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Chess makes its move into National Toy Hall of Fame

“One toy stretches our gray matter; the other expands our sense of childhood wonder."

By Evan Bleier
Visitors to the World Chess Hall of Fame play an interactive, oversized game of chess outdoors in St. Louis on June 22, 2012. (File/UPI/Bill Greenblatt)
Visitors to the World Chess Hall of Fame play an interactive, oversized game of chess outdoors in St. Louis on June 22, 2012. (File/UPI/Bill Greenblatt) | License Photo

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(UPI) -- Grandmasters and bath enthusiasts should be delighted by the news that the National Toy Hall of Fame decided to make chess and the rubber ducky its 2013 inductees.

Any toy can be nominated for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame and then an internal advisory committee of curators, educators and historians decide which toys have what it takes to be considered for induction.

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Once finalists are selected, committee members vote on which toys get to come play in the Toy Hall of Fame forever.

This is what the NTHOF had to say about the class of 2013:

“One toy stretches our gray matter; the other expands our sense of childhood wonder. The venerable, ancient game of chess joins the splashy toddler bath companion, the rubber duck, as honored toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong.

The honorees were selected from a field of 12 finalists that included: bubbles, Clue, Fisher-Price Little People, little green army men, Magic 8 Ball, My Little Pony, Nerf toys, Pac-Man, scooter, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

53 toys, including chess and rubber ducky, have made it into the hall to date. Past inductees include dominoes, Easy-Bake Oven, Frisbee, G.I. Joe, Hot Wheels, LEGO, Monopoly and Nintendo Game Boy.

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