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For three months during the summer of 2021, I had the privilege to work as an intern for the Collections team at The Strong museum. My primary project focused on researching and cataloging action and toy figures ranging from the 1970s to the 2000s. At the start of my internship, I also cataloged a collection consisting of 1940s cast iron lead figures from manufacturers such as Barclay, Auburn Rubber Company, and Manoil Mfg, Company. Highlights included The Happy Farm […]

Continue Reading about Intern Experience: Processing Dime Store and Action Figures Published on:
August 12, 2021

Staff from The Strong explore the unique challenges of preserving Nutting Associates’ 1967 coin-operated game Computer Quiz and the reel of film inside.

Continue Reading about Game Saves: Preserving the Film of Computer Quiz Published on:
August 5, 2021

All animals are funny, but some animals are funnier than others.
Aside from being a somewhat obvious riff (a polite way of saying “rip-off”) on George Orwell’s famously cynical line from Animal Farm, I do think there’s some truth to this statement. 
In recent years, for example, there have been plenty of video games that have used animals as characters. Often, like in Sonic the Hedgehog or Animal Crossing, they’re somewhat anthropomorphized—animal characters doing typical human things like farming or running and […]

Continue Reading about Quack. Moo. Oink. Play. Published on:
August 2, 2021

“Charming,” “whimsical,” “masterpiece,” “pretty funny” are just a few of the words used to describe the Magic: The Gathering card, the Chaos Orb.  These accolades are for the card’s art, a bulbous, floating spherical monster endlessly drooling lava from its looming maw, as well as for the card’s powerful effect. But to understand the wild, disruptive effect of the card, it is good to know the basics of Magic.
Magic: The Gathering was the first “collectible card game” and […]

Continue Reading about Chaos Orb—Magic: The Gathering’s Wild Card Published on:
July 22, 2021

“Everything comes back into style if you wait long enough.”
The first time I heard this phrase was in my early teens from my mother. At the time, I was obsessed with flared jeans, a trend directly inspired by bell bottoms of the 1960s. Upon hearing my mom’s words, I—like most teens—was absolutely certain she had no idea what she was talking about but kept that thought to myself. Now as an adult, I’ve come to that startling realization many of […]

Continue Reading about Out with the Old and in with the… Older? Published on:
July 15, 2021

When it comes to important symbols of the United States that encapsulate our national aspirations to stand for values such as democracy, freedom, and inclusion, the Statue of Liberty might be at the top of the list. Ever since her inauguration in 1886, she has lifted her torch above New York Harbor, serving as a beacon for countless immigrants. Movingly, Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus” evokes the sense of welcome that the Statue of Liberty represents and concludes, “Send […]

Continue Reading about Liberty’s Lighter Side Published on:
July 8, 2021

By 1980, Jerry Lawson was ready for a change. The 40-year-old electrical engineer had spent most of the 1970s working for Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation in Silicon Valley. In 1976, he led a team of talented engineers who took an Alpex Computer Corporation prototype and developed it into the Fairchild Channel F, the first home video game console to use interchangeable game cartridges. Although revolutionary in concept, the Channel F was quickly eclipsed by another cartridge-based console […]

Continue Reading about Jerry Lawson, Video Soft, and the History of the First Black-Owned Video Game Development Company Published on:
June 24, 2021

One of the great challenges for play scholars or anyone thinking seriously about play is discerning when something is playful and when it is not. As circumstances change, boundaries shift, or meanings alter, the same action may be playful or not be playful, the same object may be a plaything or not a plaything. Play can be an elusive quarry, just when we think we have it pinned down it escapes our grasp, and when we may not even […]

Continue Reading about Play Adores a Vacuum Published on:
June 17, 2021

The Japanese culture of kawaii—loosely meaning cute—emerged in the 1970s when teenage girls with extra money began to favor adorable accoutrements inspired by artists like Moto Hagio and Keiko Takemiya. More recently, Americans have also embraced the style. Kids collect figures like Totoro and Gudetama the Lazy Egg, play with doe-eyed fashion dolls, and use whimsical school supplies like Keroppi pencil cases. While these peachy keen aesthetics are pleasing to the eye, some argue that understanding Kawaii is not as […]

Continue Reading about Aww, That’s So Cute Published on:
June 10, 2021