After seven years of nominations, the status is no longer hazy for the Magic 8 Ball when it comes to the Toy Hall of Fame.
The plastic ball with a 20-sided die was named to the hall of fame at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., on Nov. 8.
"This toy is simple and focuses on something we're all intrigued by — the future,"Strong Museum Curator Michelle Parnett-Dwyer said during a ceremony shown live via the internet.
It joins pinballs and the card game Uno as an inductee in the 2018 class. (Mattel Inc. may be the real winner for this year. The El Segundo, Calif., company owns both Uno and the Magic 8 Ball.)
Other plastics-intensive toys among the finalists failed to make the final cut, including the Fisher-Price Corn Popper push toy and American Girl dolls. Judges from the museum pick winners from a list of criteria including whether it's a widely-recognized icon, whether it's proved itself as more than a passing fad and if it encourages learning.
The concept for what became the Magic 8 Ball began with a Cincinnati woman who used a chalk board as a "spirit writer" that would scratch out individual fortunes. The final product, with its patented floating die, was developed by Albert Carter and Abe Bookman and was introduced in 1946 by Alabe Crafts Co. of Cincinnati.
