So, the inductees this year were puppets (generic), Supersoaker and Twister.
The criteria they supposedly use are:
1- Icon-status: the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered.
2- Longevity: the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations.
3- Discovery: the toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play.
4- Innovation: The toy profoundly changed play or toy design. A toy may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.
1- All over the world tops are recognized. A word (sometimes several) exist in every language. It has been used in postal stamps, ads, businesses names, children museum names, even food guidelines. They are currently being used to sell cars (Ford Focus commercial).
2- At least 7 thousand years old (King Tut's tomb had a whip top) but probably known since the dawn of mankind in the form of finger spinners (e.g. nuts). It has been a rite of passage for 10 year-old boys in many cultures, including the US: peg tops battles in the early 20th century and Beyblades a few years ago.
3 - The counter intuitive fight of the top against gravity provides wonder and a great incentive for the young mind to understand things. The concept of rotation provided by the top complements the notion of translation of a ball and it is one of the foundations of technology. The gyroscope is its direct descendant. The earth is a spinning top and it explains the seasons, etc., etc.
4- The US patent system is full of patents for spinning tops with different starting mechanisms or different effects. The variety worldwide is enormous.
A list that does not have spinning tops up there with dolls and balls, has no credibility in my opinion.
