Some of the Top 100 toys

…OF ALL TIME!…as per TIME website

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2049243,00.html

1920s – Chemistry Set

• A pioneer in educational toys, the A.C. Gilbert Co. released its chemistry set in 1923. Marketed solely to boys, the kit was designed to teach basic chemistry skills, but by today's standards, it was nothing short of a homeland-security breach. (Experiment No. 1: Explosives.) Still, it received the highly regarded Good Housekeeping seal of approval, and Gilbert went on to sell millions of sets over the next 30 years.

1930s –Army Men

• In 1938, the Bergen Toy and Novelty Co. began selling an inexpensive line of minuscule, monochrome plastic soldiers.

• The 2-in American figures were produced in U.S. Army green and molded in a variety of action poses — a little boy's war fantasy come true.

1940s –LEGO

• In 1949, Danish carpenter Ole Christiansen created a set of interlocking red and white blocks, the first of what would go on to become Legos. It wasn't until 1958 that the Lego company (its name derived from the Danish words for "play well") patented the small bricks. To date, Lego has produced more than 320 billion single LEGO bricks — roughly 52 for each person on the planet.

1940s –Slinky

• "A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing! Everyone knows it's Slinky!" Though its popularity can't be called into question, "everyone" may not know that the Slinky was an accident. Created by mechanical engineer Richard James in 1943, it was the unintended by-product of a new line of sensitive springs that would help keep fragile equipment steady on ships. After knocking one of his newly created springs from a shelf, James watched as it "walked" down from its spot instead of falling to the ground.

1950s –Mr Potato Head

• Inventor George Learner had an interesting way to get kids to like vegetables: make them into toys. He created a set of plug-in facial features (28 in all) to be distributed in cereal boxes. The Hassenfeld Brothers company, which would later form Hasbro Inc., loved the idea and decided to market it. The original Mr. Potato Head — then just a set of pointy-backed features that kids would jab into a real potato — made its debut in 1952.

1950s –MatchBox Cars

• In 1953, British toy company Lesney Products released a miniature model of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation coach, the company's first best seller. A few months later, company co-owner Jack Odell created an even smaller version of the coach for his daughter to take with her to school, as she was allowed to bring in only toys that could be tucked inside a matchbox. An entire series of tiny cars followed.

1950s –Play-Doh

• Play-Doh is one of those revolutionary toys with surprisingly mundane roots. In the early 1950s, Joe McVicker sent some solid, mashable wallpaper cleaner to a classroom after learning that children often found clay too difficult to handle. It didn't take long to realize that the substance had more potential as a toy than as a cleaning product. By 1956, Play-Doh had its oddly spelled name, and stores like Macy's and Marshall Field's took notice. Colorful versions of it soon followed, with a full eight-color palette by 1980.

1950s –Barbie

• Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler created history's most famous teenager after watching her daughter Barbara play with her paper dolls. In 1959, Handler decided to create a three-dimensional, grownup fashion doll for young girls to play with. She named the doll Barbie after her daughter; sales soared, making Barbie (and her vast collection of accessories) the best-selling fashion doll of all time. As the 1960s unfolded, criticism mounted of Barbie's unrealistic body shape. And in recent years, talking Barbies have gotten flak for saying things like, "Math class is tough." But as of late, Barbie has cleaned up her act, with a more realistic body shape, more modest clothing options and bolder career options, like doctor and computer engineer.

1970s –Baby Alive

• It was the baby doll so lifelike, it was almost a little unpleasant. In 1973, Hasbro introduced Baby Alive, the doll "that eats, drinks and wets." The doll's mechanical mouth could be spoon-fed packets of food mixed with water, which the doll would then chew before it would eventually end up in the doll's diaper. Too gross for children? Nope — the messy little doll was in huge demand by the mid-1970s. Eventually, Hasbro gave her a voice so she could tell you exactly what bodily function you might be able to look forward to next.

1970s –MagnaDoodle

• In the mid-1970s, Japanese engineers created the dustless chalkboard — a product they would market as the Magna Doodle. Much like its cousin the Etch A Sketch, the Magna Doodle used dark magnetic dust behind a slate that was drawn up to the surface of a gray board by a plastic pen. An erasable arm swept the board clean, making it a perfect sketching platform for those with a dislike of chalk dust.

1970s –Star Wars Action Figure

• The popularity of George Lucas' Star Wars franchise surprised merchandisers, who were totally unprepared to supply the fanatic followers of the movie series. After Star Wars' release in 1977, toymaker Kenner scrambled to throw together a line of toys. Puzzles and games were released to some success, but it was the first four action figures that really changed it all. Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and R2-D2 were miniaturized and sold to fans by the buckets. Eventually Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, C-3PO and others joined the group — and the ranks of the hottest toys on the market.

1980s –Cabbage Patch Kids

• Georgia native Xavier Roberts was a 21-year-old art-school student paying his way through college when he designed a doll with an unusual (and disproportionally shaped) head in 1976. At first calling them Little People dolls, Roberts created them using a traditional German fabric-sculpture art and eventually started his own company. After a TV appearance on the television show Real People in 1980, the dolls' sales spiked, sending America's kids into a "Gimme!" frenzy. Fearful of disappointing their young ones, parents camped outside toy stores during the Christmas season of 1983, determined to bag one of the coveted moppets. By New Year's Day, more than 3 million Cabbage Patch Kids had been sold.

1980s –Care Bear

• Need a hug? Hire a Care Bear. The empathetic little bears of the 1980s, Care Bears are the chicken soup of kids' toys, a dose of nostalgia to beat even the bluest blues. The bears made their debut in a line of greeting cards and soon graduated into a rainbow of 12-in. plush toys. Each was embellished with a unique symbol on its tummy, an emotional identifier to potential playmates. Bear feelings ranged from "Funshine" to "Grumpy," and just in case an impostor would sneak into the group, each bear had a hard plastic heart stuck on its tiny tush.

1980s –Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• With the release of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in 1990, the demand for merchandise related to four oversize reptilian superheroes hit a palpable extreme. An action-figure line became instant classics in the toy world, with fringe products like Rock Turtles and Sewer Sports All-Stars proving that if it had a turtle on it, it would sell — no questions asked.

1990s –Beanie Baby

• Launched in 1993 by Ty Inc., Beanie Babies were small-scale stuffed animals filled with tiny plastic beads to give them a sturdy but flexible feel. They rose to an obsessive level of popularity in the late 1990s, with collectors and children alike scrambling for the tiny toys. Though most were inexpensive, special editions were sold during the height of the franchise's fame, and rare items still go for thousands of dollars in online auctions.

1990s –Buzz Lightyear

• As the fictional star of Disney Pixar's 1995 film Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear was a futuristic astronaut with an appreciation for gadgets and a zest for intergalactic travel. His character was openly inspired by real-life space hero Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 crew member and the second man in history to walk on the moon. Released as an action figure almost identical to the one featured in the film, Lightyear charmed his way into the hearts of Toy Story fans with his tenacity and cheesy tagline.

1990s –Tickle Me Elmo

• After watching kids playing in a park, toy inventor Ron Dubren decided to create a stuffed animal that would laugh when tickled by its owner. He, along with engineer Greg Hyman, made a stuffed monkey with an electronic chip in its stomach designed to make the creature giggle. The monkey never saw success, but Dubren’s idea did. When Tyco was licensed to produce a new line of Sesame Street toys in 1996, Dubren was asked to apply his laughing technology to an Elmo doll. Tickle Me Elmo and his laughing fits were an instant success, and Elmo became the most desired toy of the 1996 holiday shopping season.

2000s –Bratz

• With the release of Bratz in 2001, fashion dolls were ushered into the 21st century with a whole new attitude and revealing wardrobes that critics claimed were far too sexy for tween girls to play with. These 10-in. dolls, created by Carter Bryant and MGA Entertainment, were dubbed the anti-Barbies. They had modern names like Cloe, Jade, Sasha and Yasmin and wore lots of glittery makeup around their huge, doelike eyes. Much to Barbie's displeasure, the Bratz became a huge hit, selling millions of dolls and related items including movies and CDs.

2000s –Zhu Zhu Pets

• These inexpensive robotic hamsters became a recession-era favorite in 2009 when they were named the hottest toy of the holiday season. Officially priced at an affordable $10 or less, Zhu Zhu pets were in such high demand that at one point they were selling for thousands online. Created by Russ Hornsby, nine different Zhu Zhu characters could be activated into a nurturing mode, in which they snuggle and coo — just like your average hamster but without the smelly cage. The "Zhu-niverse" now includes a line of Zhu Zhu babies, puppies and even ninja-like space fighters.