The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY has inducted its newest member into the Toy Hall of Fame.  Five years after Raggedy Anne became a member of the collection of classic toys, her brother, Raggedy Andy, joined the group. 

The official website of the Strong National Museum of Play describes the museum’s mission:  “Strong National Museum of Play is an exciting, hands-on, welcoming place to play, learn, and dream; a place to pretend, wonder, and explore; a place to discover the past and imagine the future; and a place to rekindle memories and make new ones.”

If seeing classic toys is something you want to do, but you don’t live near Rochester, NY, why not check out DFW Elite Toy Museum in the Dallas – Fort Worth area?  The DFW Elite Toy Museum, founded by Ron Sturgeon, owner of DFW Elite Auto Rental and DFW Elite Car Club, has an impressive collection of automotive-related toys. 

“I hope you will enjoy the collection,” says Sturgeon on the DFW Elite Toy Museum website.  “It’s been my pleasure to open it up to my friends on display here at my business.”  Included in the DFW Elite Toy Museum collection are tin cars, radio-controlled dragsters, pedal cars and carousel cars, and construction equipment toys. 

The Strong National Museum of Play Toy Hall of Fame includes classics we all remember from our childhood.  According to the Strong National Museum website, “the following 36 toys have made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame: Alphabet Blocks, Barbie®, Bicycle, Candy Land®, Cardboard Box, Checkers, Crayola® Crayons, Duncan® Yo-Yo, Easy-Bake® Oven, Erector® Set, Etch A Sketch®, Frisbee®, G.I. Joe®, Hula Hoop®, Jack-in-the-Box, Jacks, Jigsaw Puzzle, Jump Rope, LEGO®, Lionel® Trains, Lincoln Logs®, Marbles, Monopoly®, Mr. Potato Head®, Play-Doh®, Radio Flyer® Wagon, Raggedy Ann™, Rocking Horse, Roller Skates, SCRABBLE®, Silly Putty®, Slinky®, Teddy Bear, Tinkertoy®, Tonka® Trucks, and View-Master®.”

Raggedy Andy will not be the only new member of the Toy Hall of Fame.  “Thursday’s other winners spanned the extremes of high- and low-tech,” reports the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.  “The Atari 2600 game system burst on the market in 1977, just in time for young video addicts to try Pac-Man, Space Invaders and more. The kite swooped down on Chinese youngsters 3,000 years earlier.”

 

Despite every automotive blog on the planet running the same story with the same picture (right), we have not witnessed the first signs of the JCW Clubman. The image above is actually an official press photo issued by BMW of Germany to show-off some of the JCW accessories available for the upcoming Clubman. In fact it’s the same photo we wrote about a few months back.

The accessories shown on this car are the exact same ones you can buy for the current R56 and they do not include the dealer installed engine kit, suspension kit or even the aero kit. Instead they’re simply a limited collection of basically whatever happens to fit on the Clubman.

So for those waiting for real news on the JCW Clubman, here’s a little nugget for you. The dealer JCW kit (the Stage I) hasn’t yet been approved for the Clubman. MINI is currently studying whether or not it’s worth the effort to produce given the number of potential sales. But before you count out a JCW Clubman altogether - remember, this is the same company that created this.

Written By: Gabe

By Matt Calkins
Nov 08, 2007

Petty Enterprises recently announced that it will be moving its NASCAR shop 70 miles from Level Cross, N. C., to Mooresville, N. C., to be closer to the center of racing in the Charlotte area.

As for Kyle Petty, he traveled a little bit farther Wednesday to give hot laps for a group of businessmen at California Speedway in Fontana as a favor to track president Gillian Zucker.

In the car, the 47-year-old usually goes in circles. Outside the car, Petty’s a pretty straight shooter.

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