they're. Where are these Furby going into the hands of innocent children or on some More sinister errand. One thing's for sure, it won't be at the Cape. The commander there has issued *** memo cautioning employees to leave Furby's at home if they bring their daughters and sons to work for visits. NASA treats Furby the same as cameras or other recording devices not allowed in secure areas. The space program is safe from Furby. This may come under the heading of Only in America. Tickle Me Elmo is such *** hot Christmas to the last one left at the Square One mall in Saugus is being kept in *** safe, an item for auction to raise money for Children's Hospital. Mall officials say frantic bids are pouring in from as far away as New York City. It's snowing. How do I get up there? I have to have this doll. I'll pay whatever it is that it costs to buy this. My daughter's dying for it. Elmo, the giggling Elmo? No, I'm sorry, we don't. In the meantime, anxious shoppers are on the hunt for Elmo, but he is nowhere to be found. We've even called California relatives really. Can't get it. Husbands are coming in to buy Tickle Me Elmo for their wives, so it's really any age. Retailers are saying they haven't seen *** toy craze like Tickle Me Elmo since the 80s when the cabbage patch dolls took the country by storm. Today, there are plenty of them on the shelf on sale even back then. They were so hot they became black market items. It's not soft and fuzzy, but it's the same story with Nintendo 64, *** toy so hot all we could find were these empty display boxes. I've been to every store. You don't know how many times, and every time I go in there, there's always *** fight right at the door to get in there and I'm like so far back. Forget it. You're gonna keep trying. I'm gonna keep trying until I can get one, I hope. Meantime, back to Elmo at square one. At last check 30 minutes ago, the latest bid was $450. Maybe that's why he's having such laughing fits. Amalia Barrada, New Center 5.

Updated: 8:19 PM CST Nov 6, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Slime, Battleship and Trivial Pursuit join the Toy Hall of Fame

Updated: 8:19 PM CST Nov 6, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Slime, that gooey, sticky and often-homemade plaything, was enshrined into the National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursday along with perennial bestselling games Battleship and Trivial Pursuit.Related video above: Furby vs. Tickle Me Elmo: 1990s icons face off for Toy Hall of FameEach year, the Hall of Fame recognizes toys that have inspired creative play across generations, culling its finalists from among thousands of nominees sent in online. Voting by the public and a panel of experts decides which playthings will be inducted.Video below: Here's how they pick the right toys for the Toy Hall of FameMilton Bradley's Battleship, a strategy game that challenges players to strike an opponent's warships, and Trivial Pursuit, which tests players' knowledge in categories like geography and sports, have each sold more than 100 million copies over several decades, according to the Hall of Fame.Battleship started as a pencil-and-paper game in the 1930s, but it was Milton Bradley's 1967 plastic edition with fold-up stations and model ships that became a hit with the public. Its popularity crested when Universal Pictures and Hasbro, which now owns Milton Bradley, released the 2012 movie, "Battleship," loosely based on the game. Battleship was also among the first board games to be computerized in 1979, according to the Hall of Fame, and now there are numerous electronic versions.Trivial Pursuit lets players compete alone or in teams as they maneuver around a board answering trivia questions in exchange for wedges in a game piece. Canadian journalists Chris Haney and Scott Abbott came up with the game in 1979 and eventually sold the rights to Hasbro. Frequently updated, specialty versions have emerged for young players, baby boomers and other segments and an online daily quiz keeps players engaged, chief curator Chris Bensch said.Slime's appeal is more about squish than skill.It was introduced commercially in 1976 and has been manufactured under various brand names, but it is even more accessible as a do-it-yourself project. The internet offers a variety of recipes using ingredients like baking soda, glue and contact lens solution."Though slime continues to carry icky connotations to slugs and swamps — all part of the fun for some — the toy offers meaningful play," curator Michelle Parnett-Dwyer said, adding that it's also used for stress relief and building motor skills.The honorees will be on permanent display at the Hall of Fame inside The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.This year's inductees were voted in over other nominees, including the games Catan and Connect Four, the Spirograph drawing device, the "Star Wars" lightsaber, Furby and Tickle Me Elmo. They also beat out classics, including scooters, cornhole and snow.

Slime, that gooey, sticky and often-homemade plaything, was enshrined into the National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursday along with perennial bestselling games Battleship and Trivial Pursuit.

Related video above: Furby vs. Tickle Me Elmo: 1990s icons face off for Toy Hall of Fame

Each year, the Hall of Fame recognizes toys that have inspired creative play across generations, culling its finalists from among thousands of nominees sent in online. Voting by the public and a panel of experts decides which playthings will be inducted.

Video below: Here's how they pick the right toys for the Toy Hall of Fame

Milton Bradley's Battleship, a strategy game that challenges players to strike an opponent's warships, and Trivial Pursuit, which tests players' knowledge in categories like geography and sports, have each sold more than 100 million copies over several decades, according to the Hall of Fame.

Battleship started as a pencil-and-paper game in the 1930s, but it was Milton Bradley's 1967 plastic edition with fold-up stations and model ships that became a hit with the public. Its popularity crested when Universal Pictures and Hasbro, which now owns Milton Bradley, released the 2012 movie, "Battleship," loosely based on the game. Battleship was also among the first board games to be computerized in 1979, according to the Hall of Fame, and now there are numerous electronic versions.

Richard Drew

A Trivial Pursuit game is displayed at the Toy Fair in New York’s Javits Center, Oct. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Trivial Pursuit lets players compete alone or in teams as they maneuver around a board answering trivia questions in exchange for wedges in a game piece. Canadian journalists Chris Haney and Scott Abbott came up with the game in 1979 and eventually sold the rights to Hasbro. Frequently updated, specialty versions have emerged for young players, baby boomers and other segments and an online daily quiz keeps players engaged, chief curator Chris Bensch said.

Slime's appeal is more about squish than skill.

It was introduced commercially in 1976 and has been manufactured under various brand names, but it is even more accessible as a do-it-yourself project. The internet offers a variety of recipes using ingredients like baking soda, glue and contact lens solution.

"Though slime continues to carry icky connotations to slugs and swamps — all part of the fun for some — the toy offers meaningful play," curator Michelle Parnett-Dwyer said, adding that it's also used for stress relief and building motor skills.

The honorees will be on permanent display at the Hall of Fame inside The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.

This year's inductees were voted in over other nominees, including the games Catan and Connect Four, the Spirograph drawing device, the "Star Wars" lightsaber, Furby and Tickle Me Elmo. They also beat out classics, including scooters, cornhole and snow.

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