Kickstart: Toys backed by the power of plastics join Hall of Fame

Plastics have the power when it comes to winning spots in the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong Museum of Play in 2022.

All three new inductees, named Nov. 10, use plastics: the spinning top, the Masters of the Universe line of toys and the Lite-Brite.

The top, obviously, predates plastics and has been made of wood, metal and other materials — Christopher Bensch, the museum's chief curator, notes it has been around for 5,000 years — but brightly colored plastics have been favored in many designs.

Lite-Brite, created in 1966 and licensed to toymaker Hasbro, uses colored plastic pegs, a light source and a black background to allow kids to create their own take on stained-glass windows.

"Whatever their shape or size, Lite-Brite play sets have encouraged kids to color and draw with light, applying 20th century technology to ancient mosaic techniques," Curator Nicolas Ricketts said in a news release.

The Masters of the Universe franchise covers multiple sides of the "children's play" industry, with cartoons introducing characters that kids could buy as action figures or play sets. Judges for the 2022 nominations noted that the brand's owner, Mattel, has since licensed the figures for everything from toothbrushes to sleeping bags.

"Part of the appeal of Masters of the Universe toys grew out of their being well-suited to the way kids play," Curator Michelle Parnett-Dwyer said. "The team at Mattel understood that kids spend lots of time in fantasy play and like the opportunity to project themselves into the role of the hero."

Get Kickstart straight to your inbox each weekday morning.

When it comes to their homes, it turns out that Americans like to stick to some very traditional colors, but inflation may be playing a part too.

Siding maker Alside, part of Associated Materials LLC, says in its 2023 forecast of cladding colors that the top exterior color choices are off-white or cream (20 percent) followed by white at 14 percent, light gray at 12 percent and light brown at 11 percent.

That duplicates Alside's sales trends, which has seen the company more than double sales for its white siding since 2018, it said in a Nov. 10 news release. Chase Creighton, business director for vinyl and composite cladding at the Akron, Ohio-based company, said a strong design trend for farmhouse-style housing is likely driving demand toward lighter colors, but that's not all.

"It's possible, too, that cost may be a driver," Creighton said. "As building materials prices have risen, consumers may have gravitated toward lower-cost options and away from premium colors."

Nova Chemicals Corp. has donated C$600,000 (US$448,000) to Let's Talk Science, a Canada-based nonprofit focused on science, technology, engineering and math education programs, for its work during the next three years.

The organization has worked with 14 million students in 2,000 sites — including indigenous and other underserved communities — across Canada since 1993, Calgary, Alberta-based Nova said in a news release.

"There is a great need for a workforce equipped with STEM skills today and in the future," Mona Jasinski, senior vice president of communications and human resources, said.