As part of the American International Toy Fair, which comes to New York City on February 16-19, the Toy Industry Association has announced its "Century of Toys List".
The list catalogs the "most memorable and creative toys" over the the past century. While the focus on toys precludes coverage of videogames -- it includes activity sets, board games, dolls, ride-on toys, action figures, etc. -- it's an interesting to see which boardgames the TIA mentioned on the list, particularly from a game design perspective. Here are the boardgames the TIA honored, with the year of release, manufacturer at time of introduction, and current manufacturer: 1934: Sorry (Parker Brothers/Hasbro) 1935: Monopoly Parker Brothers/Hasbro) 1948: Scrabble (Selchow & Righter/Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1949: Candy Land (Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1949: Clue (Parker Brothers/Hasbro) 1956: Yahtzee (E.S. Lowe/Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1960: Game of Life (Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1965: Operation (Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1966: Twister (Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1967: Battleship (Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1967: Ker Plunk (Ideal Toy/Mattel) 1971: Mastermind (Invicta Plastics/Pressman Toys) 1972: Uno Card Game (International Games/Mattel) 1974: Dungeons and Dragons (TSR/Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro) 1975: Othello (Gabriel Industries/Mattel) 1978: Hungry Hungry Hippos (Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1978: Simon Electronic Game (Milton Bradley/Hasbro) 1982: Trivial Pursuit (Selchow & Righter/Hasbro) 1985: Scruples (Henry Makow/Hasbro) 1987: Pictionary (The Games Gang/Hasbro) 1993: Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro)1997: Bass Fishin' Game (Radica Games) 1997: Tamagotchi (Bandai) The full list of toys (which includes classic items like the Slinky, Play-Doh, Barbie, and the Frisbee) can be found at the TIA web site.
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