The National Toy Hall of Fame welcomes little green army men, Rubik's Cube

The National Toy Hall of Fame welcomes little green army men, Rubik's Cube
(Image credit: iStock)

Congratulations are in order for little green army men, bubbles, and the Rubik's Cube: All three were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame Thursday.

They beat out Fisher-Price Little People, American Girl dolls, and My Little Pony for the coveted spots in the Hall of Fame, where they join such icons as Barbie and G.I. Joe.

Little green army men made their first appearance in 1938, and continue to sell millions a year, while the Rubik's Cube, invented by Hungarian architect Erno Rubik, became a phenomenon in the 1980s with more than 100 million sold between 1980 and 1982. Children playing with soap bubbles goes all the way back to the 17th century, and 200 million bottles of bubble liquid are now sold every year.

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For those of you (like me) wondering how bubbles could beat out actual, plastic toys, they are considered a "toy of the imagination," like previous inductees the blanket and the stick.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.