This weekend is the annual induction ceremony for the National Toy Hall of Fame.
The nominees are: Atari, Big Wheel, Easy-Bake Oven, Lite-Brite, Fisher Price Little People, Hot Wheels, Lionel trains, Operation, Pez, the rubber duck, the skateboard and Twister.
All worthy choices, except for the rubber duck. That’s just stupid.
Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of brand-name toys, so I’m not emotionally attached to much on this list: Big Wheel, Atari (born too early); Easy-Bake, Little People (not gay, afraid of that little light bulb that heated up); Twister (parents told me it leads to pregnancy); Pez (not really a toy); Operation (my friend John had it, afraid of getting buzzed. From the game).
But you can be damn sure I had Hot Wheels, a skateboard and a Lionel train. Two toys from this list get inducted and I would choose Hot Wheels and the skateboard. In the 70’s, the first wave skateboard craze hit my town hard. My parents bought me a cheapie from a store called Child World, and I rode that thing until the wheels literally fell off. All my Hot Wheels are long gone, but I can still feel them in my hand and remember the time I doused a Rolls Royce in lighter fluid and torched it. Was that wrong?
The glaring omission from the list is the Whiffle Ball, made right here in Shelton. Like Jim Rice, the Whiffle Ball has been on the list, but never makes that cut. This year, it didn’t even get nominated.
Here’s hoping the nomination panel takes a line drive right on the arm. Boy, did that sting.