Pokemon cards lost as a finalist in 2024 and bingo lost in 2023. Both got in this time, along with Care Bears and the playground slide, while Bop It! missed for the second time.
Pokemon cards made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame on their second try. So did bingo.
The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, revealed the Class of 2026 on TODAY on Thursday, Nov. 5: bingo, Care Bears, the Pokemon Trading Card Game and the playground slide. They join 90 toys already in the hall, which brings the total to 94.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game was a finalist in 2024, when My Little Pony, Transformers and Phase 10 got the nod instead. Bingo was a finalist in 2023. Bop It! was on that 2023 list, too, and missed again this year. Rough week for the Bop It! crowd.
Eight of the 12 finalists didn't make it: Bop It!, mahjong, Monster High dolls, Mouse Trap, Polly Pocket, Sorry!, Tickle Me Elmo and Yahtzee. Elmo fans, regroup.
This year's class is also bigger than last year's. The hall added three toys in 2025: Battleship, Trivial Pursuit and slime.
TODAY had the first look at the new class:
How are Toy Hall of Fame inductees chosen?
Anyone can nominate a toy. The Strong narrows the field to 12 finalists, which it announced Sept. 16.
To get in, a toy has to hit the hall's criteria: icon status, longevity, discovery and innovation. In plain English, it's widely recognized, it has lasted across generations, it sparks creative play, or it changed how toys are made.
The public gets a vote, sort of. Fans pick favorites on a "Player's Choice" ballot, and the three top vote-getters count as a single ballot. The other 22 ballots come from members of the museum's National Selection Advisory Committee. Public voting ran through Sept. 23.
Why did Pokemon cards make the Toy Hall of Fame?
The Strong points to reach. The Pokemon Trading Card Game first came out in Japan in 1996, after the Game Boy games took off. As of March 2026, more than 85 billion cards have been produced, in 16 languages and more than 90 countries and regions, the museum says.
Curators also credit the simple rules. Each player uses a 60-card deck, and starter decks plus a free mobile app make it cheap to try.
The Associated Press reported that anime fans and manga readers helped push the cards over the top.
The museum's write-up also notes the cards have become a target for big-money speculation. That checks out. Fans [lined up overnight for a $179.99 30th anniversary box](https://news.piratesandprincesses.net/p/pokemon-cards-drew-overnight-lines) on Nov. 6, and Pokemon holds five spots on the [2027 Toy of the Year finalists list](https://news.piratesandprincesses.net/p/2027-toy-of-the-year-finalists-disney), where Disney brands hold 15.
How old are Care Bears?
They date to the early 1980s. American Greetings developed them with Those Characters From Cleveland and toymaker Kenner, and they started as a greeting card line.
From 1983 to 1988, Kenner turned them into plush bears and small figures, and the brand grew into TV specials, a TV series and feature films. Authentic Brands Group finished buying Care Bears in 2026, and the brand now has more than 100 bears and about 500 licensing partners, The Strong says.
Their campaign had help. Care Bears fans brought nearly 1 million social media followers to the push, AP reported.
How did bingo and the slide get in?
Bingo goes back a long way. The Strong says it descends from an Italian lottery played around 1530. In the 1920s, a marketer copied an American carnival game called beano and renamed it bingo.
It isn't just for church halls anymore, either. Curator Mirek Stolee said bingo "has become increasingly popular with young adults."
The slide's history includes Coney Island's Helter-Skelter, which opened in 1906. Riders took an escalator up and landed on a mattress. Later, metal playground slides got hot enough in summer to burn the backs of kids' legs, and federal safety rules in 1981 pushed toward plastic and rounded edges.
Jeremy Saucier, the museum's vice president for collections, called it "the simple, satisfying, and energizing experience of racing down a slide."
Where is the National Toy Hall of Fame?
At The Strong, in downtown Rochester. The hall started in 1998 in Salem, Oregon, and moved to The Strong in 2002. Other members include Mr. Potato Head, Hot Wheels, the Frisbee, Cabbage Patch Kids and Dungeons & Dragons.
Tickle Me Elmo can try again next year. So can Bop It!, which would be going for a third time.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Scripps News (Nov. 8, 2026), the tip and AP story
The Associated Press (Nov. 5, 2026), the inductees, the eight finalists that missed, the Stolee and Saucier quotes and the Care Bears and Pokemon fan campaigns
The Strong National Museum of Play (Nov. 5, 2026), the Care Bears, Pokemon Trading Card Game, bingo and slide histories and the Pokemon card figures
Cox Media Group (Nov. 5, 2026), the TODAY announcement and how the Player's Choice ballot works
Rochester Business Journal (Sept. 16, 2026), the finalists and the voting window
The Toy Association and WAMC (Sept. 2024 and Sept. 2023), the 2024 and 2023 finalist lists
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