Online Collections

With hundreds of thousands of objects, The Strong^® holds the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of toys, dolls, games, electronic games, and other artifacts related to play. A sample of The Strong’s vast holdings is accessible through this online database. The database draws on the catalog records of the National Museum of Play, the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, and the National Toy Hall of Fame. Collections records of the ever-growing Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play catalog are also accessible from this page.

For each object shown online there appears a documentary photograph and basic factual information including the maker, material, title, place of origin, and date. For many items, in-depth information may also be provided, such as historical context or specific significance. Learn more indicates that an object record includes further content beyond standard museum cataloging. Please note that many of the items shown online are not on public display.

Each month, The Strong adds hundreds of artifacts to its collections, and the online collections database expands to reflect those additions. To make exploring recent acquisitions easy, objects in online collections categories are organized so that the latest additions appear on the first results page.

Questions or suggestions about the content or functionality of the Online Collections should be directed to collections@thestrong.org.