[Cagey]

A cardboard box. The best toy Santa ever made.

[firerosemom]

We used to play in the cardboard boxes from moving days, which for us military brats, occurred roughly every 3 years!

[Blood of Tyrants]

Especially the really big ones!

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[11Bush]

Those aren't homeless, they are just reliving their childhood.

[manwiththehands]

Visions of Dan Ackroyd on SNL hocking his Halloween costumes.

[Alex Murphy]

A cardboard box. The best toy Santa ever made. You don't need a roomful of toys - all you really need is the box! And some imagination....

Spongebob: Imagination! (makes a rainbow appear with his hands)
Squidward: I have more imagination [tries to make a rainbow like Spongebob does but can't] in one tentacle than you two have in your whole bodies!
Spongebob: That's great Squidward!
Patrick: Now all you need is a box.

[Tanniker Smith]

Every time some on the block got a new fridge, we got a brand new clubhouse for the dozen or so of us. And we got tired of that, we'd roll around inside of it. And when it started to fall apart, we'd rip it open and (I am not making this up) line the cement steps of the stoop to the second floor and make a slide out of it.

(We would even play "Niagara Falls in a barrel" in those things!)

Somehow we lived. Even without safety belts and airbags.

[Eastbound]

Here's an oldie I took years ago. Fits right in here:

"G'nite, Chet!. G'nite, Dave!"

[calljack]

Very good.
No kidding, I agree with this.

[bvw]

Saw kids maybe 12-15 yo using cardboard boxes to slide down hills in Pittsburgh this August.

[Jemian]

I remember a Mr. Rogers episode in which he shows us how to cover a shoe box with construction paper. Wow! What a world of possibilities that open up.

I do think a slinky and a yo-yo should be included at that museum. I can still do a few tricks with my yo-yos.

[Hank Rearden]

[Hank Rearden]

. . . and survived.

Is Happy Fun Ball in the museum yet?

[OwenKellogg]

This museum could complete its collection by adding the cardboard tubes that wrapping paper came on. Those cardboard tubes got as much play time as boxes.

[RandallFlagg]

If my cardboard boxed weren't time machines, they were the Venus Probe from, "The Six Million Dollar Man."


Who else here remembers this thing?

[Scoutmaster]

This is big news at my house. My eleven year-old daughter just finished her Social Sciences project on "What Do Children Learn From Toys?" A major part of the project was based on the (then) 31 toys in the Toy Hall of Fame -- and the idea came from an article in AirTran's in-flight magazine about the THOF taking nominations for the 2005 inductees.

I just picked her up at school (I'm playing Mr. Mom today) with a copy of this article on the front seat. As she approached the car, she was alread shouting: "Awesome, Dad. The cardboard box! The cardboard box made it into the Hall of Fame today!" (Her teacher had already shared the information with her).

Getting into the THOF has become an obsession for some adult collectors of certain toys. Two years ago, after Raggedy Ann had been passed over for four years in a row, a consortium of Raggedy Ann collector clubs circulated petitions and even convinced Good Morning America to join their (successful) quest to get Raggedy Ann into the THOF. Emboldened by that unprecedented success from lobbying, this year they pushed for Raggedy Andy's induction. Those Raggedy Ann/Andy people are serious about their obsession.

Apparently, Hot Wheels collectors took a page from the Raggedy Ann playbook and circulated petitions this year, to no avail.

Finally, my whole family has scratched its collective head over how Mr. Potato Head became one of only 34 toys in the Toy Hall of Fame. The Toy Hall of Fame is specifically for toys with a long history and special meaning to children. Toys are picked for four reasons. First, the toy must be easily recognized, respected, and remembered. Second, the toy must have been popular for more several generations. Third, the toy must help with learning, creativity, or discovery when the child plays with it. Fourth, the toy must have greatly changed play or the way toys are designed. A toy may make the Toy Hall of Fame for this reason by itself.

Other toys in the THOF are things like bicycles, jump ropes, marbles, jacks, roller skates, rocking horses, Frisbees, Monopoly, Barbie, SCRABBLE, Tinkertoys, LEGO, Slinkies, Silly Putty, Erector sets, jigsaw puzzles, Play-Doh, Crayons, Etch-a-Sketches . . . but Mr. Potato Head?

I remember when they were packaged with a styrofoam potato. After the second time you stuck a facial feature in the styrofoam, the holes in the styrofoam were too big to use it again. After the second real potato you used, Mom told you to quit wasting food. As a kid, Mr. Potato head was one of those toys you played with for two days and put in the back of the closet until it was time to give your old toys to Goodwill.

The cardboard box was long overdue! Viva the box! It's time for a petition to kick Mr. Potato Head out of the THOF; although I suppose I would be called tuberphobic for suggesting so.

Based on the criteria set out above, what would Freepers nominate for the THOF?

I'd nominate:

The game of Clue.

The Big Wheel.

Fisher-Price Little People.

The Easy-Bake Oven.

Your turn.

[expatguy]

Has anybody seen my car keys?

[Serb5150]

If I had a dollar for every time I've gotten my cat something nice for Christmas and found her playing inside an empty box...

[armymarinemom]

My computer monitor went out last week and I had to buy a new one. Instead of going LED I picked up a 19 inch CRT. My 4 year old grandson was with me when I made the purchase and he seemed thrilled as we loaded the big box in the car. The origins for his excitement became know on the ride home when he asked "can I have the box?".

One week later the box is still in our den complete with a camping light and blanket inside.

[OXENinFLA]

And it's a great sneaking tool too!